Post by rgang4 on Aug 16, 2018 15:55:54 GMT -5
If there is such a thing then maybe these are the dog days. If so they sure came on fast. Two weeks ago I had one of my all time best days but this past weekend fishing was a struggle.
Went up alone this weekend while my wife was looking after her sister who just had cancer surgery. That left me to look after our 15 year old dog. Couldn't get the dog to take care of business after taking two laps around the campground at 4 a.m. No way to get to Champlain and launch before tournaments and get the early bite or I should say look for an early bite. Decided to go to Dunmore for sunrise and fish for an hour or two and deal with the dog between launches.
Perfect conditions at Dunmore. Calm and humid and so much baitfish and forage boiling on the surface that it looked like a scene from a science fiction movie. Was sure I would have a killer top water bite but it was anything but. A couple of barely keeper size SM and LM. No pike which is rare on Dunmore, even if all you toss is top water. Left after an hour and went to take care of the dog. Third trip around campground did the trick.
Launched at Larrabee's around 9:30. Hardly anyplace to park. Assumed many were there for the Cashion Rod tourney. Lake was real busy, seemed many had stayed around Ti. Places to fish were limited but some spots were open. Didn't catch any good ones anywhere but despite the commotion fish were biting, at least until 1 or 2. Hung around til 4 even though it was slow. Would have stuck it out but had to be there for the dog. Caught everything on swim jigs. No toads, no frogs, no TX Rigs. Well actually did get bites on T Rigs but they were all bite offs. Dooley Point South was good but as of late the toothy critters have been present. They have been lurking in the grass while it seems the bass are out on the edges.
Have been waiting for the Ti area to bust so that I had good reason to try the bridge area or main lake but no way was I leaving until it did bust. Talked myself into going to the bridge Sunday morning. Arrived around 6. Kind of choppy to the north so I headed south to where I found them late June early July. My starting point was a mess. Algae from top to bottom on weeds at all depths. Water all carped up too😡 but being the area was so good I put the TM down and tossed out a toad. Really wasn't expecting a bite but a good one smashed the toad. I set too early and missed it😁 That was it but for one that took a shot at a frog as I was cranking it up fast. Lot of that action this year, kind of why I have been favoring the toad.
Headed down to Giards Bay where I had a good frog bite last year. Not much but the frog eventually got me unskunked👍 Area looked right. Should have done better but I don't think they were there. Finally found some clean weeds and a good size school of LM near the north end of Leonard Bay. Experimented with colors and for the first time this year black blue beat white. SM liked black blue too, so did pike. Save for a few little ones early on a frog most all others ate the dark swim jig.
Left early to be home late afternoon to support my wife. Tough week for her. Says she needs some camper time this weekend. Hope she wants to fish too😉 but whatever.
So why was fishing off this weekend? Is it the time of year? Is it this crappy, wet yucky weather? Fishing pressure? Maybe all of those things. Good news is it can't be much worse and soon it will be fall. Think it's going to be a good one. Expecting lots of action from pike once the water cools a bit. Clear water and nice defined weed edges should make fish easy to catch. We'll see.
Went up alone this weekend while my wife was looking after her sister who just had cancer surgery. That left me to look after our 15 year old dog. Couldn't get the dog to take care of business after taking two laps around the campground at 4 a.m. No way to get to Champlain and launch before tournaments and get the early bite or I should say look for an early bite. Decided to go to Dunmore for sunrise and fish for an hour or two and deal with the dog between launches.
Perfect conditions at Dunmore. Calm and humid and so much baitfish and forage boiling on the surface that it looked like a scene from a science fiction movie. Was sure I would have a killer top water bite but it was anything but. A couple of barely keeper size SM and LM. No pike which is rare on Dunmore, even if all you toss is top water. Left after an hour and went to take care of the dog. Third trip around campground did the trick.
Launched at Larrabee's around 9:30. Hardly anyplace to park. Assumed many were there for the Cashion Rod tourney. Lake was real busy, seemed many had stayed around Ti. Places to fish were limited but some spots were open. Didn't catch any good ones anywhere but despite the commotion fish were biting, at least until 1 or 2. Hung around til 4 even though it was slow. Would have stuck it out but had to be there for the dog. Caught everything on swim jigs. No toads, no frogs, no TX Rigs. Well actually did get bites on T Rigs but they were all bite offs. Dooley Point South was good but as of late the toothy critters have been present. They have been lurking in the grass while it seems the bass are out on the edges.
Have been waiting for the Ti area to bust so that I had good reason to try the bridge area or main lake but no way was I leaving until it did bust. Talked myself into going to the bridge Sunday morning. Arrived around 6. Kind of choppy to the north so I headed south to where I found them late June early July. My starting point was a mess. Algae from top to bottom on weeds at all depths. Water all carped up too😡 but being the area was so good I put the TM down and tossed out a toad. Really wasn't expecting a bite but a good one smashed the toad. I set too early and missed it😁 That was it but for one that took a shot at a frog as I was cranking it up fast. Lot of that action this year, kind of why I have been favoring the toad.
Headed down to Giards Bay where I had a good frog bite last year. Not much but the frog eventually got me unskunked👍 Area looked right. Should have done better but I don't think they were there. Finally found some clean weeds and a good size school of LM near the north end of Leonard Bay. Experimented with colors and for the first time this year black blue beat white. SM liked black blue too, so did pike. Save for a few little ones early on a frog most all others ate the dark swim jig.
Left early to be home late afternoon to support my wife. Tough week for her. Says she needs some camper time this weekend. Hope she wants to fish too😉 but whatever.
So why was fishing off this weekend? Is it the time of year? Is it this crappy, wet yucky weather? Fishing pressure? Maybe all of those things. Good news is it can't be much worse and soon it will be fall. Think it's going to be a good one. Expecting lots of action from pike once the water cools a bit. Clear water and nice defined weed edges should make fish easy to catch. We'll see.
