wasilvers
Well-known member
My son (7) and I took a friends kid (sophomore in high school) fishing today. Up at 4am with an awesome game-plan for the day. Supposed to be bass on topwater for 45 minutes, on to crappie till we hit 25. Then bass on the main points and secret island till 10, and maybe a few bluegill to round out the fish fry.... The fish, however, had another plan - I think it involved sleeping...
On the water, the wind was blowing 10+, the weatherman has it forecasted to blow at 5mph till 11 this morning, boy were they wrong. We skipped the topwater and hit the crappie right away. Two of us threw nail tail (jigs made by cubby - very effective lures) and one tossed half crawlers at 8 feet down. The crawlers caught every small fish in the lake. The jigs caught crappie and small gills, but nothing of too much size. Tried a few great summer locations, and only had 4 or 5 crappie in the livewell by 9am. We tried the secret, sunken island and landed one bass. The kids got bored, so we tried a few other things. I saw a guy land 3 bass in some areas I knew were really deep (25-30) and probably not even weedy. We were on our way to find bluegills when I tossed a Carolina rigged lizard on the flat and got nailed right away. A nice bass went in the livewell to keep the crappie company. Had a few more good hits and broke one off. Then the kid fishing with me said he wanted to catch a bass so we threw C-rigs for about an hour - managed a bass about every 12 minutes and he even caught one (his first ever of any size) that was just a bit short. He hooked something big that broke his line? At one stop, the panfish bit the tails of the lizards, so the kid tossed out a jig and landed the biggest crappie of the day - we stayed there and manged another 5 good sized crappie. Fished our way out and caught a few more bass, but nothing of size. Off the water at 11:30.
Did get reminded of why I don't fish the 4th if I can help it. The ski boats throw big wakes when going slow, and they come pretty close to you. I felt a bit unsafe out there, but never had waves over the sides. Then I was fishing a spot and we were getting bit on C rigs, but not hooking up. A guy comes motoring by about 30 feet from me right over where he watched me cast twice (as I saw him coming and wanted him to know I was fishing there). I have him some signals like "what are you doing?" - which he managed to shrug his shoulders to. He asked if we were catching anything, and I had to say, "We were getting lots of bites right there where you are driving over" He laughed and said he was just scaring them over to my boat. Arrrgggg. I was 25 yards offshore (easily castable)and he cut the bank on me. I REALLY wanted to sling that big carolina rig right at him, but resisted.... after all, I have 2 kids watching this whole thing unfold. We did not get bit there again (and tried it 2x)
Yesterday I posted on facebook that I haven't had many issues with my boat in 3 years....NEVER DO THAT! The livewell stopped filling today. banged on it, checked the fuses but couldn't see, so took off the sunglasses... and immediately knelt on them - bending them beyond all recognition. Then I pulled the livewell wire free from it's connection, so it really wouldn't work then.
All in all, we got 1.5lbs of fillets from 10 fish. A good fish fry for the kid and his family. When we left at 11:30, there were 5 boats waiting to get on the water, but there are only 10 parking spots. Three of those boats probably cost more than I make in a year. It really makes me appreciate my tin all the more.
On the water, the wind was blowing 10+, the weatherman has it forecasted to blow at 5mph till 11 this morning, boy were they wrong. We skipped the topwater and hit the crappie right away. Two of us threw nail tail (jigs made by cubby - very effective lures) and one tossed half crawlers at 8 feet down. The crawlers caught every small fish in the lake. The jigs caught crappie and small gills, but nothing of too much size. Tried a few great summer locations, and only had 4 or 5 crappie in the livewell by 9am. We tried the secret, sunken island and landed one bass. The kids got bored, so we tried a few other things. I saw a guy land 3 bass in some areas I knew were really deep (25-30) and probably not even weedy. We were on our way to find bluegills when I tossed a Carolina rigged lizard on the flat and got nailed right away. A nice bass went in the livewell to keep the crappie company. Had a few more good hits and broke one off. Then the kid fishing with me said he wanted to catch a bass so we threw C-rigs for about an hour - managed a bass about every 12 minutes and he even caught one (his first ever of any size) that was just a bit short. He hooked something big that broke his line? At one stop, the panfish bit the tails of the lizards, so the kid tossed out a jig and landed the biggest crappie of the day - we stayed there and manged another 5 good sized crappie. Fished our way out and caught a few more bass, but nothing of size. Off the water at 11:30.
Did get reminded of why I don't fish the 4th if I can help it. The ski boats throw big wakes when going slow, and they come pretty close to you. I felt a bit unsafe out there, but never had waves over the sides. Then I was fishing a spot and we were getting bit on C rigs, but not hooking up. A guy comes motoring by about 30 feet from me right over where he watched me cast twice (as I saw him coming and wanted him to know I was fishing there). I have him some signals like "what are you doing?" - which he managed to shrug his shoulders to. He asked if we were catching anything, and I had to say, "We were getting lots of bites right there where you are driving over" He laughed and said he was just scaring them over to my boat. Arrrgggg. I was 25 yards offshore (easily castable)and he cut the bank on me. I REALLY wanted to sling that big carolina rig right at him, but resisted.... after all, I have 2 kids watching this whole thing unfold. We did not get bit there again (and tried it 2x)
Yesterday I posted on facebook that I haven't had many issues with my boat in 3 years....NEVER DO THAT! The livewell stopped filling today. banged on it, checked the fuses but couldn't see, so took off the sunglasses... and immediately knelt on them - bending them beyond all recognition. Then I pulled the livewell wire free from it's connection, so it really wouldn't work then.
All in all, we got 1.5lbs of fillets from 10 fish. A good fish fry for the kid and his family. When we left at 11:30, there were 5 boats waiting to get on the water, but there are only 10 parking spots. Three of those boats probably cost more than I make in a year. It really makes me appreciate my tin all the more.
