Post by rgang4 on May 29, 2018 18:40:45 GMT -5
Took a vacation day Friday to make a four day weekend 😎 The forecast was for 15-25 MPH winds from the south shifting to W 10-20 in the afternoon. Thinking that maybe for once the forecast would be right I wrote off bass Friday morning and opted to fish for trout in the morning. Being I am pretty rusty at stream fishing the plan was to hit the recently stocked trophy section of East Creek. Fish I caught were 15-18” and I saw one that was bigger. Fish were easy to see but most not so easy to catch. A color change to my spinner got immediate results, changing retrieve angles and speeds and keeping a low profile helped me land and release ten nice fat rainbows.
Left around ten to pick up the boat at the campground. Upon entering the camper I noticed a problem. Ants everywhere, big ones. Many were dead or dying......kind of like or vacuum cleaner. Borrowed one from a neighbor and got the mess cleaned up temporarily. Then I had to help him with some chores. I could hear the clock ticking in my head, not used to late starts so I was getting kind of anxious.
Finally arrived around 1 pm. Wind still ripping from the south. So bad no way was I launching 🙁 Thought about where else I could go. Thought about Richville Dam. Took the cover off the boat, changed a clearance light on the trailer, jumped up into the truck and took a quick glance at the lake. WTF! As I was fiddling around the wind did indeed shift to the west and calmed down considerably 😎🙏 but wind was still pretty stiff.
Launched the boat but the bow rope snagged which I didn’t notice at first but did see boat sailing fast into the cement bulkhead! Ran into the water and got between the boat and bulkhead saving a big crash. Got the rope unsnagged and pushed the boat back out. Then panic struck again when I realized I had forgotten the drain plug🙄. Pulled the boat by the rope but the wind pushed it past the trailer and towards another collision with the bulkhead. Back in the water I went. Saved it again and winched it up on the trailer. Fishin’ ain’t easy.
And of course total panic for nothing, plug was indeed in I just did not recall putting it in🙄. Figured this was going to be one of those holiday weekends from hell.Thankfully, it was not👏
Anyway, eventually got the boat and chatterbait in the water and myself in the boat, not necessarily in that order. Started right in the bay and had a nice fat theee pounder in five minutes. Water color was good there and temp was 64. Probably could have stayed and got more but my best fish have been on hard stuff and hard points, so I left.
Been fishing hard and making lots of casts and it’s catching up to me. Casting gear and bass fishing in general can give you aches and pains at my age so when calm conditions prevailed I took out my spinning rod and threw a small jig. Good choice, no pain, lots of fish, though one did give me some pain after a long drawn out battle in 8# test.
Been quite the year for drum!
When the jig bite stopped I tried a crank bait I found floating over by Bouy 39. Good choice too.
21.25” 5-4 LM
Tried some more hard stuff with the same crank bait
21” 4-12 LM
Next move was to some newly emerging grass. Took a while to found them but eventually the buzzbait started to work. Not sure of weight but it was 19.75”. Too small for Master Angler so I put it back without weighing.
Quit a little early when my wife called and said she had arrived with Curtis’s ribs. If you don’t know about Curtis’s Barbeque check him out at Exit 4 off I-91 in Putney VT.
Saturday we paddled the kayaks out onto Sunset Lake in Benson. Great little lake. Caught crappie, bluegill and bass. Saw some nice bass up to three or so, even hooked one up on my pan fish jig but he popped off.
Sunday headed to the bridge. Thought I really was in for a great day. As it turned out had to fight hard to not get skunked. No smallies of any kind anywhere. Not even the little guys that are always there once they come in. Water temp was 58-60 north of the bridge. Dead rotting alewives everywhere. Stench was bad. After three stops and no fish I headed south to Bulwagga Bay. Finally got some fish. Big pickerel at first and believe me I was glad to get it! Then I found a few bass, all in one small spot but it was the spot that had me more excited than the bass. It will pay off big some day.
Monday was breezy at the camper in the morning and I doubted it would be better at the lake but went anyway. Glad I did. Morning bite was good and so was wind and weather. Started with a crank bait. No bites. Switched to a jig. Four bites, one good one.
21.75”, 5-10 LM
Second stop was at a new grass bed. Nothing really worked but got one interesting bite on a buzzbait.
Not sure what it is, pike or hybrid, but check out the yellow eye.
Got the crank bait working at third stop. Never really got much going after that but did not need anymore to have a good day. Midday on was too windy to do much on the main lake. Moved to some protected areas and beat the banks. Expected lots of bites but only got a few but they were all prespawn females. Kind of weird. The three spots I tried should have lots of smaller bass and maybe a few good ones on them. Instead three good chunks landed and one pig lost to a snag. Should have put more pressure on her when she turned back to the tree, but with 8# line I may have broken off anyway. Wasn’t expecting a five pounder to hit my three inch tube🙁 in the spot I was fishing.
Still have not caught a post spawn fish. Most fish on the main lake are still fat prespawn females that appear more intent on feeding on alewives than going in to spawn. Fine with me!
Lake is dropping fast. Looks so low compared to the high water mark. Curly leaf pond weed is up in the protected bays. Milfoil coming up too. Did not get many pike the last trip, even when I tried. Threw a 3/4 oz. Trap in 5-7 ft. and caught bass, no pike🤔
Thinking of going back to points north again for SM thinking they could come in any time but it’s hard to leave bigger fish for smaller fish especially when you prefer fishing LM, but hard to ignore them all together.
Left around ten to pick up the boat at the campground. Upon entering the camper I noticed a problem. Ants everywhere, big ones. Many were dead or dying......kind of like or vacuum cleaner. Borrowed one from a neighbor and got the mess cleaned up temporarily. Then I had to help him with some chores. I could hear the clock ticking in my head, not used to late starts so I was getting kind of anxious.
Finally arrived around 1 pm. Wind still ripping from the south. So bad no way was I launching 🙁 Thought about where else I could go. Thought about Richville Dam. Took the cover off the boat, changed a clearance light on the trailer, jumped up into the truck and took a quick glance at the lake. WTF! As I was fiddling around the wind did indeed shift to the west and calmed down considerably 😎🙏 but wind was still pretty stiff.
Launched the boat but the bow rope snagged which I didn’t notice at first but did see boat sailing fast into the cement bulkhead! Ran into the water and got between the boat and bulkhead saving a big crash. Got the rope unsnagged and pushed the boat back out. Then panic struck again when I realized I had forgotten the drain plug🙄. Pulled the boat by the rope but the wind pushed it past the trailer and towards another collision with the bulkhead. Back in the water I went. Saved it again and winched it up on the trailer. Fishin’ ain’t easy.
And of course total panic for nothing, plug was indeed in I just did not recall putting it in🙄. Figured this was going to be one of those holiday weekends from hell.Thankfully, it was not👏
Anyway, eventually got the boat and chatterbait in the water and myself in the boat, not necessarily in that order. Started right in the bay and had a nice fat theee pounder in five minutes. Water color was good there and temp was 64. Probably could have stayed and got more but my best fish have been on hard stuff and hard points, so I left.
Been fishing hard and making lots of casts and it’s catching up to me. Casting gear and bass fishing in general can give you aches and pains at my age so when calm conditions prevailed I took out my spinning rod and threw a small jig. Good choice, no pain, lots of fish, though one did give me some pain after a long drawn out battle in 8# test.
Been quite the year for drum!
When the jig bite stopped I tried a crank bait I found floating over by Bouy 39. Good choice too.
21.25” 5-4 LM
Tried some more hard stuff with the same crank bait
21” 4-12 LM
Next move was to some newly emerging grass. Took a while to found them but eventually the buzzbait started to work. Not sure of weight but it was 19.75”. Too small for Master Angler so I put it back without weighing.
Quit a little early when my wife called and said she had arrived with Curtis’s ribs. If you don’t know about Curtis’s Barbeque check him out at Exit 4 off I-91 in Putney VT.
Saturday we paddled the kayaks out onto Sunset Lake in Benson. Great little lake. Caught crappie, bluegill and bass. Saw some nice bass up to three or so, even hooked one up on my pan fish jig but he popped off.
Sunday headed to the bridge. Thought I really was in for a great day. As it turned out had to fight hard to not get skunked. No smallies of any kind anywhere. Not even the little guys that are always there once they come in. Water temp was 58-60 north of the bridge. Dead rotting alewives everywhere. Stench was bad. After three stops and no fish I headed south to Bulwagga Bay. Finally got some fish. Big pickerel at first and believe me I was glad to get it! Then I found a few bass, all in one small spot but it was the spot that had me more excited than the bass. It will pay off big some day.
Monday was breezy at the camper in the morning and I doubted it would be better at the lake but went anyway. Glad I did. Morning bite was good and so was wind and weather. Started with a crank bait. No bites. Switched to a jig. Four bites, one good one.
21.75”, 5-10 LM
Second stop was at a new grass bed. Nothing really worked but got one interesting bite on a buzzbait.
Not sure what it is, pike or hybrid, but check out the yellow eye.
Got the crank bait working at third stop. Never really got much going after that but did not need anymore to have a good day. Midday on was too windy to do much on the main lake. Moved to some protected areas and beat the banks. Expected lots of bites but only got a few but they were all prespawn females. Kind of weird. The three spots I tried should have lots of smaller bass and maybe a few good ones on them. Instead three good chunks landed and one pig lost to a snag. Should have put more pressure on her when she turned back to the tree, but with 8# line I may have broken off anyway. Wasn’t expecting a five pounder to hit my three inch tube🙁 in the spot I was fishing.
Still have not caught a post spawn fish. Most fish on the main lake are still fat prespawn females that appear more intent on feeding on alewives than going in to spawn. Fine with me!
Lake is dropping fast. Looks so low compared to the high water mark. Curly leaf pond weed is up in the protected bays. Milfoil coming up too. Did not get many pike the last trip, even when I tried. Threw a 3/4 oz. Trap in 5-7 ft. and caught bass, no pike🤔
Thinking of going back to points north again for SM thinking they could come in any time but it’s hard to leave bigger fish for smaller fish especially when you prefer fishing LM, but hard to ignore them all together.
