Post by mwardncsu on May 20, 2013 11:48:30 GMT -5
Weather: Overcast, lows in the 50's, highs in the low 60's I'd guess. E/NE wind from 10+ for much of the day. Rain storm arrived about 2:15p
Water: 68-72, clear
Techniques: A little bank tossing at night then the live-bait buffet - downlines with ales, planer boards with gizzards and ales on a mix of free & lightlines, floats with giz or big ales
What better way to follow a day of fishing with the Freedom Alliance group than to have a tournament
The plan was to catch fresh bait around 11, then fish the banks for fish starting 12:01 AM, fish a few hours and then get a few hours of sleep before hitting the early morning bite. As I said - the "plan" - did not turn out that way. I got an hour of sleep from 9:30p-10:30p and then Mark came over so that we could get bait - just as a storm arrived and kept us inside for an hour or more. Finally got on the water about midnight to chase bait. Was getting lots of big gizzards but did not want to overcrowd the tank, and wanted some good ales in case we needed to fish anchored up. Threw longer than desired trying to get some good ales and money-maker gizzards. Could not use the 3/8" net as we'd get a million little ones, could not use the 1/2" net as we'd GILL a million mid-sized ones - so I kept tossing the 5/8" net - we'd gill some nice ones but they would generally pull out without too much damage so into the tank they went.
We tossed the banks for a short while around 2:30a, but I think we missed our window. We were fishing above the bridge and the ales were working but we were not hearing any blow-ups. Kept trying to decide if we should fish up the lake or down - finally decided to go down so we made a 45 min ride about 4am and got to the dam before light - tried to anchor up for a while but the wind was blowing through the pass at what seemed like 30 mph. Fought it for a while and then as light broke started to put out the spread and pull the big mountain.
We picked up 4 fish there fairly quick - at least we each had two to measure in for the CPR-based tourney - and we could focus on trying to "upgrade".
We worked the mountain and the dam area a while kept going over scattered pods of fish, but no takers.
We went and looked around Elmo for a bit, then decided it was time for some breakfast - hit up Mitchell's about 10/10:30 and sat it out until the Poker Run launch
We decided then to fish in the Craddock area for a while and picked up a small one and then I managed to pick up an upgrade to my two-fish length limit.
We made a quick run over and fished Xmas tree island a while, and then Bulls Run without any luck, so we headed back to the Craddock Creek area and anchored up and put alewives on the bottom for the last hour or so - we did catch a small 20" striper that way - then the rain came so we packed it in and ran to the check-in at Parkway Marina.
I remembered to make sure my token card was in all the pics this time - that upgrade helped, good enough for 3rd place in the Open Category this time, and Mark got 4th - behind Chris & Macky May, who I believe had it won night fishing - good going guys.
Water: 68-72, clear
Techniques: A little bank tossing at night then the live-bait buffet - downlines with ales, planer boards with gizzards and ales on a mix of free & lightlines, floats with giz or big ales
What better way to follow a day of fishing with the Freedom Alliance group than to have a tournament
The plan was to catch fresh bait around 11, then fish the banks for fish starting 12:01 AM, fish a few hours and then get a few hours of sleep before hitting the early morning bite. As I said - the "plan" - did not turn out that way. I got an hour of sleep from 9:30p-10:30p and then Mark came over so that we could get bait - just as a storm arrived and kept us inside for an hour or more. Finally got on the water about midnight to chase bait. Was getting lots of big gizzards but did not want to overcrowd the tank, and wanted some good ales in case we needed to fish anchored up. Threw longer than desired trying to get some good ales and money-maker gizzards. Could not use the 3/8" net as we'd get a million little ones, could not use the 1/2" net as we'd GILL a million mid-sized ones - so I kept tossing the 5/8" net - we'd gill some nice ones but they would generally pull out without too much damage so into the tank they went.We tossed the banks for a short while around 2:30a, but I think we missed our window. We were fishing above the bridge and the ales were working but we were not hearing any blow-ups. Kept trying to decide if we should fish up the lake or down - finally decided to go down so we made a 45 min ride about 4am and got to the dam before light - tried to anchor up for a while but the wind was blowing through the pass at what seemed like 30 mph. Fought it for a while and then as light broke started to put out the spread and pull the big mountain.
We picked up 4 fish there fairly quick - at least we each had two to measure in for the CPR-based tourney - and we could focus on trying to "upgrade".
We worked the mountain and the dam area a while kept going over scattered pods of fish, but no takers.
We went and looked around Elmo for a bit, then decided it was time for some breakfast - hit up Mitchell's about 10/10:30 and sat it out until the Poker Run launch
We decided then to fish in the Craddock area for a while and picked up a small one and then I managed to pick up an upgrade to my two-fish length limit.
We made a quick run over and fished Xmas tree island a while, and then Bulls Run without any luck, so we headed back to the Craddock Creek area and anchored up and put alewives on the bottom for the last hour or so - we did catch a small 20" striper that way - then the rain came so we packed it in and ran to the check-in at Parkway Marina.
I remembered to make sure my token card was in all the pics this time - that upgrade helped, good enough for 3rd place in the Open Category this time, and Mark got 4th - behind Chris & Macky May, who I believe had it won night fishing - good going guys.
. Good thing I had my bait pen for back up. Amazing how the number of fish in craddock changed overnight. I had a 30+ in fish swipe at a mongo gizzard as I reeled it in to move spots above the bridge. Naturally I decided to stay a little longer. A minute later rod goes down. I did nothing but reel.....about five seconds go and the leader snaps 
Come on, I set my drag at 5 pounds with a spring scale, I checked my leaders for nicks before I cast. Talk about broken hearted. Later I doubled up with a 13" catfish and a 24" striper. The striper wrapped around my anchor line and I was just watching him thrash 8 feet down. Got Barret to pull up the anchor while I reeled in the line and netted the fish. Then we picked up two more cats that Barret pulled in.