If you’ve wondered where I’ve been the last couple of weeks, well, My wife and I have been with our son and daughter in law, Steve and Katie, where they have been busy bringing a new bundle of joy into the world, Alexander.  And, he is beautiful, 7lbs 6oz on 6-11-2011. 

Hopefully, in the future, I will have the privilege to take him fishing.  I,m already looking forward to it.  I just thought I would share this with you just to show you that I do have other interests in this world.  Katie is fine the baby is fine and the dad, Stephen, is also fine.  They have received many blessings recently.  Steve graduated from college with high honors and has already landed a job with the States Attorneys office.  And he likes his job and the people he works with.  What more could you ask for.

Tight lines

Jim

Today I started out at 2pm and fished for about an hour where I missed that big bass the other day.  I only got one fish to bite, a small bass, and some bluegill nibbles, as Roy puts it, “those rat-tat-tats”.  I was hoping that the bass I missed had stayed in the area as it is known that big bass will claim a territory of their own and stay there.  And, I  was hoping that she would be hungry again. That particular place is full of tree roots and brush that I have planted there in the past.  It’s full of snags, the perfect place where a big bass would make it’s home.  Well, apparently, she wasn’t in the mood or just wasn’t there.

I was using the same lures that I fished the day before thinking that would be what they wanted on this day too.  Well, I was wrong.  About 5 years ago I used to have good luck on the black/red, (black on one side and red on the other side) Gary Yamamoto stick worm.  Still nothing there so I moved on.

I remembered that a few days ago I had to place the lure right on the edge of shore, six inches to a foot to get results.  I began to fish the shore line doing just that and started to get some results using the black/red stick worm.  The bass in the net was the first of six bass.  Then there was a long dry spell of about two hours.  I switched to the fly rod hoping to catch a few bluegill or maybe a bass using a popper in the frog color.  I managed to catch only three bluegill and one small bass.

5:30pm.  Time to get  started back.  To fish the shore properly, you must move very slowly and thoroughly test every piece of brush along the way.  I was having no luck and was just about half way back to where I keep my boat when I got the cat.  As usual she gave up a great struggle before I could get her into the boat.  She flopped around in the net and out of it onto the floor.  So, I quickly got the picture and let her go.  She looked like she had eggs from the look of her belly; I hope she recovers and spawns ok.

A little further on I hooked into the nice bass shown and what a fight!  The bass was towing the boat toward the shore where I hooked onto it trying to get back to all the snags.  Who says bass aren’t smart.  I turned on my electric motor to get the fish away from the snags and into open water the same way as when I lost the big bass the other day.  This time it worked.  The fish jumped several times but I managed to keep a tight line so that she didn’t throw the hook.  Finally, I got her into the net.   I quickly set up my camera while I kept the fish in the net in the water so as not to hurt the fish.  I took the picture and let her go as fast as I could.  The bass was not hooked hard, in fact, the hook was in the bony part of the lower jaw and had not penetrated past the barb in the jaw bone.  The hook fell out when I got it into the boat.  Glad I had my new net.  And, by the way, I recently purchased the Frabill rubber net.  I had read that the nylon nets may hurt the fish by scraping off the fishes slime cover.  And it is snag free as it is advertised i.e.  the hooks don’t get fouled in the net.  I’d say the fish was close to seven lbs but, I think that the bass I missed the other day was even bigger.  Of course, “the big ones always get away.”Well, the slow day turned out to be a good one after all.  But, any day on the lake is a good one.

The day was cloudy, temperature in the mid 80’s, the lake level is full.  Ideal conditions.  Tackle: Abu Garcia Veritas rod and the Cardinal Soron reel, with 12 lb test Trilene XL line, and a wide gap Gammatsu #4 hook, black/red stick worm.

A piece of advice to all you old timers, like me.. “Instead of staying home and melting into your easy chair, get some exercise and some fresh air..”Go fishing!”  Bring some binoculars with you too; for you birdwatchers there’s a multitude of beautiful singing birds and water birds around the water.  If you can’t get around well, see if you can get some youngster to take you, (to do all the work)!  Have some fun outdoors.

P.S.  Thanks again Theresa, I caught the fish on the new rod and reel you bought me for my birthday last year.

Tight Lines

Jim

I went out again on the pond yesterday with the aim of trying some lures that I hadn’t used before but, had seen advertised in some magazines and  TV shows.  The green one is Cabela’s Aquaglow split tail grub and it definitely a fish catcher on the pond.  The problem is that the bluegill or maybe the small newly stocked bass bite off the appendages.  After that the lure is apparently less attractive to the fish.  However, when a good bass takes it, it is eaten.  I looked in my newest Cabela’s catalog to try to get some more of them but they are not in the book nor are they in any of the sporting good stores here.  So, I bought some Strike King “okeechobee craws” from Dick’s sporting goods store and they work even better.  They are green on one side and blue on the opposite side.  The appendages get bitten of them  too, but they catch fish.  They are coffee and salt scented and KVD lists them as a favorite.  Also shown is the Zoom baby brush hog with “super Salt.  They work well too.  They are now listed as best liked in my book too.  To fish them properly, fish them un weighted  and let them drift to the bottom.  Then use small hops and drag them on the bottom.  Sometimes, right next to shore near brush, they get hit when sinking.

The channel cats also like them as you can see in the pictures.  I managed to catch three 5 lbs. cats, one on the brush hog and two on the craw.  These are the first cats that I’ve caught on plastics in the pond.  That should tell you something.  The six bass I caught were dived evenly about three each on the craw and grub.

There was a lull in the action for a while so I got out a fly rod with a white crystal wooly bugger bead head size 6.  I came to a place where I can usually catch some bluegill and started a casting.  The nice 9” bluegill was one of 6 more.  I also caught one of the newly stocked channel cats and a small bass with the fly.

Well, all good fishing days must come to a close.  Near where I keep my boat I tried my “one last cast”.  Wow!  The biggest bass I have see in the pond took my okeechobee crab.  This fish startled me so, when I saw him jump I blurted,”Oh my Lord”!  I had cast cast into some very heavy cover and the fish was trying to bury himself into that cover as hard as he could.  I turned on my electric motor to try to pull him away from the cover and into open water but, before I could get him away he made another another mighty jump and threw the hook.

My new goal..”get him again” but, this time using braided line and my drag on tight.  I was using 12 lbs. Trilene XL line and had my drag set for fighting the cats which I did manage to get away from the brush.  But this fish just wouldn’t be stopped pulling line off my drag like nothing was going to stop him.

My hope is that this fish has claimed this spot as his own domain and will remain in that particular area which is often the case for large bass in small impoundments.Time and some luck will tell.  I would love to hook up with him again and I’m almost certain that this bass is the biggest in the pond.

The day was very windy, 20 mph winds from the West with some strong gusts.  The sky was mostly cloudy and the temperature was about 89 degrees according to the weather report.  I was fishing from about noon until 4:45pm. To catch fish I had to cast into the wind and right next to the bank.  Otherwise, nothing.

Tight Lines

Jim

Ivan got his first day of fishing this year and it was a very special day for him.  He caught his very first bass on the fly rod!  He’d been looking forward to that for a long time.  His casting the fly has greatly improved and he is now able to cast the fly accurately about fifty feet.  The distance is important so as not to spook the fish.  He was using a small yellow and white popper which, I would guess, appeared to be a wounded bait fish.  The trick was to cast to about 6” to a foot off the shore next to the sticks and brush as shown in the picture.  Any further away from shore would not get strikes.  So, accuracy was extremely important.

I saw the look on his face when he discovered, not a bluegill, but a bass..pure excitement and delight.  I wish I had my camera ready for that moment, it would have been the picture of the year.  After that he would not put down the fly rod and I can’t blame him, catching bass on the fly rod is very exciting.  I didn’t rig up my fly rods because that was his territory that day.

I tried my new Spro Frog in the reedy area of the lake without even a follow up so, I went to my Yum silver and white stick worm and caught some nice bass with it.  I guess it’s too early for frogging the weeds.    However, this time, instead of fishing it shallow along the shore, I found it to be more effective if I let it sink to near the bottom.  Now that seems odd,  Ivan was catching bass and bluegill and even a crappie next to shore with a popper and I had to fish deeper.  You never know what or how the fish will react to baits on any given day.  That’s why we take several different rods, bait casters, spinning, and fly rods with us on all our outings..you never know. 

We ran into Roy on the lake, he was fishing solo from his canoe and was having a good day.  In fact, Roy out fished both of us using a big plastic worm, Texas rigged, on the bottom.  He didn’t mention the color or brand of worm but I know he uses Berkley”s ribbon tail in black fairly often when we go out together.

It was a wonderful day and it made my day for two reasons:  1st:  it was good to be out with Ivan again.  He’s had lots of problems orthopedic wise and 2nd: witnessing his delight in catching his first bass on the fly rod. 

I wish the day could have lasted longer but we did well with a total of 23 fish in the boat.

Tight Lines

Jim

Roy and I got back together again at River Bend last week and we both had a good fishing day.  Together we caught 39 bass and probably missed half as many more due to poor hookups.  Twice I had bass on all the way to the boat when the fish  got off…but, what happened, why no hookup?  I looked at my Yum stick worm  and discovered the hook point had never penetrated the fishes jaw.  I always slip the point of the hook under a thin layer of the worms surface  to make it weedless, the point never broke through, meaning, the bass held onto the stick bait by locking its jaws struggling to not let that morsel of food to get away.  Now that proves that Yum baits really taste like a delicious meal to the bass.  That also happened to Roy at least once that I know of.  And these fish really fight hard. 

We also noted that the fish were a little larger this year than from last year.  The biggest bass are still hard to find and have eluded us each time that we’ve fished there.  Roy did try some Texas rigged Berkley worms on the bottom but still caught the same size fish on average, the largest being about two pounds.   I pretty much stuck the my Yum stick worm fished weightless.  The bass would hit the lure after it had dropped about 5 feet beneath the surface and after I twitched it slightly.  Some bass were caught only a foot from shore.

I also tried fishing with a Spro Frog but got no results, I guess it’s a little too early for frogging.

The first three pictures show fish that I caught in the pond and all were caught on that Cabela’s glow critter that I was having good success with last week on the pond.  I tried it  while at River Bend without even a tap.  Another lesson:  One lure does not catch bass in  all locations.  The pond is very murky and shallow, while River Bend is clear and as deep as 40 feet.  We were fishing close to shore and, on occasion , we saw a frenzy of bait fish on the surface,  we’d cast there and catch another bass.

On this outing we also got a surprise to see a very small Northern Pike of about 12”.  Roy had brought a small bass up next to the boat and lo and behold, the little pike was chasing the bass and wouldn’t leave it alone.  Roy finally lifted the bass out of the water and the pike disappeared.

The lake had 65 pike fingerlings put in it in 2002 but, I had never seen one until now.  Reportedly, smallmouth bass were also stocked in the lake but, I haven’t seen any of them either.

The day was beautiful, the air temp was in the mid 80s, partly cloudy sky, and calm or nearly calm surface on the water.  Occasionally we’d get a small breeze to put a small ripple on the surface.  We couldn’t ask for a nicer day and with the good company of Roy, I had a wonderful day .

Fishing the pond had a unique twist to it:  Casting a foot or two from shore got no results whereas fishing  6” from shore got the bass shown above plus a few more smaller ones.  I did the same thing two days later and caught nine bass in about two hours, the smallest about a pound and the largest about three pounds.  No other bait except the Cabela’s glow critter got results in the pond those two days!  I also caught a nice channel cat on that same lure.

Tight Lines

Jim

I’ve been a little lax on making entries in my web site lately so, I thought I’d better get it updated today while I have the time.  The weather has not been very cooperative in the last few weeks and so I’ve not really done a lot of fishing.  On the days that I have fished  the wind has been really strong and the air cold with North winds.  But, I have had some success.  These last few days have been warm but still very windy.  Using the fly rod has been a challenge in the strong wind.

The pictures shown are, of course, of  my most successful days on the water.  I originally wanted to out do my big crappie by catching a bigger one so, I concentrated on the crappie fishing first.  However, the best crappie I’ve managed so far is about 12 “ with most of them at around 8”.   Nothing to brag about there but, as you can see, I did manage to catch some really nice channel cats on the flies that I was using t o catch crappie with!  It is always fun to hang into a channel cat on the fly rod, they just never want to give up and when you’re using a fly rod with a 6 lb leader, you just can’t horse them in.  The two flies that I was using were a bead head white/crystal wooly bugger, and a soft shell craw,  as shown, both purchased from the “Fly Shack” at a good price on the internet.   I have caught more that 30 crappie and about 25 bass with a few bluegills as well using the fly or the bait caster but catching fish is the name of the game no matter what the size; it’s just FUN!

The critter shown, is  a Cabela’s Aquaglow split tail grub and it is a real fish getter.  I was using my Yum craw on a Strike King jig, a lure that I can usually depend on to catch bass  with but with no results.  I switched to the grub and caught three bass in a row in the same small area where I previously  tried the Yum craw.     So,  I guess the lure does make the difference on different days or maybe it was the color.  The presentation is the same drag, drag, hop, hop, drag, etc.  The two nice bass I ‘d guess weighed maybe 4 1/2 lbs to 5 lbs.  I release them as quickly as possible so as to not injure them .  And to that effect, I recently purchased a Frabill landing net made from that rubber material that helps prevent the fish losing the slime protective coat on the fish.  I am a catch and release  fisherman.  The bass were caught on on my bait caster, the Abu Garcia Orra SX, using 10 lb test Trilene XL line and a 6 1/2 ft Diawa rod that I got on sale at Dick’s Sporting goods.  A modestly priced outfit that does the job well.

The fly rod that I caught the cats on was purchased last year on the internet from Cabela’s .  It was on sale too, it was originally  a $100. rod and I got it for $50.  I always keep on the lookout for good sales both on Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s.  The grub was also on sale a Cabela’s.  I read somewhere, “The rod on sale today was the premium rod of yesterday”.  And that, I find, rings true.  Just because the old are being replaced with the new “and improved” dosen’t mean the ones being replaced are no longer very serviceable.  After all they were the new and improved models just a few years ago and proved to be very effective.

Tight Lines

Jim

    I’d like to say 5 lbs.  but, I just took the picture and let her go asap as she was loaded with eggs and I do want her genes in the pond.  She went for the same Yum stick bait that I caught the 12 1/2 “  crappie on, shown in picture, just letting it drift with intermittent twitches.  They both hit while the bait was at rest. 

The temperature was 62 and the water temp was about 50 degrees F.  A bright sunny day.  I caught a few small bass as well, mostly 1 to 2 lbs.  I was only out for an hour and a half because on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I pick up my little grand daughter at the buss stop.  She’s my little “fishergirl”.  We’ll start going fishing together after school lets out.

I  thought some people might be interested in how important you, retired guys, like me, are important to our kids and grandkids who have served in the military.  I retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1974 after serving a little over 20 years.  I have fished in several places in Asia and in Europe during my tours of duty but always longed to get back home to the good old U.S.A. to fish with my children and friends and now my grandkids.

My grand daughter, Evie , asked me to attend the Veterans Day celebration at her school this year, she is in second grade, and as you know from past writings, she’s my little ‘fisher girl” . 

Well, the program was very successful this year with 30 veterans showing up, both moms, dads, friends, and grand dads.  Twice as many veterans attended  than at last years event.  Some were active duty.

The kids sang “America the Beautiful” and recited the “Pledge of Allegiance”.  Then each child who had a veteran relative or friend in attendance was asked to identify themselves and had each veteran to do the same.  How very proud the children were who had someone participating in attendance;  it was very heart warming.

Another thing that I would like to say is that, if you know a child, related or not,  and that you personally know, he  or she wants to go fishing…TAKE THEM!  You’ll never regret it, and if you’re like me, a dedicated fisherman, It will bring joy to your heart to see the kid catch fish, its pure delight.   Especially you old timers with nothing to do… go fishing!

You don’t need any fancy equipment to enjoy it, but if you get hooked like I did when my uncles took me fishing when I was a 1st grader, you will be much happier and ,maybe will want to upgrade as you go.  I’ve been going fishing for more than 66 years and I still can’t get enough of it.

Oh, and by the way, I hadn’t had my uniform on in 36 years, AND IT STILL FIT!  Fishing helps keep you on the go and fit.

Evie decided to ask grandpa, me, to take her and her dad fishing in the river behind our house.  Last week Evie and I went and she really enjoyed catching the drum and suckers.  We were hoping to catch some catfish or bass but they were not cooperating that day.  The top picture, left, shows Evie with a small drum and ,as you can see, she’s not afraid to hold the fish and she really enjoys letting them go.  Good “catch and release” fishergirl.  The picture on the top right shows her way of waiting for a bite, “Hey dad wake me when I get a bite, O.K.?”  And, sure enough, picture on lower left, shows her playing another fish with dad coming to help if necessary.  I wasn’t necessary but Dad helped her get the fish off the hook.  All in all, she caught 3 drum,1 bluegill, and 2 suckers.  Dad’s catch = 0.  Now who’s the real fisher person here?  Grandpa, who was taking the pictures, managed to catch a sucker and two drum.  Actually Dad was more interested in ensuring that Evie caught some fish so , we can’t hold that against him.  Good job Dad!

After fishing Evie decided to show her dad the progress she has made in learning to shoot pool.  I have a pool table in my downstairs den.  Her dad gave her a few more tips on how to line up her shots and she is improving. 

They had a lot of fun together.

As far as fishing in the pond, the fish are not cooperating.  Twice I’ve been out for about three hours and came up with only a single small bass each time.  The lake is much more shallow due to the drought and the fish are apparently not in the mood for feeding.  There goes the theory, “Fishing is best in the fall when they fatten up before winter”.  Except for the shallow water, I can’t think of any other reason that they’re not hitting except maybe, I’m not doing it right.  Or, maybe it’s the high pressure and the erratic changes in the temperature.  It’s been far too cold for me to go out this last week, hopefully we’ll have a few more warmer days before  I put my gear away for the winter.   Tight LInes

Jim

The fishing has picked up  at River Bend.  The bass (second down) I caught in the pond and again the only bites I got were on the Blue Fox  spinner along with the cats.  The lake committee decided to turn off the well on the pond and the water in now only about 3-4 feet deep…not good.  As a result the fish on the pond are not cooperating.  The crappie that I’ve caught there are small and not very numerous.  The fish in the pond just seem  to be lethargic due to the low water level. 

On River Bend, the bass ignore the spinner so, I revert back to the Shaw Grigsby paddle worm or the YUM stick worm.  The bass on River Bend seem a little larger than they were this spring but because of the fertile water their growth rate is slow.  The only natural food that I have discovered there is small minnows.  There is weed but the majority of the lake is a gravel bottom.  Of course the bass do feed on the larva and insect life there but it’s apparently not enough to sustain a good growth rate.

The last time I went out was about a little over a week ago as I had to under go surgery this week.  I am doing well in my recovery, thank God.  So, I will try again in a couple of weeks down the road weather permitting.

Tight  Lines

Jim