Post by BentRod on Mar 13, 2022 8:33:13 GMT -5
Alright bigun - here’s a report!
Took Friday off to pre-fish for the Mafia “coffee can” tournament that was happening Saturday.
Friday morning was rough with a dense fog early that slowed us down. Water temps were 48-49 in all the spots we wanted to try and while we found fish, they were very finicky and our shallow water focused technique was not really working. Around midday, we found a few active fish in slightly warmer water and landed a 39.25” 23lb fish to get things going in the right direction for the weekend. Searched several more locations throughout the afternoon with little to show for it - we did catch a citation LM and a citation smallmouth, but we were having a tough time getting a hook in the striped fish despite getting a lot of chases. Late in the day, we landed a couple more small stripers and we also loaded back up on bait for the tournament the next day.
I dropped my buddy off and went to head home and couldn’t keep my boat running. Finally (with flashlights), discovered the fuel filter drain stopper had dry rotted and was leaking fuel and not holding pressure. One buddy suggested duct tape to get me home and sure enough that held long enough to get me back no problem - it’s always something!
Mward met me at the house Friday night with some new bait rod blanks he’s been wanting to try. We got them all rigged up and ready for the next morning while watching the Hokies kick UNC’s tail.
The weather was looking nasty Saturday morning, so we set out with a plan to fish three locations we know well. We thought they may have some wind protection against a NW wind and also likely had good fish if we could just get some bites. Fortunately for us, despite the weather, the fish were more active than Friday morning, and we got the bites we needed throughout the morning to win the tournament. Mward kicked it off with a 39.5” fish and our buddy BJ landed a fat 37.5” later in the morning. We were using very large shad free-lined shallow in the water column. Water temps were about 50-52 where we were Saturday. My best advice at the moment is not worry about location (uplake, downlake, this creek/that creek, etc) and apply your fishing technique to where you are. This is the one time of year where fish are spread literally throughout the entire lake - don’t be afraid to fish anywhere.
As far as the new live bait fishing rods, I am a fan! Mward nailed the blank I think - extremely soft fiberglass tip that blends into a stout graphite backbone about 1/3 of the way down the rod. We were using the ML and M versions of the blank - Mward has some MH on the way also to test I think. It actually reminds me of the old Airrus Co-matrix rods (in a live bait version) that were very popular. Still some testing to be done, but be on the lookout for those if you are looking for a new bait rod. Best part is that they will be hand crafted locally in the USA!
Took Friday off to pre-fish for the Mafia “coffee can” tournament that was happening Saturday.
Friday morning was rough with a dense fog early that slowed us down. Water temps were 48-49 in all the spots we wanted to try and while we found fish, they were very finicky and our shallow water focused technique was not really working. Around midday, we found a few active fish in slightly warmer water and landed a 39.25” 23lb fish to get things going in the right direction for the weekend. Searched several more locations throughout the afternoon with little to show for it - we did catch a citation LM and a citation smallmouth, but we were having a tough time getting a hook in the striped fish despite getting a lot of chases. Late in the day, we landed a couple more small stripers and we also loaded back up on bait for the tournament the next day.
I dropped my buddy off and went to head home and couldn’t keep my boat running. Finally (with flashlights), discovered the fuel filter drain stopper had dry rotted and was leaking fuel and not holding pressure. One buddy suggested duct tape to get me home and sure enough that held long enough to get me back no problem - it’s always something!
Mward met me at the house Friday night with some new bait rod blanks he’s been wanting to try. We got them all rigged up and ready for the next morning while watching the Hokies kick UNC’s tail.
The weather was looking nasty Saturday morning, so we set out with a plan to fish three locations we know well. We thought they may have some wind protection against a NW wind and also likely had good fish if we could just get some bites. Fortunately for us, despite the weather, the fish were more active than Friday morning, and we got the bites we needed throughout the morning to win the tournament. Mward kicked it off with a 39.5” fish and our buddy BJ landed a fat 37.5” later in the morning. We were using very large shad free-lined shallow in the water column. Water temps were about 50-52 where we were Saturday. My best advice at the moment is not worry about location (uplake, downlake, this creek/that creek, etc) and apply your fishing technique to where you are. This is the one time of year where fish are spread literally throughout the entire lake - don’t be afraid to fish anywhere.
As far as the new live bait fishing rods, I am a fan! Mward nailed the blank I think - extremely soft fiberglass tip that blends into a stout graphite backbone about 1/3 of the way down the rod. We were using the ML and M versions of the blank - Mward has some MH on the way also to test I think. It actually reminds me of the old Airrus Co-matrix rods (in a live bait version) that were very popular. Still some testing to be done, but be on the lookout for those if you are looking for a new bait rod. Best part is that they will be hand crafted locally in the USA!
nice fish!! 