5/27 - Pin the Ale on the Gizzard's Ass

[Deleted]

Caught fish from sun up to sun down. Biggest striper was 9 pounds. The majority were in the 5-7 pound range. Additionally, I caught 7 LM bass that ranged from 3-5 pounds. My son, wife and I just got done eating a few of the bass! Tasty!

Morning - Free and Light line ales
Afternoon - Light line ales
Late Afternoon - Free and Light line ales
Evening - Free line Big Gizz

The action was non stop thus I did not use downlines.

Oddly enough, in the evening, the ale bite just shut off! However, the big gizz bite turned on. You couldn't even get the shad to their plane position before they got sucked up. Then I ran out of gizz and called it a night.

PICTURE TIME!

I tried hard to pin the ale on the gizzard's ass! Unfortunately, the shad did not like it and flipped them off before they could attract any attention.



So... I just let the stinger ride....and as you can see...it worked!!



Impact



Nothing but leader and a lonely shad



The shad being dragged around by a fighting fish that just ate an ale!



The fish being dragged in by a fighting man that just ate a bass!





The evening shad bite. Them striper were lined up to (1)remove the stinger, (2)attack the shad!




Random shot. This striper felt the hook (You can see it in the pic) and spit it out with the ale. The striper in the bottom right corner then came up and gobbled up the ale! All this happened in less than a second!

[seajay]

Amazing pics Yam!! Congrats on a stellar day! Keep the pics coming. I am waiting for the day you have a big musky in those pics!

[BentRod]

Awesome! Love the pics

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More Pics.

As mentioned, the stripers stopped hitting ales in the evening. This becomes really obvious when you see the striper choose the shad over the ale.




Another interesting thing I am seeing is that the striper tend to hit the big gizz right where I happen to place the stinger. In the past, I was interpreting this as them removing the stinger. Well now... without a stinger, the striper are doing the same thing. That is, hit the fish from the bottom middle, shake a bit, then let go. Then, another fish comes in to eat.


Other stuff:

Bass and striper very close checking out the meal. In the past, it seemed as if the striper kept the bass at a distance. Perhaps, smaller striper don't scare the bass as much??



A bass stealing my ale! Bastard!! That's okay... I ate your brother!  

[iasus]

Awesome pictures! Making me want to get one myself to shoot some of Claytor Lake. Do they seem to stay in the picture often until fish are around or do they swim around the whole time? I was guessing maybe they kind of coast until getting spooky when a bit striper comes along.

[Deleted]

May 29, 2015 14:09:11 GMT -5 iasus said:

Awesome pictures! Making me want to get one myself to shoot some of Claytor Lake. Do they seem to stay in the picture often until fish are around or do they swim around the whole time? I was guessing maybe they kind of coast until getting spooky when a bit striper comes along.

Like everything else, it takes time and effort to optimize. Different sizes of bait require different lengths of leader and different speeds to keep them in the picture. There is no prescription other than feel and dedication. I would not get one if a big goal was to relax.

[BentRod]

That's awesome! I wanna see some video!

[hillbilly]

Yam -the pictures you are getting are pretty unbelievable. Never seen anything like it. I'm fascinated by the whole process, amazed at how clear the pictures are.....and find the death look in the predator fish eyes chilling. This is good stuff, thanks for putting the time in to do this, and for sharing with all of us.

[seajay]

Yam, after looking at these pics again can you explain to me your hook technique on the gizzard? It looks as if it goes in the mouth part way. Is there a purpose to this ?   I have always put mine through the nostrils with great success. I am just curious. 

[mwardncsu]

We've always hooked in the mouth - out a nostril. Interesting that you don't see the hook point coming out on those pics..... Yam - Are you hooking it somewhat different t?

[Deleted]

I'm bringing the hook out the nostril. Maybe the ale is pulling on it?

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

[seajay]

Ok, just could not tell by the pics. Thought you had something different going on. Thanks for all your pics , vids , and info.