1/3/16 - Wrapping up the Holidays!
Jan 3, 2016 21:58:10 GMT -5
tommyfishes, drag4striper, and 1 more like this
Post by mwardncsu on Jan 3, 2016 21:58:10 GMT -5
Weather: low 50's dropping to the upper 40's. Light & variable winds from the SW. Mostly sunny skies
Water: 52-53, visibility of a few feet
Techniques: Casting to breaking fish - Mr. Waggs swim baits in Yadkin Shad color & a white Kodiak jig from Striper Sniper Tackle
The Holiday week was over.... time to head back to NC and get ready to return to the "real world". I slept in this morning and hung out with the wife and kids. We were at the lake in 2 cars and after we got everything packed and they headed out about 2:30 or so I was sitting debating if I headed on home our went out to try and find some birds. A few buddies had reported some great bird action on Sat evening and Sunday AM (as I slept), so I figured some schools were still around in the area. I had about decided just to head home when I got a text that "looks like something is about to happen"..... so 15 min later I was on the boat, moving some lures around my rods/reels and getting a Kodiak jig tied on.
Headed out looking for the birds - stopped in one spot to watch, seeing a few birds moving up the lake - went on up and saw a bunch flocking and starting to dart & dive - game on!
Saw a few rolls - and then the fish finder lit up.... I was going back and forth between casting & jigging the Kodiak jig, and casting the swim bait. I could not get hooked up, but watched some guys near me land a 17 lb fish.
Just as quick as I was on them, the fish were gone. I idled around a bit and noticed the birds congregating again a bit back down the lake in the mouth of a main creek - throttled the Yamaha 250 wide open and bolted down there and saw fish blowing up all around the mouth..... as I dropped off plane the fish started to push up into a small cut not much wider than a few boats, but maybe 100 feet long.... I slid in there and cast the Kodiak jig as fish were blowing up all around my boat. On the third cast I managed to the the line wrapped around the tip in a knot and could not quickly get it untied with the fish exploding - so I pulled in the jig and grabbed the rod with the swim bait.
Cast it out a couple of times and got hooked up, but it came off a few seconds later. Cast again and got hit, and this time the fish stayed hooked up on the Shimano Citica reel spooled with 17 lb flourocarbon and Duckett Micro Magic rod. The fish fought nice, but I was very surprised when I got it in the boat and on the Boags to see it went 16 lbs
I would normally have done a quick measurement on length, and should have for our Striper Club Fish Ladder, but the fish were still exploding like cannon balls all around the boat and all I could think about was the next cast.
The fish were all around us for the next 15 min but I could not get hooked up again - and then the fish moved out. I headed back down the lake a bit and into a creek where VTSuperFluke was throwing - we sat waiting for some action and chatted a while - did get to see him jig one up off the bottom.
Hung around there a while till he got a call about some fish even further down the lake - we both ran down there and marked a few but very scattered - did see one boated while down there though.... the sun was setting and I decided it was time to call it quits and get on the road, so I pointed the boat toward the slip and put a close to a great Christmas & New Years Holiday!
Water: 52-53, visibility of a few feet
Techniques: Casting to breaking fish - Mr. Waggs swim baits in Yadkin Shad color & a white Kodiak jig from Striper Sniper Tackle
The Holiday week was over.... time to head back to NC and get ready to return to the "real world". I slept in this morning and hung out with the wife and kids. We were at the lake in 2 cars and after we got everything packed and they headed out about 2:30 or so I was sitting debating if I headed on home our went out to try and find some birds. A few buddies had reported some great bird action on Sat evening and Sunday AM (as I slept), so I figured some schools were still around in the area. I had about decided just to head home when I got a text that "looks like something is about to happen"..... so 15 min later I was on the boat, moving some lures around my rods/reels and getting a Kodiak jig tied on.
Headed out looking for the birds - stopped in one spot to watch, seeing a few birds moving up the lake - went on up and saw a bunch flocking and starting to dart & dive - game on!
Saw a few rolls - and then the fish finder lit up.... I was going back and forth between casting & jigging the Kodiak jig, and casting the swim bait. I could not get hooked up, but watched some guys near me land a 17 lb fish.
Just as quick as I was on them, the fish were gone. I idled around a bit and noticed the birds congregating again a bit back down the lake in the mouth of a main creek - throttled the Yamaha 250 wide open and bolted down there and saw fish blowing up all around the mouth..... as I dropped off plane the fish started to push up into a small cut not much wider than a few boats, but maybe 100 feet long.... I slid in there and cast the Kodiak jig as fish were blowing up all around my boat. On the third cast I managed to the the line wrapped around the tip in a knot and could not quickly get it untied with the fish exploding - so I pulled in the jig and grabbed the rod with the swim bait.
Cast it out a couple of times and got hooked up, but it came off a few seconds later. Cast again and got hit, and this time the fish stayed hooked up on the Shimano Citica reel spooled with 17 lb flourocarbon and Duckett Micro Magic rod. The fish fought nice, but I was very surprised when I got it in the boat and on the Boags to see it went 16 lbs
I would normally have done a quick measurement on length, and should have for our Striper Club Fish Ladder, but the fish were still exploding like cannon balls all around the boat and all I could think about was the next cast.The fish were all around us for the next 15 min but I could not get hooked up again - and then the fish moved out. I headed back down the lake a bit and into a creek where VTSuperFluke was throwing - we sat waiting for some action and chatted a while - did get to see him jig one up off the bottom.
Hung around there a while till he got a call about some fish even further down the lake - we both ran down there and marked a few but very scattered - did see one boated while down there though.... the sun was setting and I decided it was time to call it quits and get on the road, so I pointed the boat toward the slip and put a close to a great Christmas & New Years Holiday!
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