I went out again today but only for about two hours on the pond.  The temperature was 60 degrees and the wind was gusting to about 15 mph.  I followed the shoreline, again using my trusty Blue Fox spinner.  Boat control was difficult with the wind trying to blow the boat into shore.  This made paralleling the shoreline very difficult.  To counter this I moved out from shore, stopped my electric motor and drifted toward shore while casting to the shoreline.  I was using a faster retrieve to get rid of the bow in the line caused by the wind.

This method was the key.  I caught six bass from one to three lbs , six small crappie (hand size) and one bluegill all on the Blue Fox spinner.  I did try my craw and my jig and minnow  (Mr Twister) without success.

I was happy.  Got home for dinner just in time(as usual) and just had a good day.

Tight lines

Jim

The Blue Fox spinner was the winner again today, 9-27-09.  In addition to the YUM Baby Craw that also brought in six nice bass in the 1 1/2 to 2lb range.  The Blue Fox once again proved to be the best all around fish catcher though with a bunch of crappie and a couple of small bass.  A straight retrieve and a moderate speed seemed to be the key.  Trying sort burst of speed or burning the lure was not productive with the spinner.  With the Yum craw I used the hop and pause method; a slow drag did not seem to work.  With the craw, instead of using a worm hook, I’ve been inserting a long shank jig into the hollow body of the craw with the hook just barely penetrating the head of the lure.  Using that method I’m getting a better hook up ratio.  However, the bait easily gets torn up when catching fish, so bring plenty of them with you.  Also, spraying YUM scent into the craws hollow belly seems to make the bait more effective.

Shown here are the two best fish of the day, two channel cats and both weighed in a nearly 4 lbs.  Lots of fun, cats never seem to want to give up.  So let the fish work on the drag, be patient and get them to net. 

Note: I don’t keep the fish and handle them as little as possible.  As soon as possible I just lift the net, put it in the water, and turn the net over to release them.  This helps to ensure that the protective slime on their bodies is less affected by handling and gives the fish a much better chance of survival.

Tight lines

Jim