Post by ikMOON on Nov 26, 2016 23:41:50 GMT -5
After a great day with family on Thursday for Thanksgiving I checked the weather and decided Friday would be a better day than Saturday for fishing, meaning only that it looked more comfortable, although the fish usually like it best when I'm uncomfortable, it seems. I hit the water from Hardy at about a quarter to seven. Sky was mostly cloudy, air temp was cool, no wind to speak of, and water the temp was 50 at the ramp. Bait proved to be quite difficult. It was the first time this fall I have not seen the legion of peanuts around the corner from Bay Roc. There was scattered bait in smaller pods (all of which seemed to be around 6" this time), but it was a litter further down nearer the first trestle, and a bit deeper than my 6 foot 1/2" mesh net was good for. I was about to get officially frustrated trying to get a tank full, mainly because of the morning traffic. Standing in a kayak throwing a net is bad enough when the water is flat, lol. I had decided to move further down and try the creek behind the second trestle when someone asked how many I had. I told him I had one brim, two gizzards and one mongo size sucker I had decided was better than nothing. The man said he'd hook me up, and generously gave me 10 or 12. Thanks again to him for his kindness, it made for a great day!!!
I'd say that it was about 8:30 by the the time I got my two lines out (both free lines off planers) and started pulling down the left bank from the first trestle. Around 9:00 I heard a splash and hooked up and landed a 29", and 20 min later a 28". WT 54. It was quiet until after 11:00 when I hooked the biggest one of the day at 30.5" I gave up two baits to a couple LMB that were nice size if I were bass fishing. One of those baits got spit out after the hook up but then got inhaled on the surface by a stripe! Two weeks in a row now these LMB are getting on my nerve. I usually ask everyone I pass if they've done any good, even the bass boats. The bass boats I asked Friday said "nope." They should try live bait! I pulled down to a spot near Moorman's after lunch where I had hooked up last week but no takers this time, so I headed back to between the trestles to finish the afternoon. I stopped at the creek behind the trestle looking to top of my live well and was able to get four more baits.
Around 3:00 or so, I notice my bank side bait getting nervous, then plum crazy. The board took a dive but popped right back up, the bait jumped and the water swirled, then nothing. So I picked up the rod, lowered the tip and waited... longer than I wanted too... then another splash and a bent rod, so I crossed his eyes!, ...27". After the previous week of missing 5x more than I landed, I'm learning. And I also switched to octopus hooks on the planers from octopus circles.
A little later I get one more, 29" and fat. That would make 5 stripes and 2 LMB for the day, my best day so far this fall.
The big fish of the day.
The skinny fish.
The short fish.
And the fat fish.
It's interesting to see how much variation there can be in length vs weight on some of these. The otherwise normal fish was not photographed.
This doesn't have anything to do with the report... but pickled eggs are really good on a boat.
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.
I'd say that it was about 8:30 by the the time I got my two lines out (both free lines off planers) and started pulling down the left bank from the first trestle. Around 9:00 I heard a splash and hooked up and landed a 29", and 20 min later a 28". WT 54. It was quiet until after 11:00 when I hooked the biggest one of the day at 30.5" I gave up two baits to a couple LMB that were nice size if I were bass fishing. One of those baits got spit out after the hook up but then got inhaled on the surface by a stripe! Two weeks in a row now these LMB are getting on my nerve. I usually ask everyone I pass if they've done any good, even the bass boats. The bass boats I asked Friday said "nope." They should try live bait! I pulled down to a spot near Moorman's after lunch where I had hooked up last week but no takers this time, so I headed back to between the trestles to finish the afternoon. I stopped at the creek behind the trestle looking to top of my live well and was able to get four more baits.
Around 3:00 or so, I notice my bank side bait getting nervous, then plum crazy. The board took a dive but popped right back up, the bait jumped and the water swirled, then nothing. So I picked up the rod, lowered the tip and waited... longer than I wanted too... then another splash and a bent rod, so I crossed his eyes!, ...27". After the previous week of missing 5x more than I landed, I'm learning. And I also switched to octopus hooks on the planers from octopus circles.
A little later I get one more, 29" and fat. That would make 5 stripes and 2 LMB for the day, my best day so far this fall.
The big fish of the day.
The skinny fish.
The short fish.
And the fat fish.
It's interesting to see how much variation there can be in length vs weight on some of these. The otherwise normal fish was not photographed.
This doesn't have anything to do with the report... but pickled eggs are really good on a boat.
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.
