Post by mwardncsu on Feb 17, 2017 22:24:32 GMT -5
Weather: April.... err... I mean February..... 40's rising to mid 60's, wind 5-10 from NW with gust 15-20; sunny
Water: 45-49, visibility of 2 - 6 feet
Techniques: Gizzard buffet - big gizzards on freeline planers (6), free-line with medium gizzard & free-line float with small to medium gizzard
Time Fished: 11:30 - 5p
It was a little chilly to start the morning, and with 60s - 70s in the forecast who's gonna mess with being cold
I made a quick run this AM to get some gas for the boat and pick up some salt - and then jumped on the boat and headed up lake to pick up Chad & Keith for the day about 10:15
We started the search for bait - found some deep and got a few in the tank - and then looked shallow - took a while to find them - got one or two here and there - but then about 11:15 we finally found a good pile in 8-10' of water - and in three throws we added about 30-36 nice baits to the tank and decided it was time to fish.
We pulled a stretch of channel for about an hour without even a nervous bait - picked up and moved down the lake a bit to a stretch that has been a "sure thing" - well not today - again, not even a nervous bait. Worked that area a while and decided to pull on down a bit further as we approached 2:30 when Chad was going to have to jump off.... pulled across a small cut and the drug the outside board over a rock outcropping when the board started a slow tug.... I was next to the rod and fed it a bit of line and felt the fish trying to choke the bait - gave it a bit more and then the rod loaded up - we all figured it was an ol' flathead catfish - and it fought like one a little bit - until the fish breached the water and we saw it was a striper. Checked in at 15 lbs and 33".
We dropped off Chad, then Keith and I tried another stretch of channel for a couple of hours till we had to call it quits about 5 - no luck - though we did have a number of nervous baits and some small tugs - either the fish did not want to play or there were some dinks chasing our big baits...
Dropped off Keith just after 5pm and I spent then next hour or so looking for some more bait - added two nice ones to the tank - and then caught this grass carp, followed by some other type of carp which made a frikken mess of my cast-net.....
Called it a day about 6:45 and headed off to meet the family for dinner..... with a nice tank of bait for tomorrow - going to try a different area to see if we can improve our catch rate.....
Good to meet you ikmoon - glad you had a bit of luck today as well..... sorry you got to hear me whispering sweet nothings to that damn carp that tangled up my net
Water: 45-49, visibility of 2 - 6 feet
Techniques: Gizzard buffet - big gizzards on freeline planers (6), free-line with medium gizzard & free-line float with small to medium gizzard
Time Fished: 11:30 - 5p
It was a little chilly to start the morning, and with 60s - 70s in the forecast who's gonna mess with being cold
I made a quick run this AM to get some gas for the boat and pick up some salt - and then jumped on the boat and headed up lake to pick up Chad & Keith for the day about 10:15We started the search for bait - found some deep and got a few in the tank - and then looked shallow - took a while to find them - got one or two here and there - but then about 11:15 we finally found a good pile in 8-10' of water - and in three throws we added about 30-36 nice baits to the tank and decided it was time to fish.
We pulled a stretch of channel for about an hour without even a nervous bait - picked up and moved down the lake a bit to a stretch that has been a "sure thing" - well not today - again, not even a nervous bait. Worked that area a while and decided to pull on down a bit further as we approached 2:30 when Chad was going to have to jump off.... pulled across a small cut and the drug the outside board over a rock outcropping when the board started a slow tug.... I was next to the rod and fed it a bit of line and felt the fish trying to choke the bait - gave it a bit more and then the rod loaded up - we all figured it was an ol' flathead catfish - and it fought like one a little bit - until the fish breached the water and we saw it was a striper. Checked in at 15 lbs and 33".
We dropped off Chad, then Keith and I tried another stretch of channel for a couple of hours till we had to call it quits about 5 - no luck - though we did have a number of nervous baits and some small tugs - either the fish did not want to play or there were some dinks chasing our big baits...
Dropped off Keith just after 5pm and I spent then next hour or so looking for some more bait - added two nice ones to the tank - and then caught this grass carp, followed by some other type of carp which made a frikken mess of my cast-net.....
Called it a day about 6:45 and headed off to meet the family for dinner..... with a nice tank of bait for tomorrow - going to try a different area to see if we can improve our catch rate.....
Good to meet you ikmoon - glad you had a bit of luck today as well..... sorry you got to hear me whispering sweet nothings to that damn carp that tangled up my net
