8/11 morning report

[chrisw]

Got up early and hit the lake before dawn with one of my sons. Water temp was 82 and the lake was high but clear. I put in at Halesford boat ramp and was never more than 5 miles from the ramp.



Found a few of these on some dock lights. Not big, and not large numbers, but alive and tasty looking. Maybe someone can tell me what they are. Not gizzards is all I’m sure of.


Dropped several to various depths while drifting in areas with suspicious pelagic marks on sonar and got a lot of lookers, but no commitment. Except for this guy, who came home for breakfast.


Still looking for a striper, but I know I was close today. Maybe my hooks were too big for the bait. Maybe I was too deep. Maybe I just needed bigger bait.

[johnr]

Those are threadfins..

[wharfrat]

Thanks for the report, the board has been pretty quiet lately. We will be up tomorrow for our annual vacation, and hopefully fishing some during the week. Will post on how we do. IMO, smaller hooks would allow a more natural bait presentation for those size baits. (I think those are threadfin shad?)

[chrisw]

I was just talking with my coworker Wednesday about hook size. He lives on the lake and fishes several times a week. He said he uses hooks much smaller than what I used today.

[herringbone]

Thanks for the report. It all depends on your bait size. There’s lots of guys that use baits 6”-10” long, this is where you’ll need the bigger hooks. Smaller bait, smaller hook. If the bait struggles to swim naturally in the water because of the hook, it’s too big, and will more than likely die a lot quicker.

[tblspoon]

Thank you for the report and pictures. So happy to see the use of this site.
You have informed people more than you know.
Looks like it was a great day of fishing.

[striperfan]

I agree with all the others-match the hook with the bait. The hook you had the bait on too large. For baits that small I have gone to #2 hooks not 2/0 hooks. Gives a much better presentation and the bait does hold up a little longer. Thanks for the report and keep after them !!