BW Report 8/1 and 8/2

[lund1]

Well I sure am glad Mike and Mike both found big schools....that explains why I couldn't find one for the life of me.

Had a heck of a time catching ales at the dock light Friday night. Obviously the full moon didn't help. I made the mistake of pouring myself a hefty drink earlier and couldnt risk driving off to a few lights that usually produce better then mine. So I caught 15 small to medium ales...one fish per throw. On the water Sat. AM by 6:15....poked around for a while until I marked scattered fish. I had 2 - 25" fish hit weighted flats within an hour of each other...both in the cooler and I was done. I have to admit I scouted around a little more and if I had found the mother lode I wasn't just gonna enter it into my log....but never found anything more then small pods.

Sun. evening I had my WWGD ( what would Gator do) plan in place. Dragged Urigs up and down the BW from B13 to B30....unfortunately I had the wrong kinda stripe....skunked for the first time in a while. I will say I really liked fishing Urigs. You cover a lot of ground....you find things you never knew were there....you're always feeling like something good is about to happen....so it was a pleasant skunk if there is such a thing.

Glad others found some loaded up schools...tight lines.

[drag4striper]

Good report Lund. All of us can't have the luck of the 2 Mikes. I know what you mean about dragging around u-rigs anticipating a fish on. I have learned a lot about the lake trolling. Plus it is relaxing to me.

[mwardncsu]

Aug 3, 2015 11:39:21 GMT -5 lund1 said:

....you find things you never knew were there....

Like all the trees that come up over 20'? That's all I seem to find when I pull those dang umbrella rigs... well, that and another hole in my wallet from needing to replace it

Aug 3, 2015 11:54:06 GMT -5 drag4striper said:

All of us can't have the luck of the 2 Mikes.

Finding the big schools is a combination of time on the water and luck...... enough time and cover enough water searching, and then a bit of luck and it can pay off..... What's that saying about rather being lucky than good I'll never forget a few years back in the summer when I had some friends on the boat with me and we'd been looking around on the Roanoke side some without any success so I rode over to the Blackwater / Bulls Run area - I dropped the boat off plane after making that 15 minute or so run as as soon as the fish finder could clear and lock bottom we were over a pile of fish.... this was early August in 2012. Don't pay attention to that water temp on the sonar screen - I had the wrong settings for the Airmar transducer which was causing it to read WAY off - sure wish it had been 50's in August




The down-side of them schooling up is it means there are less fish in all the rest of the water to come across - so it can be feast or famine. I got a bit lucky again Saturday - popped into the mouth of a creek when I'd found a pile of fish in past years (the time on the water part), and they just happened to be there, under where my boat was positioned in the creek (the lucky part)

[drag4striper]

Mike I know you guys work hard to find and stay on the fish. I was having a little fun at your and Gators expense.   I sure enjoy both of your reports and pics. A little luck never hurts sometimes.

[Deleted]

Aug 3, 2015 11:39:21 GMT -5 lund1 said:

 I have to admit I scouted around a little more and if I had found the mother lode I wasn't just gonna enter it into my log....

lund, I totally understand and I'm not going to think any less or talk down to anyone who doesn't catch and keep in the summer .... anyone thats been on here a while knows, I'm not one to try and force what I do or my beliefs on someone else..... just a personal choice I've made..... hope you get on them good.

[tommyfishes]

They were not all on the Roanoke side manage to jig a few myself on the blackwater.

[lund1]

Just realized I didn't post this in Reports....maybe this is where skunk reports belong?
You're right about the wallet hit Mike W. I left $50 in a tree last week when my retriever snapped off at a rotted knot.
I spend a good part of my trolling time debating what I should if and when a troll over a good school....keep going to show em the Urigs or stop and atart jigging.
I haven't had to make that call yet

[lund1]

Bigun - I'm a firm believer in 2 and done in the summer. It's really the only time of year I harvest fish. I truly didn't understand the fish mortality rate in past years...but I get it now .
It's just one of many, many important things I've learned on our Forum. But I've gotta admit that if I had rolled over a big school I probably would've dipped a jig amongst them. I would be lying if I said different. I can count on one hand the number of times I've discovered a big school and I just don't think I could ignore it. It is a problem I would love to struggle with.

[Deleted]

no worries lund..... I too have learned a lot from the site about the fish mortality in the hotter months..... of course BentRod  had to beat it in my head with a 2x4 (you know, the old guys and change thing)..... finally came to realize, there is a big difference between catching a lot of fish and being a good fisherman...... with that said and the screen lights up, it's still hard to float away...... then I start trying to justify staying..... eh, the biologist want a lot of the smaller fish removed from the lake so 1 or 2 more won't hurt..... but alas, reality sets in....and I may as well had thrown them up on the bank... same end result...... I'm a big numbers guy, a lot of opportunity for that at different times of the year.... I can wait.

 I certainly hope you or anyone else gets to experience the thrill of sitting on top of a monster school.