R22
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Post by R22 on Mar 15, 2015 21:47:45 GMT -5
Saturday - 3/14/2015
With rain pouring down, I stayed in the house until almost noon. The weatherman was calling for a good afternoon so I headed out in search of enough bait for a couple of days. Bait was thick in a mid-lake cove, but filling the tank today was not easy for me. Bait was 15 deep and although it covered the sonar, the side scan always seem to indicate the bait was just out of reach. I threw the net for three hours to collect about 25 baits. The most I picked up in any one throw was 3. What I caught was HUGE but it seemed to take forever. I was throwing a 8ft.-1/2 inch net and a 10ft.-3/4 inch net. Results were better with the smaller net. I feel like I was catching the outside edge of the schools. Any help in this area would be welcomed and appreciated.
I found some scattered fish near the mouths of creeks, mostly on the channel side of points. I fished 4 planers, 2 downlines and one freeline behind the boat. I did not catch a single fish today but there was some activity, all of which came on planers. I had several modest pull downs, some swirls, chases and several short strikes. I fished until dark from the bridge up to R33 and never had a solid hook up. After watching the Wolf camera video and seeing three or four mongos get their backside just about get ripped off, I question the theory that stripers hit from the front. I did not use stingers but tied one on to every line Saturday night.
Sunday - 3/15/2015
I slept in but hit the lake about 8:30. Decided to hit an area just south of the bridge. I found a small school of fish. First fish hit before the planer was in the water for 10 seconds and not more than 20 feet from the boat. I fish by myself most of the time and don't take many pictures but wish I had taken one of this fish. It was 27 inches long and the bait he was trying to swallow was almost 14 inches. I don't think I could have shoved that bait down his throat but he had no problem swallowing about half of that bait before the stinger Stung him. I never found those fish again so I headed a little further up the river. Again today, I ran four planers, two downlines and a freeline behind the boat. I ended up catching seven fish before I finally ran out of bait about 5 pm. Except for my first fish, the others ranged from 29 inches up to 33 inches. There was no love on the downlines or the freeline. As I began to run low on bait I resorted to running planers only. Even with the stingers I feel like I missed fish at least a dozen or more times.
The water temperatures were 47-48 degrees and it was quite windy in the late morning and early afternoon. Although there were some slow periods through the day, it was definitely the slowest during the windy period. As the wind died during the afternoon I was able to locate fish and when I did, they were active. I caught four of my seven fish during the last hour.
The more I fish the more I recognize that I probably catch fish when anyone with a line and a live bait would catch fish and I appreciate the adjustments that many of you know how and when to make.
Other than some wind, it was an all around beautiful day.
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Post by smlmike on Mar 16, 2015 19:10:10 GMT -5
So the fish that was choking on the 14" bait was it tail first or head first in the mouth of the beast? Might be the answer to your own question!
Good report! Thanks!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2015 19:10:06 GMT -5
Did the side scan go clear as soon as you threw? If so, this tells you the bait is seeing your net. This is also telling you that you need to go with a heavy net and throw it as your moving fast into the school. The bait scurries as you drive over it and will scurry more once your net is in the air. A faster moving boat and a heavier net will serve to help. However, when the bait is fast, day throwing in 15 feet is tough. You are better off in deeper water with a light net or very shallow water with a heavy net.
This is what I think at this point in my learning.
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Post by mwardncsu on Mar 16, 2015 19:46:04 GMT -5
.... and the water is starting to warm - bait are moving a bit more shallow and moving quicker then they were in Jan/Feb.....
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2015 19:51:47 GMT -5
.... and the water is starting to warm - bait are moving a bit more shallow and moving quicker then they were in Jan/Feb..... Gone are the 100 plus day throws. It's becoming Big T time! |
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Post by mwardncsu on Mar 16, 2015 19:58:41 GMT -5
That's not a bad thing. That many at once screws them all up. Better to catch less than 10 a throw. Of course a lot better to catch more than 0 a throw too  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2015 20:05:22 GMT -5
I couldn't agree more. We were catching less than 6 per throw and them gizz were shiney and lively.
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R22
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Post by R22 on Mar 17, 2015 7:04:50 GMT -5
So the fish that was choking on the 14" bait was it tail first or head first in the mouth of the beast? Might be the answer to your own question! Good report! Thanks! It was head first. I thought about that when I wrote the report. It does make wonder just how much taunting goes on goes on underwater. After I added stingers on Saturday night, I seem to remember that all but a couple were hooked by the stinger. |
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R22
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Post by R22 on Mar 17, 2015 7:20:51 GMT -5
Did the side scan go clear as soon as you threw? If so, this tells you the bait is seeing your net. This is also telling you that you need to go with a heavy net and throw it as your moving fast into the school. The bait scurries as you drive over it and will scurry more once your net is in the air. A faster moving boat and a heavier net will serve to help. However, when the bait is fast, day throwing in 15 feet is tough. You are better off in deeper water with a light net or very shallow water with a heavy net. This is what I think at this point in my learning. I usually fish by myself and after I throw I never pay attention to the screen. I have one piece of electronics with both transducers rear mounted and nothing on the trolling motor. I cannot help but believe that a trolling motor mount provides a nice advantage for catching bait. I think my 10ft. net is the same specs as BIG T. I definitely don't throw it as nicely as the 8 footer. I need to go out and practice. |
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johnr
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Post by johnr on Mar 17, 2015 8:06:10 GMT -5
It's been my experience when a fish EATS a big bait, it eats it head first. When they chased and played with a big bait, I usually caught them on the stinger. When I say EATS, I mean no swirling, chasing, or games, the board is just buried in an instant and there is no question. I am referring to using baits about 13" and up.
We fished the dam a couple years ago in May. The water was crystal clear as usual and it was near high noon with good sun. We put out the spread and put 2 huge gizzards on boards about 15' from the boat. I was using these as decoy baits, and wound up catching a bunch of stripers throwing thundersticks at them when they came to fiddle with those big gizzards. We stood on the back deck and watched countless stripers and largemouth come and swim beside, behind and under these baits. Schools of alewives did the same. We even watched some small stripers, 20-24", come up and beat the daylights out of those huge gizzards. You'd have thought it was a toad with all the splashing and chasing going on, but they were just baby stripers. About the time we sat down to relax, one of those boards disappeared, and it turned out to be a 38" striper. It never let us know it was there...
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