12/1 -12/2 2017 Roanoke/Hardy

[ajrod88]

Weather- NICE! Mostly cloudy with some sun late afternoon.
Water Temp- 56F or close. 
Method - Planer Boards and Some Jigging here and there.

Freelined  dollarbill to a little bigger than a dollar bill (not sure what to call them) shad. 

I have not been fishing for way to long. Almost forgot how.  I came down last week with a friend and we caught one fish jigging.      So i headed down mid-day Friday and started searching for bait. Checked several creeks in the Indian Point area and could not find any (that happened last week too).   I had never been to Hardy before so I went on a long boat ride and found bait near Hardy. Drove back down lake and fished until dark. Caught a 5lb.14oz Largemouth bass. No stripers.  Got up Saturday morning and started pulling boards again. After a long morning with no fish I needed fresh bait. Instead of boating all the way back up to Hardy, I loaded the boat onto trailer and drove. So Saturday afternoon I fished out of hardy. Found good bait again.  I motored down river a couple miles and started pulling again. Caught 2 fish. When I was putting everything away i noticed some very nice arches on my sonar  about 40ft deep so I grabbed a jigging rod and dropped down really quick and BAM fish on! Good way to finish the trip! 
 
Question about Hardy.   Is the whole area between the Bridge to around the turn past the marina, a river wide NO WAKE zone? Or do they mean just close to marina? This may be a dumb question but I'm just trying to learn what is excepted. Thanks! 

 

[mwardncsu]

Nice trip. Plenty of dollar bill sized shad closer to where you started however - look on the backs of the main creeks - Stoney, Grimes, Beaver....

Yes, the whole area from just below the bridge to the turn below the marina is No Wake. I guess with the construction going on now at the bridge it may technically be no wake on either side of the bridge as well

[31Airborne]

great fish and pics. congrats!

[ajrod88]

Dec 3, 2017 6:10:35 GMT -5 mwardncsu said:

Nice trip. Plenty of dollar bill sized shad closer to where you started however - look on the backs of the main creeks - Stoney, Grimes, Beaver....

Yes, the whole area from just below the bridge to the turn below the marina is No Wake. I guess with the construction going on now at the bridge it may technically be no wake on either side of the bridge as well

Ya... i'm not sure what i'm doing wrong searching for bait. I will say that last week after checking three major creeks i met some other guys who were struggling as well. They said that all week bait was everywhere but that day it was all to deep to be netted. When you say the back of a creek are you talking as far as you can possibly go or 15 fow? Are you seeing it on fishfinder and throwing on that or looking for flipping? Thanks for any info!  

[johnr]

IF you get your lower unit in the mud, you’ll probably find some. If you do it before the sun comes up, you’ll probably find more.

[mwardncsu]

Dec 3, 2017 18:37:45 GMT -5 johnr said:

IF you get your lower unit in the mud, you’ll probably find some. If you do it before the sun comes up, you’ll probably find more.

Did someone say mud?





Or deep? We caught them in both today.....

[mwardncsu]

Also - remember that the bait is going to move throughout the day and based on weather conditions. Often this time of year it starts the day deeper then moves up shallow if there is sun on the shallows and warming that water a little - then moves back deep at the end of the day - some creeks it moves REALLY shallow but over deeper water.

Just because you’re not seeing bait on the sonar does not mean it’s not there. If you have sidescan, use it to your advantage. We found big schools of shad shallow. We were already as shallow as we could go and found them even shallower.

The lack of rain has resulted in VERY clear water on the mid/upper end and I feel this is affecting the bait catching some - easier to spook and easier for them to see you / your net. After dark as JohnR said can help / just BE CAREFUL this time of year with the cold water, air temps and very few folks on the lake.

[ajrod88]

Dec 3, 2017 21:36:37 GMT -5 mwardncsu said:

Also - remember that the bait is going to move throughout the day and based on weather conditions. Often this time of year it starts the day deeper then moves up shallow if there is sun on the shallows and warming that water a little - then moves back deep at the end of the day - some creeks it moves REALLY shallow but over deeper water.

Just because you’re not seeing bait on the sonar does not mean it’s not there. If you have sidescan, use it to your advantage. We found big schools of shad shallow. We were already as shallow as we could go and found them even shallower.

The lack of rain has resulted in VERY clear water on the mid/upper end and I feel this is affecting the bait catching some - easier to spook and easier for them to see you / your net. After dark as JohnR can help / just BE CAREFUL this time of year with the cold water, air temps and very few folks on the lake.

Thank you very much for the info!  

[ajrod88]

Dec 3, 2017 21:36:37 GMT -5 mwardncsu said:

Also - remember that the bait is going to move throughout the day and based on weather conditions. Often this time of year it starts the day deeper then moves up shallow if there is sun on the shallows and warming that water a little - then moves back deep at the end of the day - some creeks it moves REALLY shallow but over deeper water.

Just because you’re not seeing bait on the sonar does not mean it’s not there. If you have sidescan, use it to your advantage. We found big schools of shad shallow. We were already as shallow as we could go and found them even shallower.

The lack of rain has resulted in VERY clear water on the mid/upper end and I feel this is affecting the bait catching some - easier to spook and easier for them to see you / your net. After dark as JohnR said can help / just BE CAREFUL this time of year with the cold water, air temps and very few folks on the lake.

Thank you for your help. One more question I have is when you are chasing bait in the dark does a head lamp spook bait or not? I know bait is attracted to lights but didn't know about a headlamp that is looking all directions? Thanks! 

[mwardncsu]

good question - not sure on that, though I know we've used a spot-light in TN to identify some bait and at times even school them up.

[johnr]

I’ve used the light to find them in the dark, but I tend to turn the light off and be quiet for a few minutes before the throw.

A light in a previously non lit area seems to scatter them for a bit. Wait long enough and they might come back to it.

[ajrod88]

Thanks guys! Very helpful! Maybe someday I can help answer more questions than I ask, but I doubt that time is very near. The more I learn the less I think I know sometimes.