Post by R22 on Dec 7, 2020 10:48:23 GMT -5
I headed to the lake on Thursday night. I thought Friday looked like a good day heading into a frontal change. I got on the water much later than I anticipated and was determined to find some better bait, something that stood out a little bit. Getting a good tank took several hours and several locations but we ended up with about 40 solid baits that averaged 8-9 inches with maybe a half dozen that were 10-11 inches.
We spent the last hour on Friday pulling a few baits, lots of activity but nothing to commit. We headed in just before dark in pouring rain.
Based on the weather report, we didn't leave my dock until 8:30 on Saturday morning. The wind was off and on early, but by mid-morning it reached the brutal mark and stayed that way the balance of the day. We lost a nice fish right at the boat early on and then the fish moved into play mode. We had a pretty fair amount of activity. Lots of chases and boils but we could not get fish to commit. Just before noon, we found some breaking fish, the screen was absolutely covered with fish. The boards went crazy but still no hookup on live bait. We did pick up one nice fish casting. A 36.75 inch fish that was not particularly heavy but put up a heck of a fight on lighter tackle.
From lunch until mid- afternoon, things were tough with the wind. Our best activity was coming off points on the main channel so we continued to fight the wind. We found some activity on a shallow point and we circled back to pull through that spot at least 5 or 6 times. Each time, we had boils but nothing willing to eat. We decided to bring in our lines and that triggered a bite. A solid 20 pounder at 35.75 inches.
We quit just before dark with just two fish. They were both nice fish and we were grateful.
We slept in on Sunday morning, finally getting on the water about 8:30. The air was perfectly still and not a cloud in the sky. It was a beautiful morning but slow for the first little bit. We found a nice largemouth off a blowdown. He was 22 inches at 6 pounds and some change and ate a gizzard that was at least a nine-inches.
We only fished a few hours on Sunday with not much activity. The one striper we did boat demonstrated no lack of commitment. He slammed the board and put up a big fight, he ran off 50-60 yards of line. I wasn't sure we would get him stopped. We were surprised that he was a 34.5 inch, 18-pound fish. He was a handful. We also caught another nice largemouth that we lost at the boat.
Other than some casting and a little jigging, we fished planer boards, both freelines and light lines. We did try the occasional downline when we found fish. Water temperatures were mostly 54-56 degrees.
We spent the last hour on Friday pulling a few baits, lots of activity but nothing to commit. We headed in just before dark in pouring rain.
Based on the weather report, we didn't leave my dock until 8:30 on Saturday morning. The wind was off and on early, but by mid-morning it reached the brutal mark and stayed that way the balance of the day. We lost a nice fish right at the boat early on and then the fish moved into play mode. We had a pretty fair amount of activity. Lots of chases and boils but we could not get fish to commit. Just before noon, we found some breaking fish, the screen was absolutely covered with fish. The boards went crazy but still no hookup on live bait. We did pick up one nice fish casting. A 36.75 inch fish that was not particularly heavy but put up a heck of a fight on lighter tackle.
From lunch until mid- afternoon, things were tough with the wind. Our best activity was coming off points on the main channel so we continued to fight the wind. We found some activity on a shallow point and we circled back to pull through that spot at least 5 or 6 times. Each time, we had boils but nothing willing to eat. We decided to bring in our lines and that triggered a bite. A solid 20 pounder at 35.75 inches.
We quit just before dark with just two fish. They were both nice fish and we were grateful.
We slept in on Sunday morning, finally getting on the water about 8:30. The air was perfectly still and not a cloud in the sky. It was a beautiful morning but slow for the first little bit. We found a nice largemouth off a blowdown. He was 22 inches at 6 pounds and some change and ate a gizzard that was at least a nine-inches.
We only fished a few hours on Sunday with not much activity. The one striper we did boat demonstrated no lack of commitment. He slammed the board and put up a big fight, he ran off 50-60 yards of line. I wasn't sure we would get him stopped. We were surprised that he was a 34.5 inch, 18-pound fish. He was a handful. We also caught another nice largemouth that we lost at the boat.
Other than some casting and a little jigging, we fished planer boards, both freelines and light lines. We did try the occasional downline when we found fish. Water temperatures were mostly 54-56 degrees.
