tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75371309683578524012024-03-19T07:04:18.735-04:00Fat Boy's OutdoorsWelcome to Fat Boy's Outdoor Blog. I'll blog about fishing, hunting, and fossil collecting from my perspective of the outdoors. Everything posted here is dedicated to my brother, Kyle C. Wilson, who passed away unexpectedly in 2007.
Always for you Bro!
Note: I don't make a penny of this blog. I write for fun, to give back to the community, and to help others learn as others have taught me. I hope you all enjoy it.Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.comBlogger135125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-45317367406216730712021-03-03T00:33:00.002-05:002021-03-03T15:07:01.096-05:00On the Hardwater: Nighttime Crappie Fishing<p>I noticed that, on some of the social media ice fishing groups, some folks are interested in learning about how to catch crappie at night through the ice. So, since this is one of my favorite ice fishing activities, I thought about putting together this post so that I can provide more detail than I possibly could on a social media response.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4WIfBYRomVH9tNubFr4Ln-H_IwEbf29Uafyqzb9J_RAqVKbgA0y6kdao7K-b5AuGaFFCDRX7-oys53kQwUeL7DRzFpJJ88G4udSm6Urh7p8VqFy6R34Xi8_w8gNyzmL9PpECH4UQriPtX/s400/sunset.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4WIfBYRomVH9tNubFr4Ln-H_IwEbf29Uafyqzb9J_RAqVKbgA0y6kdao7K-b5AuGaFFCDRX7-oys53kQwUeL7DRzFpJJ88G4udSm6Urh7p8VqFy6R34Xi8_w8gNyzmL9PpECH4UQriPtX/w640-h480/sunset.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;">My Brother, Kyle, setting up for the crappie fishing night bite at one of our favorite lakes.</span></td></tr></tbody></table>One of my greatest wintertime thrills is to jig for panfish at night through the ice, and especially for crappie. In this blog post, I'll present to you my strategies that will, hopefully, help you find and catch crappie at night. I love icefishing, and I'll do it from dawn to dusk, but, there's no question in any of my fishing buddy's minds that my favorite time to be out there is at night jigging for crappie. That's when I'm usually on my game. <p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/perchjerker2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="480" src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/perchjerker2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Jigging at night for crappie can be rewarding as it is exciting.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table>It's no secret that I love to catch crappie, especially big ones. I love chasing them at any time of year. When they're active, it's some of the most fun fishing that you could possibly have. It can take the most serious of anglers and cause them to giggle like school kids. For one such crappie fishing adventure, you can read back to one of my old posts: <a href="https://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-joy-of-crappie-fishing.html" target="_blank">the Joy of Crappie Fishing</a>.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6J1XsvI0pr0fbB8RRVYIQXb1_aNOub_NdqWTayBtEB3H_Gn1mi86Wwqbk8nhQcd422_ku_j_31xQxAMHSdn9ewDnVfOhXc96JXYfvtBJlhPPIi7WKjBIjUqrHzjZjAlv9vhVXl3ppBgqB/s1566/RV+crappie+5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1174" data-original-width="1566" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6J1XsvI0pr0fbB8RRVYIQXb1_aNOub_NdqWTayBtEB3H_Gn1mi86Wwqbk8nhQcd422_ku_j_31xQxAMHSdn9ewDnVfOhXc96JXYfvtBJlhPPIi7WKjBIjUqrHzjZjAlv9vhVXl3ppBgqB/w640-h480/RV+crappie+5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>I love crappie fishing any time of year, especially where you can catch slabs like these consistently. With good action, it's about as fun as fishing can get. Getting fish like this through the ice at night is a little more challenging, but can be very rewarding.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>So, what's my strategy to find good nighttime crappie action? Keep in mind that this is my strategy and I have my opinions. I don't have much science to back it up. It's not necessarily the "right" way or the only way, rather, it's my way. But, I have plenty of experience and, hopefully, some of these tips will help you find and catch more crappie through the ice at night.<div><br /></div><div>Now, for the details of the strategy. The first step is to choose a lake that is known for having good numbers and size of crappie. I learned how to do this based on my experiences fishing various lakes either during open water or during ice fishing season. These days, we have the advantage of researching on the internet or through shared experiences on social media. A good topographic lake map of your lake, if available, will help you to identify places to try once your find a lake that you want to fish.</div><div><br /></div><div>Next, finding nighttime crappie, especially on a new lake, means that you have to start during the beginning of your ice fishing trip. Early morning bite locations for crappie tend to also be good spots for night fishing. But, if you catch one, or even better, several crappie from one particular are during your day trip, chances are that you'll find them at that spot at night as well, or at least, close by. It doesn't always work out, but more times than not, it does. </div><div><br /></div><div>I think crappie behave in the summer kind of like they do in the winter, but without a thermocline. So, locations on a lake during the summer that hold crappie, might be good spots to check in the winter. Such places might be shoreline woody cover on deep water shoreline slopes, or, perhaps the deepest basin in the area. That could be a cove on a large lake, or near the dam on small lake. I search for them over depths ranging from ten to forty feet deep, with the mid-twenties being a good place to start in our waters.</div><div><br /></div><div>But, it depends on the lake. Some lakes that we fish have a maximum depth that is shallow compared to our reservoirs. In some lakes we fish, the deepest area in the lake could be as shallow as eight or fifteen feet, while our reservoirs could be extremely deep comparatively. So, I can't tell you that any particular depth is the right depth, but I can tell you that I rarely search for crappie in depths exceeding forty feet. You can determine a good area to try based on the topographical features of your lake and what type of lake it is. </div><div><br /></div><div>Crappie also behave differently at different stages of our ice fishing season. Generally, they can be found in early season where you might expect them or when you caught them right before the ice formed. During the middle of the ice season, when the winter is at it's coldest and ice is building fast, try a deeper area and maybe look for marks closer to the bottom. During late ice, when the days start to get longer and perhaps the lake edges start to warm, they may move into shallow water cover, like weed beds, stumps or fallen logs. These places can also be productive during early ice. Crappie are like other predators, they follow the food chain. Where aquatic insects and minnows thrive, so do crappie.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another tip that I can offer to you is to read the ice. On public lakes, or lakes where people don't "claim" a spot as always theirs, you can determine likely areas by reading the ice. It's kind of like reading the currents on a river or a stream for fish holding spots, but, rather, looking for evidence on the ice that a spot might be good, especially when visiting a lake for the first time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Visual clues include, obviously, areas where a lot of anglers concentrate. Personally, I don't like fishing in a crowd. I prefer to be away from the crowd for several reasons. Crowds often make noise, which I feel, can shut feeding fish down, whether it's music, a lot of people walking around, noisy power augers (or even a hand auger cutting a lot of holes), and, as some people claim, that sonar might cause fish to become inactive. If there are a lot of sonar units out there, could that slow the fishing, perhaps? </div><div><br /></div><div>I personally don't know if sonar causes fish to not bite or become inactive. I can't dispute it one way or another. But, the likelihood of seeing interference on your sonar rises the closer you get to another sonar unit, especially if there are a lot of different sonar brands on the ice with you. Let's face it, dealing with sonar interference can be annoying.</div><div><br /></div><div>Next, I would look for evidence on the ice that indicates perhaps a good spot. It doesn't always work, but, sometimes, it does help, and could make the difference in being successful or not, especially if you don't have many hours to fish. It narrows down your search. Let's discuss some of the types of evidence that you may encounter.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Holes:</span></b> Lots of holes cut in an area, are such evidence. New, open holes, obviously, means that someone fished there recently. But, old holes give clues too. A line of holes far apart may indicate that angler was searching for fish. A cluster of holes might indicate a good spot. Two holes or three cut close together might mean that someone thought that this spot was good enough to put their sonar and/or camera in adjoining holes to the one that they fished. Lots of times, people that nightfish together leave this type of evidence. Open holes save time, allowing you to check them quickly with your sonar, moving from one spot to another looking for suspended fish. At night, this could be key if the first area you chose didn't pan out.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Blood:</span></b> blood on the ice could mean many things, but usually, that's evidence that someone either kept fish that they caught on the ice, or, heaven forbid, some other tragic personal event!</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Evidence of bait:</span></b> Discarded minnows, saw dust from spike or waxworm containers, discarded waxworms or spikes (the more the better, that means someone spent some time there).</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Trash:</span></b> Maybe discarded bait containers. It stinks that people leave trash on the ice. But, it is evidence. I clean the big stuff up if I find it, unless, it appears that someone left something out there to purposely mark a spot. Recently, there was a beer bottle buried in the ice that we couldn't remove. Either someone littered, or they put it there purposely. I believe that they did it to mark a spot, because, it was buried halfway in a cut hole.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Lots of tobacco stains:</span></b> Huh? Yes, evidence that someone fished here for more than a minute or two. The more tobacco stains, the better.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Footprints:</span></b> they also tell a tale. If someone used tip ups, you can see trails that connect a series of holes. You can also see where they chose their base. That may or may not pan out for jigging. However, if you see a couple holes or a few holes close together, or a lot of old frozen holes, and even better, with lots of footprints, someone spent time there. If an area is well used, you can't identify individual footprints. The entire area is mashed down.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/bd610a8d-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="794" height="391" src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/bd610a8d-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>You can imagine why footprints can indicate a good fishing area, at least until new snow covers them up. When guys find a good spot, like my buddies Geoff and Yaz did here, their footprints kind of give it away that they had something going on here.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Lots of sled tracks:</span></b> They can be road maps to good locations, especially if there are holes cut in a line or direction that are far apart, but lead you to a bunch of holes that indicated that they may have found fish and opened up the area. That said, the evidence or clues that I mention here in this post don't guarantee that the previous anglers knew what they were doing. But, it doesn't hurt to check such spots. The best evidence is when you cut or check a hole with your sonar, and you mark fish. If you see sled tracks that leads to lots of footprints around a hole, that could mean something.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Wood sticking up through the ice:</span></b> could be structure to fish in lakes that are shallow. If there are holes around it, it could be a good spot to find nighttime crappie. Be careful around these spots during early or late ice if the ice conditions aren't great, as wood or other debris can absorb heat and weaken the nearby ice.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Weeds on the ice:</span></b> often, these are pulled up by augers or reeled in after being snagged. But, they indicate the presence of a weed bed. Find where those weeds meet deeper water, that could be a good crappie spot.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Lake shoreline contours:</span></b> Finally, the slope of the shorelines and shapes of the points and coves can lead you to a good area, especially if you did your homework by researching a lake contour map. If there aren't any contour maps available, check the lake out by using the satellite feature on your favorite browser's maps application. Such aerial images can point out shallow weedy areas, long sloping points, underwater sand bars, the deepest water, and other types of structure.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>When you know of a good spot ahead of time, my suggestion is, if your not nearby, head to that spot before the magic hour (the last hour of daylight before dusk) and use that as your starting point of your search. You'll probably catch other species there too, but, the crappie will start getting aggressive around that time. If you find fish, it can be hectic from that point on until about an hour after dark, maybe longer.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKE3gfa4iGFVr58kNYGFMttNrGiYkD_WiujrwBmmAQDPMh0FakaqepJRzc0QYFIstUdS6RcpXLIKZZnOTovKuc1dqcWNj92q4MODjkctXlwpGJBol2h9CiL46gx-SRWRLjC3M2Nx-voY6/s2048/RV+Crappie+4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKE3gfa4iGFVr58kNYGFMttNrGiYkD_WiujrwBmmAQDPMh0FakaqepJRzc0QYFIstUdS6RcpXLIKZZnOTovKuc1dqcWNj92q4MODjkctXlwpGJBol2h9CiL46gx-SRWRLjC3M2Nx-voY6/w640-h480/RV+Crappie+4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Steps to finding crappie at night: Step 1: Find a lake with a good population of large crappie - check. Step 2: Mark a bunch of suspending fish during the day - check. Step 3: Catch a crappie during the day, remember that spot for the night bite - check. Step 4: Go back to that spot and fish at night - check. Step 5: Catch crappie at night: ugh...not this time. It was a tough day and this jumbo crappie was caught at 10 AM during the day. We went back and tried that spot at night, but it didn't pan out this time. The system usually works, but not always.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Also, at any time during the day, if you mark a lot of suspending fish and they are aggressive, that could also be a good place to try later after dark. If you arrive at the lake late in the afternoon, cut holes until you find suspended fish, or, at the very least, mark a fish on your sonar. Remember these spots especially if you catch a crappie.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, if you fish a favorite lake often and have had success at various areas of that lake before at night, that could really narrow down your search and give you a good place to start. Most of the time, the best spots to fish are similar from year to year.<br /><p>Next, it helps to have the right tools. Can you catch fish without some of them, especially the more expensive ones? Sure, but, you could be missing out on a good bite if you don't know where the strike zone is. You can develop strategies to figure that out, but, it's a lot more work and more time consuming.</p><p>So, what are my preferred tools? My must have tools, in my humble opinion, are a flasher style sonar, a sensitive ultralight ice fishing rod spooled with two pound test, and a selection of jigs that you know catch crappie. I prefer glow in the dark jigs for night fishing, for the most part. As far as electronics go, any sonar will do, but most anglers prefer flashers. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/BV02081412_zps709aa7d8.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="705" height="482" src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/BV02081412_zps709aa7d8.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>A flasher style of sonar will not only find fish, but you can see your lure and also how fish interact with the lure. This is critical for nighttime crappie fishing since often the fish are suspended. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The latest technology in electronics allows you to switch views between traditional fish finder screens to a flasher screen. These new and improved sonar units have improved with very close to real time responses to activity. Flashers, in the past, held an advantage in this area. What do I mean by that? When you jig your lure, a flasher will show that in real time, so when a fish bites, you will see that in real time also, allowing you to focus either on your rod tip or sonar at the correct time.</p><p>The main point here is that electronics hold a huge advantage to finding and fishing for crappie at night. Not only can you find fish, or see them on the bottom or suspended, but you can see your lure and how the fish react to it. Once you buy and use sonar, and later fish without it, it feels as though you are fishing blind.</p><p>Another key piece of equipment that I think really helps is to have a bright lantern out there with you. I use a Coleman Northstar lantern that puts out 1,500 lumens. I'm a firm believer that fishing with one or more fishing buds that have lanterns in the same area really helps. The more light that you have, the more zooplankton is attracted to the area, which, I theorize, brings in more fish. Some people also use submersible lights. I've never tried that as I don't own them.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/01251406_zpsdaf94ea5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="384" height="640" src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/01251406_zpsdaf94ea5.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>In this photo, you can see three of my most regarded pieces of equipment, my sonar, lantern, and a sensitive ultralight ice fishing rod with a glow in the dark jig tied on.<br /><br /></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table>Supplemental lighting also helps, not only for seeing bites and your rod tip, but also for finding things in your sled or tying on lures. Usually, light from the lantern to see all my stuff in my sled is blocked by me, so the additional headlamp helps. Seeing your rod tip and line is key to catching crappie at night, especially when they are not that aggressive. A strong LED headlamp or other LED lighting can really help. Plus, they make a great backup if you run out of propane or forget your lantern.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBeijOR58VmvD8FhFffmVmhVU5v2nClEtEhifFFFZKf4Age7byG5T6Wtm1gT5DDEid9V4Nd9-UBFnXw6bSs1Z0r-2KXFoCCFfiYhahAKvQc23JjouM5mxUCc18JjH4WjRzwRUIB5l58CQW/s1325/Ice+crappie.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="994" data-original-width="1325" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBeijOR58VmvD8FhFffmVmhVU5v2nClEtEhifFFFZKf4Age7byG5T6Wtm1gT5DDEid9V4Nd9-UBFnXw6bSs1Z0r-2KXFoCCFfiYhahAKvQc23JjouM5mxUCc18JjH4WjRzwRUIB5l58CQW/w640-h480/Ice+crappie.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Supplemental lighting also helps. A good LED headlamp will also not only allow you to see anything at night, but will help you catch fish by focusing a light beam on your rod tip so you can see bites. I also use a magnetic shop light that sticks to the metal base of my seat rail on my sled. In this picture, both came in handy when my lantern ran out of propane that night. Note to self: always carry a spare can of propane...</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>The last piece of equipment that I personally like is my pullover shanty/sled. I have a Clam Fish Trap Pro and have been using it for many years. I love it, I love fishing inside it, and it helps me in so many ways. Before purchasing it, I sat out in the cold and fished, and usually, it's much colder at night. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip7ajUVecFZcqyLAnwM_qG_vOpZHZNLDAP2xIRGQTIMIwLmlF0yvU7GNiUxYGRmzejLMyYTmD8PzWi-2cvESGY5TbKrCix48etzjx9QIsyxFrKEjdf2XzCPLtxdmQoniYto_fTKfwL31rV/s1600/Icefishing+hut.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip7ajUVecFZcqyLAnwM_qG_vOpZHZNLDAP2xIRGQTIMIwLmlF0yvU7GNiUxYGRmzejLMyYTmD8PzWi-2cvESGY5TbKrCix48etzjx9QIsyxFrKEjdf2XzCPLtxdmQoniYto_fTKfwL31rV/w640-h480/Icefishing+hut.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>A pullover shelter/sled, like my Clam Fish Trap Pro, helps me get out of the elements and stay warm. Being out of the wind helps you catch more fish. Being more comfortable helps you catch more fish. And, being mobile helps you find and catch more fish. If I need to move, all I do is flip my canvas top back, gather my gear and go.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Fishing inside my shanty is warmer naturally because you're out of the elements. Your lantern helps provide heat as well as light inside. I can remember fishing when temperatures outside my hut were in the teens, and I had layers peeled off inside while wearing just a flannel shirt! The shanty also provides a nice wind break, making it easier to see bites without the wind messing things up. Plus, the extra warmth helps keep the holes from freezing up on you.</div><div><br /></div><div>And, if you like to fish in privacy, it's a great way to escape the eyes of neighboring anglers that might want to get in on your action if you're catching fish. Usually, I don't mind company, and I like to share my spot with friends, but, it's nice to have a couple fish under your belt before they all come join you. Sometimes, their holes are producing anyway, so they may not have the need to fish close to you.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've been using a flasher style sonar on the ice for over thirty years now. My friend and ice fishing mentor, Jeff Redinger, not only taught me the fine points of ice fishing, he also was the first person that I ever saw using a flasher on the ice. I fished with him for a couple years without using sonar, relying on him for intel as to where the fish were. I can tell you that, even though he shared info, he always out fished us by at least 8 fish to our one, maybe even more.</div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="604" height="480" src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/JeffRedinger_zps2963f094.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>One of the guys who introduced me to ice fishing and the use of sonar on the ice, including teachings of Dave Genz, is my good friend and ice fishing mentor, Jeff Redinger. Here Jeff shows the results of his talents with a couple jumbo slab crappie. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Jeff was a big fan of Dave Genz at the time, and used what he learned from Mr. Genz to become a top notch ice angler. Dave Genz basically made famous the use of sonar to find and catch fish through the ice, and his tactics of constantly moving to find active fish, rather than sit on one hole all day waiting for a bite. Jeff was my mentor, but I have to also give credit to Mr. Genz for what he showed the world. He wasn't the first or only person to use sonar on the ice back then, but, he certainly made it famous. As far as his strategy to find fish, many people did that too, but, he was certainly a pioneer in that regard as well.</p><p>Jeff, a couple other buddies and I went to a particularly good lake known for big crappie in hopes of repeating success that he had on a previous trip. We fished hard all day long and caught fish here and there. We set up at right before dark at an area where Jeff marked fish earlier and caught a crappie. He used his sonar while fishing small live minnows on a light aberdeen hook with a split shot on one rod, and a jig tipped with a waxworm on the other. We jigged glow jigs tipped waxies within 12 feet of him.</p><p>Jeff relayed info to us about what depth he was seeing fish. As he yanked in one after another, it was apparent that we pay heed to what he was saying if we wanted to catch fish. Without sonar, most guys, including me at the time, would fish the bottom three feet. He'd tell us that they were suspended at a certain depth, so we'd try to keep our lure at that depth and jig. We had to guess that we were at the right depth, of course. </p><p>By Jeff using his sonar, he could see his jig, see the fish, and see how they reacted to his jig. That feedback allowed him to alter his jigging cadence to get the fish to bite. He could also see his live minnow and if fish were looking at it or not, and adjust if necessary.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/02011401_zps37b91c1e.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="800" height="541" src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/02011401_zps37b91c1e.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Here, you can see fish suspended on my flasher on the right side of the sonar screen, at two o'clock down to a couple feet off the bottom at 5 o'clock). I try and drop my jig just above those marked fish<br /><br /></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table>We caught fish, just based on what he said, that we probably wouldn't have caught had he not been there, or if he didn't have sonar. Fishing with sonar through the ice is so valuable to me, and many anglers, that after purchasing one, we can't realize what we'd do without it, and wonder how we caught fish all those years without using one. <p>Using sonar was quite a revelation, let me tell you. Definitely, a game changer. My friend, Glenn, purchased one the next year, and I got one the year after that. Ever since then, it changed the way that I approached jigging for panfish forever.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDkrz0wD_1_xWr5ZoOS3GPk2EvvRkzE9o5RWP9N3J6ea15JbuAj3MG_kcp8pG80YVBPcmg2Yiy6yTq4aDNNVxCVzeYXYvKpv1-PY8LxHZMtE3oc1VsHD8o8o6ebTTKdieK2KprbYhA6o5V/s1200/Ice+crappie+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDkrz0wD_1_xWr5ZoOS3GPk2EvvRkzE9o5RWP9N3J6ea15JbuAj3MG_kcp8pG80YVBPcmg2Yiy6yTq4aDNNVxCVzeYXYvKpv1-PY8LxHZMtE3oc1VsHD8o8o6ebTTKdieK2KprbYhA6o5V/w480-h640/Ice+crappie+2.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>I have to give credit to the other guy that introduced me to ice fishing, my good friend, Glenn Cumings. If it wasn't for Glenn convincing me to go to one of his ice fishing workshops, I would never have set foot on the ice. You see, people just didn't ice fish where I live. I met Jeff at that first workshop. A few days later, they talked me into going to ice fish a local lake. I was scared to death out on four inches of clear ice, but, I was hooked after that. Here, Glenn shows a crappie caught at night during a recent trip.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Not only that, while fishing other lakes with my new sonar, I had people come up to me and ask what I was doing. I showed each of them how the sonar worked, that you could find and see fish, that you could see your lure, and you could see them react to your lure. In most cases, I gave up my seat and let them try it out and catch a few fish.</p><p>As time went on, over the years, some of them found me on the ice or on the ice fishing forums and told me that they wound up purchasing sonar too as a result of that experience. I became friends with most, if not all, of those guys. Some of them recognized me on my favorite ice fishing forum, <a href="https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php" target="_blank">Iceshanty.com</a>. By the way, my user name on that forum is also Fat Boy (the origination of the Fat Boy name for this blog).</p><p>Over the past 30 years, sonar has become more and more widely used. In fact, almost everyone that I see on the ice today has some form of fishing electronics with them. I'm certain that the popularity of flashers started with television shows and magazines, but it really exploded as the internet emerged as a dominant source of information for anglers.</p><p>So, how does a flasher style sonar unit help at night while fishing for crappie? Well, in my opinion, I feel that crappie tend to "feed up", so, when I'm successful at night fishing for crappie, I try to entice them to follow my lure by fishing my lure just above their depth. When they chase or follow my lure, I know pretty much that I'm going to get a bite. So, having the sonar is key to knowing what depth to fish. How can you work a lure above them if they're suspended, and you're fishing the bottom?</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/icefishing2_zpse2606237.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="682" height="480" src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/icefishing2_zpse2606237.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Crappie often suspend, and seeing them on the sonar helps you figure out best how to work your lures. It also helps you determine if the fish are in a biting mood or not. In this photograph, the bottom is at about six o'clock on the sonar, and the red marks are so thick that they fill up the screen all the way to four o'clock. The green marks above that are suspended fish. Usually, those are the most aggressive. On this particular trip, the fish were all seven to nine inches long, not big, but, we caught a lot of them, so it was fun.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Well, experienced anglers that don't have sonar know that crappie suspend, so they set baits at various depths (especially if using live minnows) to try and tempt fish that may see their baits. They also jig the entire water column, starting at the bottom and working their way up. That works, but, it's certainly not as effective as if you use sonar.</p>Do you need sonar to be successful fishing for crappie at night? No, but it certainly helps. If you know a good spot, and it's consistently good from year to year, then you can set up and fish without sonar and catch crappie.</div><div><br /></div><div>I can remember at one lake that we used to love to fish, a bunch of guys would sit together in a circular group, each with two holes cut, one for each rod rigged with minnows, and each having a lantern fired up. All those guys, lanterns and minnows grouped together over a good spot resulted in them catching a lot of nice sized crappie. We saw them almost every time we visited that lake.</div><div><br /></div><div>But, think about it. All of the elements that I've discussed in the last example, save the sonar, were at play. There is also a social benefit to fishing this way. At least now, with COVID guidelines, people can't get too close to fish to you if they follow the six foot distance rule! Even that is too close sometimes!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>What kind of lures do I like? Crappie will hit a wide variety of ice fishing jigs and spoons. There's no denying that. I have my favorites, and I'll share them here. Some work really well for me at night, and those are my go to baits.<br /><p>Probably my favorite rig is two glow colored <a href="https://customjigs.com/products/ratso.html" target="_blank">Custom Jigs n' Spins Ratsos</a> rigged in tandem, one above the other about 8 to 12 inches apart. These lures have caught me more night time crappie than I can ever count. The slow fall and enticing plastic tails tempt crappie just about every time I'm out at night fishing for them. They also work great during open water fished under a float. They come in various sizes, but I like the two smaller sizes the best. Guess who turned me on to the Ratso? Why, Jeff Redinger, of course!</p><p>One of the first lure combinations that I've had great success with over the years was a simple 1/64th ounce jighead teamed with a Bass Pro Shops pumpkinseed Squirmin' Grub. Panfish love 'em. For night fishing, put them on a glow jighead, or even a Ratso head.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/softplastics-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="800" height="404" src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/softplastics-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>The smaller Ratso in this picture (middle column, third from the bottom) and the Bass Pro Shops Squirmin' Grub in pumpkinseed (just below the Ratso are two of my favorite crappie ice fishing favorites. I like the Ratso's glow colors best (pink, blue and green) when night fishing.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Another favorite when targeting big crappie for me is the 1/16 oz. Cicada. It produces a lot of vibration and calls fish in nicely during the day or after dark. I haven't caught a ton of fish on this lure, but I've caught my biggest crappie on this lure. I pull this one out when I know that the lake that I'm fishing has jumbo sized crappie up to 15 inches long.<br /></p><p>I always have a blade bait rigged up. Often, if I need a break to stand up or the fishing slows at the hole that I'm sitting over, I'll get out and bounce around and try this lure at every open hole around me. I can cover a lot of water quickly. I drop the blade bait down to the bottom, lift it up to just off the bottom, then rip it up so that my rod tip is about eye level. Then, I let the jig fall on a tight line. Hits will come either on the fall or as the lure stops at the bottom. </p><p>I can't tell you how many bass and big crappie that I've caught this way during open water or through the ice. You don't need your sonar for doing this, but it's fun to watch, so also try it at the hole that you were fishing before too.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="690" height="317" src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/spoonsblades.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>The 1/16 oz. Cicada (right side, middle row) is one of my favorite lures when targeting big slab crappie. I've caught some real hawgs on this lure. Bass and other predators like it too. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/spoonsblades.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"></span></a></div>Another really good ice fishing jig for night time crappie over the years is the <a href="https://customjigs.com/products/demon-the-original.html" target="_blank">Custom Jigs and Spins Demon</a> in the orange glow brite color, but any of the glow colors will do. I carry a variety of sizes and colors with me. This is probably my favorite vertical presentation bait. The glow feature on these are fantastic, and offer a bigger glow profile than other jigs. They flutter on the fall like a spoon, and are deadly when tipped with waxworms or spikes.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMI_lJJJeaatuqpIJTWkJM29USw4vninPDgajVoEiH3mJ26Cy80um9fVKJk91UZ6mxNXApANMUAggRuzhg71_tYyu6fpgdJ00U3zIee5ig95PMnngsZ5vJWMZfRgQM4KWa3e2vgedLumpx/s2048/demon+jig.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMI_lJJJeaatuqpIJTWkJM29USw4vninPDgajVoEiH3mJ26Cy80um9fVKJk91UZ6mxNXApANMUAggRuzhg71_tYyu6fpgdJ00U3zIee5ig95PMnngsZ5vJWMZfRgQM4KWa3e2vgedLumpx/w640-h480/demon+jig.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>This is the Custom Jigs and Spins Demon jig. It's a vertical jig that has lots of fluttering action. The glow colors glow exceptionally bright, making them one of my favorite nighttime crappie jigs. This isn't the smallest size, maybe the next size larger than the smallest.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><p>I also carry a whole bunch of ice jigs in various sizes and colors. I have a good selection of horizontal jigs (like the Ratso) and vertical jigs (like the Demon). I also fish a bunch of different sizes and colors of the tungsten jigs like the Fiskas jigs that you can get at <a href="https://www.yourbobbersdown.com/product-p/handpainted.htm" target="_blank">Your Bobbers Down</a>. I've caught crappie on the smallest and largest sizes.</p><p>You can tip these with live bait like spikes or waxworms, or fish them with a variety of soft plastic lures. I choose something that glows for night fishing. Some of them have a glow bead, that shows a small glow profile to the fish at night, while other colors might cause the entire jig to glow. Try different ones until you find one that works the night that you're fishing. In general, if they're finicky, I go to the smaller sizes. Conversely, if they're really aggressive, I'll choose the larger sizes.</p><p>But, honestly, you don't need to carry a ton of lures around with you. I think that I can catch fish on usually what I have rigged up. But, there are times when fish are finicky and you need to solve the puzzle, when a different lure might make a difference.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/PJandFB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="480" src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/PJandFB.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Here are some slabs that my Brother, Kyle, and I kept one night. Kyle and I, caught a bunch of fish that night and kept just enough for a couple meals. These fish hit a tiny Marmooska jig with a small glow dot on the front of the lure tipped with a couple spikes.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Tungsten jigs fish heavier than lead because it's a much more dense material. What that means to me is that I can fish a much smaller jig and get it down to the fish faster than a lead jig. When they're aggressive, especially in deeper water, after you catch a fish, you want to get that lure back down there quickly before the fish move off and lose interest so you can catch another one. </div><div><br /></div>OK, so let's discuss the Ratso. What makes this lure so special? It's not tungsten, but is lead, so it has a slower fall than other lures. I think that, in itself, draws strikes when faster falling jigs don't. I like it best when the fish are holding in 25 feet of water or less. I'm not afraid to fish it in deeper water, but it takes a long time to get the lure back down there to the fish. The soft plastic is small, relative to the Bass Pro Shops grub or soft plastic tube jigs. But, that stinger tail will twitch on the slightest movement of your rod tip. One is great, but two in tandem are deadly. </div><div><br /></div><div>Custom Jigs and Spins now offers a tungsten version of the Ratso that is called the Tutso. I plan on getting some of them too for fishing deeper water. <span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Edit: I just ordered some of them directly from the company. Please don't tell my wife about that!</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Generally, if I'm marking a lot of suspended fish, I let the lure drop down through the school and watch my line and rod tip. If I see the line go slack, then I set the hook. That means that a fish intercepted the lure and inhaled it as the lure fell. If there are a lot of fish down there, it's tough to distinguish your lure from the fish. <div><br /></div><div>If I don't draw a strike on the fall, then I'll jig it up slowly, using 1/8 inch hops of my rod tip, raising the Ratso 1/8 inch at a time. I don't hop the jig up and down. I just jig it up and keep it up. I keep raising it to see if fish follow it. If they do, I keep on raising it up. My favorite cadence is almost as if my rod tip is like a pencil, and I'm drawing a pig tail style line from bottom to top vertically with 1/8 inch circles. I don't know, but doing that keeps me focused on that spring bobber. I do all of this when I have the attention of the fish.</div><div><br /></div><div>But what if they don't seem to be interested? Sometimes, they just aren't looking in the direction of your lure. You have to jig more aggressively to get their attention. Once they react to your jig, especially if they move right to it, then the above cadence works great. </div><div><br /></div><div>What if you were marking lots of fish, but, then they seem to vacate your screen? Try aggressively jigging again to "call" them back in. Once they show up, usually others follow. If you try this often and no fish appear, then perhaps it's time to scout out other holes and move. For me, once I'm on fish at night, they rarely leave. I think that the lantern lights attract and keep them there. Plus, the activity of fish feeding (being caught) seems to draw others in. That's my theory, anyway.</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of spring bobbers, for my Ratso rig, that's a key component. Crappie are notorious light biters, and often, you don't see the bite with just a rod. With my spring bobbers, I can see the bites easily. If a fish hits without pulling the spring down, it may create slack line, and often the spring will move up, or relax. If you see that, set the hook. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the video below, I talk about my tandem Ratso rig and my home made DIY ugly as sin but effective spring bobber. What I don't mention in the video is that the light wire was purchased from a lure making vendor so I could make weedguards for my buzzbaits.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8k-1RET9CI" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Icefishing Ratso Rig Video</span></b></a><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h8k-1RET9CI" width="320" youtube-src-id="h8k-1RET9CI"></iframe></div><br /><div>Even though I make my own spring bobbers out of light lure making wire, there are some very good commercially made ones out there that fasten to just about any rod that you own, and, they're much prettier than my springs. I highly recommend that you have at least one spring bobber set up for fishing at night for crappie, or at least, a very sensitive rod.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/v19/fatboykevin/(edited)_springbobber.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="678" height="310" src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/v19/fatboykevin/(edited)_springbobber.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>This is one of my home made spring bobbers. It's not pretty, but it works. Basically, I bent the wire to my desired shape, added a bead at the end so it's easy to see, then formed a loop that my line goes through. At the other end, I shrink wrapped the end and glued it onto the tip of an old broken rod. Years ago, I accidentally broke the tip off the original rod, which I loved, but now, it catches even more fish with my spring at the end.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Sometimes, when they're really aggressive, they'll charge right to the lure and hit it. Other times, they'll follow it way up the water column, maybe a few feet or even all the way to just under the ice. As long as a fish is interested, I keep working it until I get a bite.</div><div><br /></div><div>If the fish is just below the lure, you can see that separation on your sonar. When the fish is even with the lure, take your eyes off of the sonar and watch your rod tip. If you see anything out of the ordinary, from slack line to a tiny twitch of the rod tip that you didn't do, set the hook, it's a bite.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you know that the school is aggressive, you can drop the lure to just above the school, and they will rise up to your lure. If I'm using my tandem Ratso rig, then I'll drop the bottom jig right to the top fish or just below. Why? I might catch two at a time that way.</div><div><br /></div><div>When the fish are really inhaling the lure, your rod tip or spring bobber might bend slowly and strongly. When that happens, you know it's a good crappie swimming off with your jig. Set the hook!</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/aPack20050003.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="480" src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/aPack20050003.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>I don't always catch big crappie at night, but many of my bigger crappie do come at night. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Everyone knows about that magic hour during the last hour of daylight. Some stay a while longer. But often, after most leave, and you have the ice all to yourself, the action really picks up. </p><p>There is a small lake local to me that we fish often. It closes at 9 PM, so we have to be off the water by then and packed up, ready to leave the property. Anyway, it always seems that there is a lot of activity at dusk, and for the next hour or so. Then, it slows a bit. But, it always seems to pick up around 8:30 PM, of course, on this lake, right as you have to leave. </p><p>On other lakes when you can fish all night, you'll find that often the action is steady all night. During our last trip, we were planning on leaving for home around 9 PM, but, the crappie kept on coming. We kept fishing until just before midnight, and with our three and a half hour drive home, wound up getting back around four in the morning. But, it was worth it.</p><p>Fishing at night can be fun and rewarding, especially when you get on some big slabs. Hopefully, my strategy and tips will help you find crappie at night. If you enjoy catching panfish through the ice during the day but have never tried ice fishing for crappie after dark, give it a try. You might discover a whole new aspect of ice fishing and make it your favorite time to be out fishing on the ice.</p></div></div>Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-71372251355203978492021-01-13T23:15:00.002-05:002021-01-18T08:25:33.558-05:00Cobia Fishing Mayhem at the CBBT (Part 2)<p>This blog post represents part two of this adventure. This post recounts the last day of our 2020 cobia fishing adventure at the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel area. We had two other days of exciting fishing, probably the most hectic fishing that I'd ever encountered. The combined total of the catch for both days was two cobia, 73 sharks and 13 big stingrays. It was utter mayhem on the boat the second day. If you missed reading part one, you can find it <a href="https://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2021/01/cobia-fishing-mayhem-at-cbbt-part-i.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUXkKIlKr00QktAMJ7VUPxQSDdim1wUnkRhoPS_kxUBHXqT_keeeDzFEAyIm1XZ7zmXibtVLJnIPVe-BT5IVlXcEVQ_7E3FbHjTNTYiy2IHYFRb-rpQLEDMt3kJOj6-GAHkxwbVsicRgRY/s2048/steve+cobia.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUXkKIlKr00QktAMJ7VUPxQSDdim1wUnkRhoPS_kxUBHXqT_keeeDzFEAyIm1XZ7zmXibtVLJnIPVe-BT5IVlXcEVQ_7E3FbHjTNTYiy2IHYFRb-rpQLEDMt3kJOj6-GAHkxwbVsicRgRY/w480-h640/steve+cobia.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Steve is posing with this 43 inch cobia, the first of two that we caught on day one. We hoped to add a few more on day two. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The extreme number of sharks and rays in the area decimated our supply of bunker over the first two days. We had plenty of live eels, but not having bunker posed a big problem. Luckily, one local tackle shop in Cape Charles told us that their supplier would bring them fresh bunker at nine in the morning. As far as we knew, these guys were the only shop around that had fresh bunker. </p><p>So much for an early fishing start!. But then again, having to get bait at nine meant that we could catch up on some much needed rest after the beat down the sharks and rays put on us during the first day..</p><p>For some reason, there was a shortage of fresh bunker in the area. We didn't know if COVID had something to do with it or not. Or, if it was simply that bunker were scarce in the CBBT area compared to other years.</p><p>Shawn Kimbro discusses the fate of bunker (aka menhaden) in the Chesapeake Bay. There are serious concerns in the Chesapeake Bay recreational fishing community about the commercial over-harvest of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay. The vast majority of menhaden harvested are not for bait supply, but ground into oil for use in dietary supplements, animal feed, or even beauty products. Perhaps last years bunker shortage is related to the over-fishing of bunker? Probably.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h5stuNBRU8g" width="320" youtube-src-id="h5stuNBRU8g"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2x2HhxOszkNJcUzHsgI4m1Hjk_j_NzhLuJyIleCVAGyUZo6jHSUVjNw4OJFGD6j856ZdLZJZzPPtgQ0eTmGjo0u98baBDiidIha3cyKsNdYvg6qgvsnNcZi9FMVHOOWLDdJruk-hPvMbT/s2048/shark+4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2x2HhxOszkNJcUzHsgI4m1Hjk_j_NzhLuJyIleCVAGyUZo6jHSUVjNw4OJFGD6j856ZdLZJZzPPtgQ0eTmGjo0u98baBDiidIha3cyKsNdYvg6qgvsnNcZi9FMVHOOWLDdJruk-hPvMbT/w480-h640/shark+4.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Sharks are fun to catch, but when there are lots of 'em, you're going to go through some bait and tackle.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>We arrived at the bait shop to find several boats and anxious anglers awaiting the arrival of the bunker supplier. We were told that the supplier was on his way, and would be there within the hour. The store owner set up a system where he gave each customer a number to save our spot in line. We had one more chance to replenish our hooks, sinkers and leader. Even though we bought hooks and leader the previous day, later that night, we lost a lot more tackle to the sharks.</p><div>When the supplier finally arrived, we were able to get plenty of fresh bait for the day's fishing. What we had leftover was mushy, smelly, old bunker, that fell of the hook and stank up the boat, big time. So, we were very appreciative to yet another local business, <a href="http://www.baileysbaitandtackle.com/" target="_blank">Bailey's Bait and Tackle</a> in Cape Charles, VA, for come through for us. If you visit Cape Charles, make sure to stop in and check out their store. They're knowledgeable, very helpful and have a good selection of tackle.</div><div><br /></div><div>The weather on our last full day was a huge let down. We faced dealing with at least 20 miles per hour sustained winds. But, since they were coming out of the East, we decided to try and tuck in along the Bay's Western shore, thinking the land would break the wind enough that we could run to the spot where we fished the night before. </div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZQIUU1QJ31qOMlCvPT18jSPP1lpySQGTdYr3G5ghRcmaWCGbhwkiGY-Wm4Wv42cJz34CkkuyY4Iy9gghyphenhyphenhOmPDuJFcZhO1SH1jKnu_a8w1s3IAXdPj0qyfc4__nniYpl9NSgJ_EAsn7Q/s2048/cbbt+va+beach+view.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZQIUU1QJ31qOMlCvPT18jSPP1lpySQGTdYr3G5ghRcmaWCGbhwkiGY-Wm4Wv42cJz34CkkuyY4Iy9gghyphenhyphenhOmPDuJFcZhO1SH1jKnu_a8w1s3IAXdPj0qyfc4__nniYpl9NSgJ_EAsn7Q/w640-h480/cbbt+va+beach+view.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;">Here's a photo of Virginia Beach as seen from the Mouth of the Chesapeake Bay near the bridge during. The Bay was really rough on our last day, and there was no way that we could get out to this spot. This picture was from our 2017 trip.</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div>We hugged the shoreline en route to Steve's cobia spot. The waves were not quite as bad closer to shore, but, they were still pretty bad. We really wanted to make our last full day of fishing count. The exact spot that Steve likes to set up on was, unfortunately, further away from shore, where it was much worse. </div><div><br /></div><div>The allure of a honey hole proved too much to resist. It didn't seem that far away, so we tried to get out to his spot. As we moved further out, the waves were much worse, as some of them crashed over the bow. It was pretty hairy. I can't tell you how many times it felt like someone tossed buckets of water in my face on the way out. </div><div><br /></div><div>Steve tried to set the anchor so we could start fishing. But, the wind was too strong to hold the boat. No matter how much anchor rope he let out, the anchor just dragged the bottom. There was no way we could hold anchor, much less fish out there effectively or safely.</div><div><br /></div><div>We checked our Navionics app to see if we could find some good structure with a good current break, next to deep water closer to shore, out of the wind where we could at least hold anchor. Hopefully, such a spot would attract cobia or drum. In theory, cobia can be anywhere out there, but, we were about to set up on an unproven spot, so, our confidence was down.</div><div><br /></div><div>After a soaking wet boat ride, Steve found a place close to shore that provided a nice current break near deep water. We set up the anchor. We had no idea whether or not fish were drawn to this spot. There was another boat about a half mile away doing the same thing. We set out the chum bucket, baited the rods and reels, cast our baits out and hoped for some action. At least we were fishing. We hoped that, maybe later, the wind might die down and we could move out to Steve's spot.</div><div><br /></div><div>The tide pushed the lines one direction, but the wind was strong enough to push the stern of the boat in a different direction than the fishing lines. Instead lines pointed off the stern, they pointed off the starboard side. It was a little bit of a problem because you couldn't utilize all of the rod holders the way that you'd like. It wasn't ideal, but, we were fishing. And, that's a plus on a day when you question your sanity for even being on the water. It was really rough out there.</div><div><br /></div><div>At first, the action was slow, but it didn't take that long for the sharks to find our baits. It wasn't as hectic as the day before, but the action was steady. Cobia often travel with sharks and rays, so we had a chance. The sharks weren't quite as big, but, we were fishing and catching fish. Steve really wanted to be on his favorite spot. He's caught cobia there before, and it's a proven spot. Our chances were much better out there.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6RzwdM1SnBFJYJdgQGH6DVci5iivhH01b7s1e-99t1L98HjQ6Qd6K7O5Y3-xmP5ldFrxC6InKSw1tT13MSRy2Tu-Jc_pzwo6mC-NNsSBgcfXaqHxDODCo6hWq8f5Evi1ZjbU8tCKkHYtd/s2048/shark+5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6RzwdM1SnBFJYJdgQGH6DVci5iivhH01b7s1e-99t1L98HjQ6Qd6K7O5Y3-xmP5ldFrxC6InKSw1tT13MSRy2Tu-Jc_pzwo6mC-NNsSBgcfXaqHxDODCo6hWq8f5Evi1ZjbU8tCKkHYtd/w480-h640/shark+5.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>the business end of a typical hook stealing CBBT shark!</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Fortunately, right before sunset, the wind died down and the waves laid down enough that we could get out to his spot. After we re-positioned the boat and dropped anchor, we noticed that the tide hadn't changed yet. It was slack tide. We took some time to make sure that all of our tackle was ready to go, ate some food, relaxed, and took in the beautiful sunset. Like the previous evening, we expected the action to pick up as the tide picked up. When the tide is ripping, that's when the fish really hit the most, and that would occur well after dark.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFx2BTfo5F0LtsoiwP_Ui-8gFzGTA_iNR_-vOUMOvW2XZAstulr7YVyiPVaod0r8MUgmN4PVszTPtsDoXslFKTBoLgkRgfqz-9m4QQLvh1MlCqBbODwYdWTYbgj-aTyRBADVvpKGPZICae/s2048/cbbt+sunset+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFx2BTfo5F0LtsoiwP_Ui-8gFzGTA_iNR_-vOUMOvW2XZAstulr7YVyiPVaod0r8MUgmN4PVszTPtsDoXslFKTBoLgkRgfqz-9m4QQLvh1MlCqBbODwYdWTYbgj-aTyRBADVvpKGPZICae/w640-h480/cbbt+sunset+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>After a long day of battling wind, waves and sharks, the Bay settled down and gave us a beautiful sunset and an opportunity to fish where we wanted to fish.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Just as we had hoped, the action picked up when the outgoing tide started to roll. Again, the sharks and rays battled us, testing our tackle and our stamina. The sharks were bigger at this spot, but the action wasn't as fast and furious as the previous day. Although we caught fewer rays, they were massive. Fighting them took so much time. And, you can't assume that each one is a ray, because each one could be a cobia. You really don't know until one is near the boat. Some of the bigger sharks took a long time to get in as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>Before we knew it, it was almost 11 o'clock at night. The tide, by now, was ripping. We weren't getting the sharks as fast as the previous night, and we had a lot of bait. It was our last night, and, after spending the day fishing a spot that we really didn't want to fish, and finally getting out to the honey hole, we didn't want to leave quite yet. However, we had a long ride home the next morning. We'd be able to sleep in a bit, so there was some solace in that. But, we both knew that we had to rap it up soon, unless something dramatic were to happen.</div><div><br /></div><div>Around 11:30, we said to each other that we'd finish up using the baits that were already out, and when they're gone, we'd be done. Of course, we were thinking that the usual suspects would be going through our bait, meaning, the sharks and rays. </div><div><br /></div><div>All of a sudden, the spinning rod sitting in the rod holder close to the chum bucket slammed down. It sounded like a gun shot. We both jumped up, and Steve grabbed the rod. Line shed from the reel so fast that it sounded like a power drill. He held on for dear life as the fish bolted out toward the ocean. The fish moved off the starboard side of the boat. Steve had to pass the rod around another rod in a rod holder, and then around the motor. As he handed me the rod, it caught on the top of the motor for a split second, then slipped off the motor and smacked me right in the side of the head. Steve cracked up as the look on my face probably looked like Curly after getting slapped by Moe. </div><div><br /></div><div>All trip long, we were able to pass the fish around the boat without much of an issue, but not this time. As I fought the fish and tried to pass one of the rods, the rod tip tangled on one of the other rods. I don't know if I passed my rod over the other one, or under when it should have been the other way around, or what. No matter, it had to be fixed. Steve grabbed the rod from my hands as I offered to untangle it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, the fish kept heading counterclockwise around the boat. By now, he was off the bow. We cleared the line, and Steve handed the rod back to me. The fish continued around the boat, and we had to clear the rod around more lines. I was able to pump the rod and gain a bunch of line back, finally. We were lucky again that this fish didn't spool us.</div><div><br /></div><div>What does "spooling us" mean? That the fish runs so fast and hard that it rips all of the the line off of the reel, and ultimately breaks off, winning the battle. We almost had that happen several times on this trip. It's nerve-racking, to say the least.</div><div><br /></div><div>We went around more lines as the fish kept taking me around the boat. Once again, we are at the stern. And around the motor we went again. The fish moved off to the starboard side, and finally, I was able to gain line and bring the fish in. Unfortunately, as the fish neared the boat, rather than run again, it bulldogged under the boat near the bow. I handed the rod to Steve, who was in better position on the front deck to get the rod under the anchor rope as the fish moved to the port side.</div><div><br /></div><div>While under the boat, the fish tangled itself in the chum bucket rope. Now, we were in trouble. Steve handed me the rod again, and worked to free it up, but without success. We were in danger of losing this fish that we worked so hard for. I had an idea on how maybe we could save it, and Steve let me take the lead.</div><div><br /></div><div>I decided to pull the chum bucket rope and bring the bucket, and hopefully, the fish up with it. In doing so, we were able to free the line by unwrapping it around the messy chum bucket. I set the chum bucket and the rope on the front deck, out of the way. </div><div><br /></div><div>Steve muscled the fish in again. At this time, we still hadn't seen the fish. We had no idea what we were dealing with. It could have been a ray or a big shark. My headlamp got a glimpse of it, and we both screamed, "Cobia!" I couldn't believe my eyes!</div><div><br /></div><div>I immediately reached for the net to try to help put this battle to an end, as the hard fighting cobia seemed to swimming against the tide parallel to the boat. It looked huge. It was still too far away from the boat to reach it with the net. Neither of us thought that it was quite ready.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, I've been the net "*****" for many a fishing buddy, and have netted more big fish than I can remember. I've only had one mishap where the fish was lost many years ago. It was a big king salmon that we had in the net. The lure got caught in the net at the same time that it rolled, the hook came free and the fish flipped itself out of the net. I couldn't believe it. I swore that I'd never lose a fish again if I could help it.</div><div><br /></div><div>After a fight like we just had, and with how unpredictable and crazy cobia are, anything can go wrong. Even a net man as cool and collected as me (normally) can get flustered and mess up. I was determined not to let that happen. I waited for the right time so that we had a chance to net the fish head first. Finally, I had my shot and nailed it. The big fish went the net, no problem. </div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, Steve was extremely excited, trying to coach me the entire time, and I reassured him that I'd get the job done. But, deep down inside, I would have been devastating to lose this fish at the net. It was my responsibility to do my part to finish this catch. I take pride in my net work, and this was the ultimate test, because, so much can go wrong. Once the cobia's head was in the net, I hoisted the fish into the boat. It flopped out of the net, doing flip flops, as if aiming it's sharp spins with revenge in it's eyes. We both, again, scampered to the back of the boat as far away as we could until it calmed down. I was so happy to land that cobia for Steve. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8IKhxqX-H5LKkxoNepiZAh4HeN5MXScQQm1F1QqFm84W-miCFdNMQDvR6PdOu7y223EeyoR7hRwMLXeCsU0FZ6xQjdkj2knerJYLETQkhmZiuHbqXnYVSXIlAzkot6ej5Hk1OptL9nluU/s2048/cobia+47+sk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8IKhxqX-H5LKkxoNepiZAh4HeN5MXScQQm1F1QqFm84W-miCFdNMQDvR6PdOu7y223EeyoR7hRwMLXeCsU0FZ6xQjdkj2knerJYLETQkhmZiuHbqXnYVSXIlAzkot6ej5Hk1OptL9nluU/w480-h640/cobia+47+sk.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Steve holding up our third cobia of the trip that measured 47 inches long. What a fight. That fight could have been the definition of "Cobia Mayhem". It was insane.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>We exchanged a bunch of high fives, and rested a little bit to calm our nerves. After the fish calmed down, Steve walked up to the front of the boat and measured it at 47 inches long. Another really nice cobia! After a few pics, we thought that maybe, since the tide was moving perfectly, and we just caught cobia, that we might be able to catch another one. So, we agreed to keep fishing. </div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXccwV5Q8hE9ULwmOpyx3WEG2L-1c7DROv9n6iBKRRAzWHxhchcgoPkeDTBM8bu6YNDABepX80ilitkk07HW8t1dEVLFZvnMztXsG40Pj9w1-45p4BW02aW8KdPaWd61rp1eVluq-bOYs6/s2048/cobia+47.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXccwV5Q8hE9ULwmOpyx3WEG2L-1c7DROv9n6iBKRRAzWHxhchcgoPkeDTBM8bu6YNDABepX80ilitkk07HW8t1dEVLFZvnMztXsG40Pj9w1-45p4BW02aW8KdPaWd61rp1eVluq-bOYs6/w480-h640/cobia+47.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>This 47 inch cobia that gave us such a hard time. These fish are psycho fish, and they drive anglers nuts too. We can't wait to go try for more!</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table>After that, the shark action picked up where it left off, and we had our first shark double of the day. Not long after we landed the sharks, I put a huge chunk of bunker on the bunker rod. Go big or go home, right? </div><div><br /></div><div>It didn't take long another huge fish to strike that bunker rod. I picked up the rod and set the hook. This fish took off just like the last cobia, and then, like the cobia, headed toward the starboard side of the boat. I didn't see it, but off in the distance, Steve saw the fish jump way out of the water. Because of that, he was convinced that it was a big cobia. </div><div><br /></div><div>I worked the brute of a fish in and it went for the bottom like a sinking ton of bricks. I couldn't stop it, as it controlled me, not me controlling it. It was in charge. I was just holding on. All of a sudden, it decided to go around the bow, and you know what that means? Watch out for the anchor rope and chum bucket. I handed the rod to Steve, who jumped up on the front deck, and he worked the rod under the anchor rope, and the fish then went for the chum bucket.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once again, we have a big fish, probably another big cobia, wrapped up in the chum bucket rope. Steve held on and I decided to pull the chum bucket up again. This time, it was much tougher to do. That fish pulled hard and was much heavier. Still, I was able to eventually free up the chum bucket bring into the boat, out of the way. Steve, meanwhile, fought the monster fish.</div><div><br /></div><div>After several minutes fighting the fish on the port side of the boat, Steve was able to raise the fish high enough that, with my headlamp, we could see what it was. It was a massive eagle ray. It had beautiful white spots and had to be seven feet across. I'd never seen a ray that big. Wow! He held on to it while I tried to get pictures and a video, but, those didn't turn out, unfortunately.</div><div><br /></div><div>We finally got it to the side of the boat, and, with a ray this big, with a large poisonous tail spine, Steve didn't want to risk tangling with this ray, so he cut the line. It was too big to flip over and get the hook out with the release tool. The sea monster eased into the depths out of site. </div><div><br /></div><div>Even though it was a stingray, it was worth a few high fives. It fought every bit as much as a cobia, probably for at least a half hour. And, it fooled us into thinking it was a cobia with that big leap early in the fight. Steve estimated that it came out of the water by at least six feet or so.</div><div><br /></div><div>I loved the action we had catching sharks, but, when you get so many and it's so hectic, after a while, they become annoying, especially when you lose tackle. The rays are frustrating because, quite simply, they just wear you down and own you. But, looking back, it's great experience fighting big fish. The better you are at fighting big fish, the better you'll be when it's the fish that you want.</div><div><br /></div><div>At the end of our last full day of fishing, we finished with 36 sharks between 2 to 5 feet long, 4 massive stingrays, and another 47 inch cobia. Three cobia on the trip, not bad at all. And, we had no shortage of big fish action. What a trip to remember for years to come! </div><div><br /></div><div>I'd say that if there was only one disappointment, it was that we didn't hook into and land a big bull red drum. That's still on my bucket list. Steve said that cobia are a blast, but there's nothing like a big bull redfish. Well, now I have something else to look forward if I'm fortunate to get down there again.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1130" data-original-width="1071" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgswtdVVvdDjoArFgt7ToOUBOv6jk8guSl_KpEkBSooMS7rvtWij0UtGpmDI0jj2Jafl590K99KftLW9QwYOqNvGQdYHfstUyVHHcnxcK7F24rJaz4cIAaN_xwVLh1KUCt02UvbMdAEkBLF/w606-h640/steve+bull+red.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="606" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Steve got quite a workout hoisting this gigantic bull red drum </b></span><b style="color: #01ffff;">that he caught on a previous CBBT trip </b><b style="color: #01ffff;">to pose for this picture. We didn't get any of these on this trip, but it's something that I look forward to next time if given the opportunity.</b></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgswtdVVvdDjoArFgt7ToOUBOv6jk8guSl_KpEkBSooMS7rvtWij0UtGpmDI0jj2Jafl590K99KftLW9QwYOqNvGQdYHfstUyVHHcnxcK7F24rJaz4cIAaN_xwVLh1KUCt02UvbMdAEkBLF/s1130/steve+bull+red.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"></span></a></div><div>We didn't get off the water until about two in the morning. When you catch a big cobia, all you want to do is get another one. Plus, the tide was ripping and fish, although sharks and rays, were biting. We still had a good chance at another cobia. We had to give it a go, even though all we did is feed the sharks. Still, it was a good effort. We put everything into it.</div><div><br /></div><div>As a result of our efforts though, we were paying for it. We were both very tired and sore from fighting big shouldered fish over the past two and a half days. And, we still had to get back to the ramp, clean the fish, get back to the motel, eat dinner (at three in the morning), get our gear out of the boat, and maybe get some much needed sleep before the ride home.</div><div><br /></div><div>After our hours long ride back to our normal lives, we arried home tired and cranky, but, both of us realized that our trip was quite special. During the conversation later in the trip, we brought up the point that we work well as a team while fishing, and really, other than the late night faux pas, we had a fantastic time. </div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_MpWt_f8enX83n5Y9-tlgjkgp25PxTxLceExfh8COXwYpfUvxez4ZB9MnzCKEqibmCceZKh82wcd5NLxPRH2GNL-CFWhFIodEEEfRMC-2zQGL0Km5f3WppBS_g8MlrLoroX7LWySeqSO/s2048/sk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_MpWt_f8enX83n5Y9-tlgjkgp25PxTxLceExfh8COXwYpfUvxez4ZB9MnzCKEqibmCceZKh82wcd5NLxPRH2GNL-CFWhFIodEEEfRMC-2zQGL0Km5f3WppBS_g8MlrLoroX7LWySeqSO/w640-h480/sk.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>My fishing buddy and friend, Captain Steve Kelley.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table>Steve, when you read this, please know that, even though I've said many times that you're a great Captain and fishing pal, that I don't say such things lightly. Not many people get those kind of accolades from me. Thanks again for the fantastic cobia trip, and the great fishing year. Happy New Year, my friend!</div><div><br /></div>Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-16087373464615737912021-01-11T03:17:00.003-05:002021-01-12T16:31:47.255-05:00Cobia Fishing Mayhem at the CBBT (Part I)<p>This past June, Captain Steve Kelley invited me for long weekend trip of cobia fishing near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, also known as the CBBT, near the Mouth of the Chesapeake Bay where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. This was my second trip down there in search of cobia. We also hoped to perhaps catch bull red drum or a jumbo black drum. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80dtnjZEM8SCfawOldTk6SgChmMI1k5ts2kIfKxOL6yFQ656dBxztR_eCm17aKWNPBOMgWnz6_Z-264qqtN3iD3ThAuc2LgWerFOk7Sj2gS7giouto3e7xjBpvRODmfuWVZV0rP06Tivi/s2048/cbbt+sunset.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80dtnjZEM8SCfawOldTk6SgChmMI1k5ts2kIfKxOL6yFQ656dBxztR_eCm17aKWNPBOMgWnz6_Z-264qqtN3iD3ThAuc2LgWerFOk7Sj2gS7giouto3e7xjBpvRODmfuWVZV0rP06Tivi/w480-h640/cbbt+sunset.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>A beautiful sunset near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />This trip wasn't my first to the CBBT area in search of cobia and drum. Steve has a great amount of experience fishing the area, having landed many huge bull red drum and cobia over the years. Although we didn't catch any cobia or drum on my previous trip, I had an absolute blast. On this trip, however, Steve had one main goal, to put me on my first cobia.<br /><br />If you wish to read the details about my first trip to the CBBT, you can read about it in the blog posts listed below. Any trip that requires four posts of details has to be memorable for me, and it certainly was. I hope you enjoy delving into my past CBBT trip by visiting the posts below:<br /><a href="https://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2017/06/cbbt-part-one.html" target="_blank">CBBT Part One - Night of the Shark</a><div><a href="https://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2017/06/cbbt-part-2-day-for-jigging-and-drifting.html" target="_blank">CBBT Part 2 - A Day for Jigging and Drifting</a></div><div><a href="https://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2017/06/cbbt-part-3-fish-or-cut-bait.html" target="_blank">CBBT Part 3 - Fish or Cut Bait?</a></div><div><a href="https://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2017/06/cbbt-part-4-chum-bucket-action.html" target="_blank">CBBT Part 4 - Chum Bucket Action</a></div><div><br /></div><div>We arrived late in the afternoon only to find that the local bait shop was closed. COVID may have played a roll, but, basically, another business bought them out, and they weren't ready to open for business yet. We purchased some bait on the way, but we still needed more bunker to get us through the trip. The first bait shop had some, but not much. After that, we scouted out some back bay areas in search of good fishing spots to jig for flounder or puppy drum. </div><div><br /></div><div>The weather outlook for our first fishing day was pretty dismal, with high winds predicted, way too much for Steve's boat. Normally, in situations like that, he'd fish for flounder or puppy drum in the back bays. But, after checking into the motel room, we searched our Navionics app and found some deep water channels with ocean access behind the barrier islands, and wondered if anyone ever caught bull drum or cobia in there. Why not, right? So, we thought we'd give it a try.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGauDBJz85PhUNw2IN1t8mYDVVVI456vMiej3o-oHLwELZWbNtKZ0xPnvpknwzkHXG_m2Sww2kao0pJl7UZlSMuhFkURFGh-JWTPXZg1ispLCrZdwkjje2DbkczWlTr3i4nbiWytri_ObL/s2048/cbbt+oyster.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGauDBJz85PhUNw2IN1t8mYDVVVI456vMiej3o-oHLwELZWbNtKZ0xPnvpknwzkHXG_m2Sww2kao0pJl7UZlSMuhFkURFGh-JWTPXZg1ispLCrZdwkjje2DbkczWlTr3i4nbiWytri_ObL/w640-h480/cbbt+oyster.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>The Chesapeake Bay and Ocean were too rough for our first day, so we fished behind the barrier islands and found wave conditions acceptable. It was windy, but not that bad. With lots of structure, deep channels, and oysters everywhere, there should be fish? Right?</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table>Since the weather was pretty snotty, and we had a long ride down the previous afternoon, and, we couldn't get out to where we really wanted to fish, we didn't feel the need for an early start. We put the boat in and cruised around while watching the sonar, looking for fish on the structure that we found during our research. <div><br /></div><div>We found one spot with a hard bottom where the tide seemed right for dropping chunks of bait to predatory fish that may be lurking below. Steve and I set up and baited six rods with various baits that attract cobia or drum. We didn't catch any cobia or drum the first day. However, we caught seven sharks in the three to five foot range along with three large rays. <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhimWwipspEMDouNJBez-ot2U1lx3_oeTZdCKpAJpu7lJQ0g1rWxT5eNLEDkZSg1Ng8eVehD4uFKzq3m7MdWJ0NfG08BivGrmj14SwZ_VDf3UonNhv5kTev9fNQm0btyGGq3pMXEGQka7YN/s2048/cbbt+kw+shark.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhimWwipspEMDouNJBez-ot2U1lx3_oeTZdCKpAJpu7lJQ0g1rWxT5eNLEDkZSg1Ng8eVehD4uFKzq3m7MdWJ0NfG08BivGrmj14SwZ_VDf3UonNhv5kTev9fNQm0btyGGq3pMXEGQka7YN/w640-h480/cbbt+kw+shark.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>This was one of the smaller sized sharks that we caught during the first day. We brought this one into the boat for a picture, but most of the sharks caught on this trip were released at boatside with a hook-out release tool. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>The shark in the photo above was netted for a picture. Unfortunately, it bit through the netting material and managed to get it's head stuck in the net. It made for a lousy picture. But, these guys are so strong, neither of us wanted to bring another one into the boat, much less handle these toothy critters. And, I think that this was the smallest shark that we caught all day.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh yeah, another comment about that picture...yes...I had COVID hair! It was tough to find anyone that would cut my hair during the weeks preceding our trip due to virus business restrictions. And, when news of the virus first came to light, I was already in need of one. I had it cut short after the trip, but man, I sure had the Jimmy Houston look! I hate having long hair! </div><div><br /></div><div>The funny thing is that the beard is also a result of COVID. Prior to the virus, I had been clean shaven for several years for the most part. When was the last time that I had a full beard? During my last trip to the CBBT in 2017! I started growing this one in March, and I've had it ever since. My wife hates it.</div><div><br /></div><div>At the end of the day, it really didn't matter that we didn't catch any drum or cobia. Yeah, it would have been fantastic to find and catch drum and cobia at a new spot, especially a spot like this that's protected from wrath of big waves on big water like the open bay or ocean. For now, at least we were able to catch big fish. Heck, we weren't even sure that we could get on the water! As it turns out, it was plenty of practice for cobia or drum fishing, and I'd take catching three to five foot fish over smaller fish any day, even if they were sharks and rays. The bigger stingrays fight just like a cobia, with multiple runs that take you a few times around the boat. It was great practice for juggling rods without tangling lines to land big fish like that.</div><div><br /></div><div>When fighting really big fish, like cobia, you want to keep as many rods baited out there as possible, and try to fight and land your fish without pulling the other lines in. Why? Often, when one cobia hits, you might have another one on really soon. They often travel together with others alongside sharks and rays. So, after landing any kind of fish, it's important to get another line out as soon as possible.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another way to think of it is that, how many times have you fished for other aggressive species, like bass or stripers, and had multiple fish in a frenzy trying to steal your bait from a fish that you're fighting as you bring it near the boat? The fight of a big shark, ray or cobia might excite other fish into striking.</div><div><br /></div><div>One more thing about this kind of fishing. For the most part, all of the fish caught were "our" fish, because fishing for them requires a team effort. When fish strike and rods go down, you take turns fighting and catching fish. Sometimes, depending on extreme circumstances, you may have to pass the rod back and forth, and share in fighting the fish. That's how hectic it is fishing for these beasts. Technically, when the Captain does all of the research and work leading up to the strike, even the fish that you fight should be credited to the Captain, at least in my opinion. </div><div><br /></div><div>The only exception was a rod and reel that I brought and kept rigged. For the most part, I fought and caught those fish. Not because I'm selfish, rather, it's because I fish with a right handed baitcasting reel, meaning that I crank with the right hand and hold the rod with my left hand. Steve, on the other hand, fishes with left handed baitcasting outfits, so fishing with my gear feels awkward to him.</div><div><br /></div><div>And, even then, technically, Captain Steve, especially when he was teaching me the ropes of cobia fishing Steve style, did most of the work, should get credit for those fish as well. Therefore, the fish, especially the first day, could all be considered his fish. After all, he picked the spot, set the boat into position, anchored, set up and dropped the chum bucket, rigged most of the rods, cut the bait, etc. for most of the day. It's really hard work. You get the point.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't like being the fishing guest that never wants to help. I want to pull my weight. I wanted him to fish as much as me, and I wanted to share the work load as much as possible. That's what good fishing buddies do. So, take note, this is a huge tip. If someone invites you on a trip like this, learn everything you can and help as much as possible. Share the work load. Because, if you don't, you might not get another invite. If you do, most likely, you'll be back out there again.</div><div><br /></div><div>When you're a newbie at something like this, it's understandable that you may hold back because you may not want to mess something up. There is a learning curve, like anything else, if you've never done it before. But, watch and learn what your captain does. Be a sponge. After a while, offer to try to do something that he's been doing, and you'll get the hang of it. Until then, ask for help on other things, or ask questions to learn. Ultimately, it will help you become a better angler, and a better fishing pal.</div><div><br /></div><div>We got off the water about an hour before sunset. Steve wanted to get back to the motel with enough daylight so he could cook dinner outside on his portable grill. He had a couple ribeye steaks soaking in one of his favorite marinades, called "agua negra". His recipe is basically soy sauce, lime juice, pineapple juice, spiced with cumin and garlic. Actually, it's Cindy Kelley's recipe, her take on a recipe made famous by the Chevy's restaurant chain. She modified the amounts of each ingredient of the recipe to near perfection. Steve expertly cooked the steaks so that they literally melted in my mouth. Oh my goodness, that steak was awesome. He would have made Chef Gordon Ramsey proud. </div><div><br /></div><div>Hey Captain, you're reading this, great job cooking dinner! I've since used his recipe several times to wow my family's palate. It works well for steak or chicken. That meal along with a beautiful Eastern shore sunset really set the tone for the rest of the trip. The best is yet to come.</div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiN30B12V4Ftv2JcXAIAqauvOCbkW2FrT0TMYlP1_bkEpxogk-pmfGhmV3CqCZNEtou_w-Q67p0VMwbXbekxAnDfMpi3r03MJzB-O-ZwjduZkcdJ6Qcn278_hzomwhEbKgMo3yjPnic1va/s2048/agua+negra+marinade+recipe.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiN30B12V4Ftv2JcXAIAqauvOCbkW2FrT0TMYlP1_bkEpxogk-pmfGhmV3CqCZNEtou_w-Q67p0VMwbXbekxAnDfMpi3r03MJzB-O-ZwjduZkcdJ6Qcn278_hzomwhEbKgMo3yjPnic1va/w320-h240/agua+negra+marinade+recipe.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Cindy's version of the Agua Negra recipe. It's delicious. Marinade for at least an hour, but the longer, the better. The marinated meat is best when grilled, but is also excellent when broiled.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1883" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4sfTQpbEMvYMkGalRJHDdfIKXLH41mKdYVlb_Jt4FM0FKuUgZtb8UrmlIkmebuTBdrI5Kkz0nZySyhAhKHN7w3rk0cdYYCZ_z5-d8khAjIcA8wvFFZCggeH3nCKGd6KGw7jWKsYkG7T4l/w588-h640/steaks.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="588" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Cindy's recipe combined with Steve's grilling mastery!</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4sfTQpbEMvYMkGalRJHDdfIKXLH41mKdYVlb_Jt4FM0FKuUgZtb8UrmlIkmebuTBdrI5Kkz0nZySyhAhKHN7w3rk0cdYYCZ_z5-d8khAjIcA8wvFFZCggeH3nCKGd6KGw7jWKsYkG7T4l/s2048/steaks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b></b></span></a></div><div>The weather the second day was perfect, with light winds and overcast skies most of the day, and a little bit of rain in the morning. Steve's boat is a small center console 200 horsepower bay boat with a full front deck with a trolling motor on a bass boat style hull. He's comfortable taking it out in winds up to 10 miles per hour, or a couple miles per hour more depending on the wind direction, but it really depends on the waves. Anyway, the light wind prediction enabled us put the boat in and go anywhere we wanted to fish around the bridge or the mouth of the Bay to the Ocean.</div><div><br /></div><div>This time, we got an early start. It was dark when we put in at the ramp. Steve was stoked to be able to get out and fish his favorite cobia spot. Steve's boat topped 45 miles per hour on the way to his honey hole. Once there, we stopped, set the anchor, dropped the chum bucket, baited up all six rods, and cast them out. The outgoing tide was ripping, perfect for his fishing technique. It didn't take long for the first rod to slam down. Line peeled off of the reel as the drag screamed. Could this be our first cobia?</div><div><br /></div><div>When we rigged up earlier, Steve encouraged me to grab the rod on the first bite and and fight the fish, which I did. After a nice fight, I was able to get it near the boat. It was another sandbar shark, about four and a half feet long. Steve released it at boatside with his hook out tool, and I proceeded to grab some more bait.</div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, as I reached for a chunk of cut bunker, another rod went down and line screamed from the reel. Steve picked that one up, and before I could get rod number one baited, another rod went down. I grabbed that one, and we both fought fish, a double! It was crazy. We had to pass each other, make sure our lines weren't tangled, and also make sure that we didn't get tangled with the other lines that were out. Both of us made trips back and forth past each other. And both fish turned out to be four foot sharks.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSEIWwGVh9SvL1Jb2pXPmTr7_J9nYrUIGA5V0vY8_UGbBejVZ67zx_R4dCdWQumnlKjv-HENzfJ3E1Kz9LAioRHtKuGzsAKm8Y-f1DIopBwOwq__4-81ftnkhuGOQaAt88tacpPBe8M_S0/s2048/shark+6.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSEIWwGVh9SvL1Jb2pXPmTr7_J9nYrUIGA5V0vY8_UGbBejVZ67zx_R4dCdWQumnlKjv-HENzfJ3E1Kz9LAioRHtKuGzsAKm8Y-f1DIopBwOwq__4-81ftnkhuGOQaAt88tacpPBe8M_S0/w480-h640/shark+6.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>We caught one shark after another, with several doubles on the day. The final shark count on the second day alone was a mind boggling 66 sharks caught! </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Now we had 3 lines not baited, and 3 in the water. No sooner did I get the bait on one did another rod go down. Line whizzed off the reel lickity-split. Steve yelled that it may be a cobia. Cobia are known for having one blistering run after another, often leaping way out of the water. They tax your tackle and create panic in the boat because one mistake could result in a lost fish.</div><div><br /></div><div>This fish went on one of those runs. Steve finally brought it to the boat, but neither of us were able to get a look at it, and then, of course it took off like a shot. It didn't even act tired. This fish hooked up on one of his heavier spinning set ups rigged with a piece of cut bunker. Again, he pumped the rod up, and reeled down quickly while keeping the line tight, and gained enough line back to the reel and, once again, brought the fish back to the boat. </div><div><br /></div><div>The second run nearly brought the braided line to the backing, so He was glad to gain that line back. Thinking that this was a big cobia, I reeled in the other lines to get them out of the way. Then, we got a look at it as the beast neared the surface. It wasn't a cobia this time, but rather, a massive stingray. After wrestling with the behemoth ray, he finally got it near the boat. I grabbed the rod and he grabbed the hook-out tool, and expertly released the fish. You have to be careful to avoid the poisonous barb at the base of their tail.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZAeb1nuxLaxedSOoe5-DKwsitrmdDtmNSgBuBsESyGYZZ94uiTTrByjy1BHdH3O6d6hSA3G5oPQGFzj1SrI5x88k3FWS1VwE08yotmnrq34ko1TZ644uAh09mORXMieN-K3087fgX8fF/s648/stingray.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="485" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZAeb1nuxLaxedSOoe5-DKwsitrmdDtmNSgBuBsESyGYZZ94uiTTrByjy1BHdH3O6d6hSA3G5oPQGFzj1SrI5x88k3FWS1VwE08yotmnrq34ko1TZ644uAh09mORXMieN-K3087fgX8fF/w480-h640/stingray.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>We caught several species of stingrays, including this cownose ray. They put up a heck of a fight, and deserve respect as a game fish, in my opinion. They are so strong. It's best not to try and bring them into the boat for a picture, and practice boatside releases. They have a nasty poisonous spine at the base of their tail. It's not worth tangling with that.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Sometimes, with really big fish, you have to bring in all the lines, bring in the chum bucket, and let the anchor loose that is fitted with a float so you can get your anchor back after the fight. This is so you can motor up and chase the fish if you have to. </div><div><br /></div><div>Fortunately, this time, Steve didn't have to do that. And it was a good thing too, since this one turned out to be a stingray. After all, releasing your anchor is a last resort to chase a true monster, and you need to be pretty sure that it's a cobia first. You don't want to lose your spot where you were getting bites. As I said earlier, rays act just like cobia when you set the hook on them. Fighting them will cramp your forearms, let me tell you. So, they're good practice for fighting cobia. I have a lot of respect for these fish after fighting them so many times here and further North up the Chesapeake. They are so strong and really tax light tackle set ups.</div><div><br /></div><div>We wound up catching a bunch of sharks and several rays over the next hour and a half. But man, the elasmobranchs were active that day! The scenario above, fighting multiple fish at the same time, happened over and over. We eventually had a down pat system for dealing with them, where I'd help stabilize the shark or ray by taking over the rod, while Steve grabbed the line and removed the hook with the release tool. It was crazy. During my previous trip a few years ago, we caught a good many sharks on our last day, but it was nothing like this. Those hit one at a time, and I think that we only had one double that day.-</div><div><br /></div><div>Around nine in the morning, with the sun climbing, as our arms ached from fighting one shark or ray after another, one of the rods rigged with bunker went down. Steve picked it up and set the hook, and line ripped off the reel at lightning speed. He immediately handed the rod off to me. I said out loud, "How many sharks or rays do we have to go through to hook into cobia?" Steve said, "As many as it takes. The only option is to move. Do you want to do that?"</div><div><br /></div><div>The funny thing is that each of us fought several large stingrays earlier that did exactly the same thing. Those stingrays put a hurtin' on us. And, all of the stingrays took the rigs that were baited with bunker. We assumed that this was probably another stingray. Steve wanted me to fight the first cobia, so that was his motive for handing the rod off to me. If it turned out to be another ray, well, that was just good practice for ol' Kevin.</div><div><br /></div><div>Whatever was on the other end was hell bent to seek refuge under the bridge pilings and took off at warp speed with no intention of stopping. I thought that the fish was going to spool me. With only the last bit of backing left on the reel, I was finally able to turn the fish, pump the fish in and gain some line. I got it about half way in, and off it went again. My forearms burned with agony.</div><div><br /></div><div>Again, it peeled off almost all of the line. Steve thought about perhaps getting the other lines in and pulling up the anchor, but, just then, luckily, I was able to turn it and gain back some line. The fish and I had a stand off for a while. It didn't budge while I held on for dear life. Eventually, I was able gain some line and fight it almost to the boat. Neither of us got a good look at it yet. When it was about twenty feet off of the starboard side, we both gawked at what we saw. Steve yelled out, "Cobia!!!" It looked massive in the water. We hoped that I could ease it to the boat while Steve readied the net. </div><div><br /></div><div>But, not so fast. As I got the fish close enough to almost net it, it spotted the net and went ballistic. It took off under the boat, and headed toward the chum bucket. I did everything that I could to keep pressure on the fish and try to coax it in another direction. I went around the motor and to the other side, almost like I was chasing Steve. Finally, it turned back and headed off the starboard side again. I brought the line back around the motor and this time, Steve followed.</div><div><br /></div><div>I finally got the fish near the boat and Steve had a shot at netting it, and he made it count. The cobia went crazy. It was almost a miracle that it stayed in the net long enough to make it inside the boat. Once the netted fish went over the gunwale, it flipped out of the net and on to the deck. Cobia are notorious for this. Just because you get one in the net, don't be surprised when they leap out of the net. Fortunately for us, it happened over the boat. Most of the time, it happens outside of the boat, and you lose that fish.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once on the deck, the fish went crazy and thrashed around like the cartoon Tasmanian Devil. We both scampered to the back of the boat to get as far away as possible from the terror in the boat. Cobia have sharp spines behind their dorsal fin that can cut your shins to shreds. It happened to Steve on a previous trip, so I had prior warning.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgN0G4oqVGN5Gv2r5RH7PMuZgPgJQFASLSk58kMUC8-MZWoytaKoZrgYIQxa_rkZ2hEB6xBw2TXNwDVxFwzB-sElk3xDlYTHK-iyE7kqb8qYWuCg4_7VCexEr_h8h1W2PHbHg1kcfp_S4/s1668/cobia+spines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1668" data-original-width="1068" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgN0G4oqVGN5Gv2r5RH7PMuZgPgJQFASLSk58kMUC8-MZWoytaKoZrgYIQxa_rkZ2hEB6xBw2TXNwDVxFwzB-sElk3xDlYTHK-iyE7kqb8qYWuCg4_7VCexEr_h8h1W2PHbHg1kcfp_S4/w410-h640/cobia+spines.jpg" width="410" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Here's a closeup of cobia spines behind the main dorsal fin and the tail. They're very sharp and can cut you to ribbons of you're not careful. If one of these fish gets loose on the deck, watch out! If you can handle them, be careful.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnkgNO6z70VXc03dGU6yPT3UTndhfYRzEej2ZhYlyDzznHndn4OAQvrt_COPsku-QqWxZgrkrB5dwQ476D6NdjBbMZIHfQ0faoKMv9s-TPZbrvjIhpqPUMH-P88lgD7XdN3CSTNrAZvd6b/s2048/steve+big+cobia+leg+cut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnkgNO6z70VXc03dGU6yPT3UTndhfYRzEej2ZhYlyDzznHndn4OAQvrt_COPsku-QqWxZgrkrB5dwQ476D6NdjBbMZIHfQ0faoKMv9s-TPZbrvjIhpqPUMH-P88lgD7XdN3CSTNrAZvd6b/w480-h640/steve+big+cobia+leg+cut.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Check out this monster 57 inch cobia that Steve caught on a previous trip. Imagine the mayhem on the boat during the fight and when this fish hit the deck! Notice the bloody wound on Steve's shin? Think that the cobia's spines got him? Yup!</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>We simultaneously burst out into laughter, while almost out of breath, and shook uncontrollably from excitement. It was the single most hectic fight of a fish that I ever had in my life. I'm forever grateful for Steve handing me the rod. My forearms, fingers, hands, and shoulders cramped and ached, and my hands shook like they never had before. Unreal!</div><div><br /></div><div>The cobia resembled a gymnast during a floor exercise. After it settled down, we each took pics, measured it, and put it in the fish box to keep it on ice. Our first cobia in the boat, and it measured 43 inches. Wow!!! Although Steve was impressed at the fish we both teamed up to catch, he said, "Guess what? They get a lot bigger than that!" My mouth dropped wide open like Alan Grant seeing his first dinosaur at Jurassic Park. </div><div><div><br /></div><div>Since this is a team effort, once the fish were safe to handle, we each posed for a picture of every cobia landed on the trip, but only after they calmed down. When you first get them into the boat, especially bigger ones, it's better to let them settle down, otherwise, their sharp spines can get you.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLMr9eYFWfB7hgPiWzqChyphenhyphenLkk6fiWomx7lUlnxhT8OejJKa-Z4r4AvGg6-24tMthF0Nmo53iXbHNTvUDMXx6ruS-MWfVwy6P9EAm8mubak3AH4a4FdKOu_AGPoXRE03BemPcMOzuLud-8/s2048/cobia+43.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLMr9eYFWfB7hgPiWzqChyphenhyphenLkk6fiWomx7lUlnxhT8OejJKa-Z4r4AvGg6-24tMthF0Nmo53iXbHNTvUDMXx6ruS-MWfVwy6P9EAm8mubak3AH4a4FdKOu_AGPoXRE03BemPcMOzuLud-8/w480-h640/cobia+43.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>This 43 inch cobia was our first of the trip, and my first ever. Such power in these fish. They can make the best anglers nervous during and after the fight.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivVeI5OObZNDYpx1F7zrYdxnp4swxqVv8xJrvBRxTVPLh-UV_AL_oo1rHvNrkYvG_KuFhM6qaOnokaLne5cLy4aNLayCG3s2qycyRar4LIvOFZVN3tYxZDTs_Cy1k8efb0yZby-BcqMwzS/s2048/cobia+43+sk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivVeI5OObZNDYpx1F7zrYdxnp4swxqVv8xJrvBRxTVPLh-UV_AL_oo1rHvNrkYvG_KuFhM6qaOnokaLne5cLy4aNLayCG3s2qycyRar4LIvOFZVN3tYxZDTs_Cy1k8efb0yZby-BcqMwzS/w480-h640/cobia+43+sk.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Here's Steve posing with the same fish. It's a team effort. What a beautiful and powerful fish!</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>We continued to catch one shark after another, some of them reached five feet in length, way too big to bring in the boat for a picture much less fit in Steve's net. We had a bunch of live eels at the beginning of the previous day, but we were starting to run low. The sharks really tore into the eels and our supply of bunker. The bunker that we had left seemed soft and old. Besides live eels and bunker, we live-lined kingfish, spot and croaker that we caught using Fish Bites. They also were adequate as cut bait. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXlt8lI4jK_tJmYDflrwbbiRER-J9yOpGA0Yw019HNEmOgvx0kXHDCethP7HnVw88D3zx9W_dWz5WXOnog5hIbvVulpiN7FLheYCSc9AY3J0-0CynG7Cm3SI_lbjShGD41l5qyyg4KqUBN/s2048/cbbt+eel.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXlt8lI4jK_tJmYDflrwbbiRER-J9yOpGA0Yw019HNEmOgvx0kXHDCethP7HnVw88D3zx9W_dWz5WXOnog5hIbvVulpiN7FLheYCSc9AY3J0-0CynG7Cm3SI_lbjShGD41l5qyyg4KqUBN/w480-h640/cbbt+eel.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Cobia love live eels, but, unfortunately, sharks do too, and they're expensive. When a shark kills your live eel like this, it's unlikely that you'll get a cobia on it. However, if you toss it back out there, it's a sure bet that you'll quickly gain a shark's interest.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>From early morning until the time we got off of the water to go fetch bait, we caught 34 sharks between three and five feet long, and a half dozen stingrays, with most of them about four to five feet across at the "wing" tips. The day wasn't even half way over, and our shoulders and arms were already sore. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtlXUi88-zwi_3Wry0c7DQeD4Vz5o2_bpO3OOc8bEXiFqpYlGcAwvHvRU-SMmYoYvD5Xx1-yVE9bsDja8pRQRxALKtnp1RDsC_Odi7v3xO6ER7qzguLYtT4jxyh3DHbeSYtNNe4N0fhgs/s2048/shark+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtlXUi88-zwi_3Wry0c7DQeD4Vz5o2_bpO3OOc8bEXiFqpYlGcAwvHvRU-SMmYoYvD5Xx1-yVE9bsDja8pRQRxALKtnp1RDsC_Odi7v3xO6ER7qzguLYtT4jxyh3DHbeSYtNNe4N0fhgs/w480-h640/shark+2.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Most of the sharks that we caught were in the three to five foot range, and most were too big to bring into the boat for a picture. I managed to pose with one of the smaller ones.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoy5IilGOdxwSLkGdvQmdaYl-CqPNvm3UdvBs3NKwxfiPfHa_66V6DZdXzhpx1wQve2o7Imnur8-qQ3hToj3yi3vQweVMBGMaaWwiTVcT0nuUFliuOUrPfePSmB1bB_lXsZautPSVgxbDx/s2048/shark+3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoy5IilGOdxwSLkGdvQmdaYl-CqPNvm3UdvBs3NKwxfiPfHa_66V6DZdXzhpx1wQve2o7Imnur8-qQ3hToj3yi3vQweVMBGMaaWwiTVcT0nuUFliuOUrPfePSmB1bB_lXsZautPSVgxbDx/w480-h640/shark+3.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Steve poses with one of the smaller sharks that we caught the second day. You need to have a firm grip on even the small ones. They're all muscle, and can easily cause you to break your grip, and their first instinct is to try and take a chunk out of your arm as they attempt to escape. The vast majority of the sharks that we caught on this trip were too big to bring into the boat, much less trying to grab a hold of them.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><div>But, around noon, reality set in, and it was more than apparent that we were running critically low on bait. We may have had enough to finish the day, but certainly not enough for the next full day. Not only that, with as many sharks that we hooked, fought, caught or lost, we went through a lot of tackle. We had some gigantic fish that peeled line off of the reel so fast that they snapped the 50 pound leader like it was nothing. The 80 pound test braided line held up pretty well, although I had one fish break off the braid. I couldn't imagine what those fish were or big they were. </div><div><br /></div><div>We had to find a bait shop that day before it closed. Not only did we need bait, we needed leader and hooks to replace what the sharks stole from us. We didn't have enough to last the weekend on hand, especially if the sharks kept hitting as they did that day. So, we had to get off the water, get what we needed, and get back out on the water to set up for the evening bite.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>We pulled the boat out, brought it back to the motel, and searched the internet for tackle shops that sold live eels and bunker. Almost all of the stores that we called were out of bunker. Only one of them had live eels and bunker, and that store was across the bridge in Virginia Beach. One store close to where we were staying said that they'd have bunker, but it wouldn't be available until the following morning.</div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>We drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and headed to Virginia Beach. The bridge is 23 miles long and takes about a half hour to get across, and the store was five miles further. So, including time to make the return trip, get the boat, launch, and get to the spot, we were looking at a minimum of about two and a half hours of lost fishing time.</div><div><br /></div><div>We made it to the tackle shop and picked up hooks and leader, while the very nice lady that we assumed owned the store, finished up with her customers. After finishing up with them, she netted a bunch of eels for us. I'll tell you that we were very impressed with the store's selection and service. The name of the store was <a href="http://longbaypointebaitandtackle.com/" target="_blank">Long Bay Pointe Bait and Tackle</a>. I linked their website in case you fish down that way and want to check them out. They were great. Having live eels for us when nobody else did saved our trip for sure. We also bought some bunker at a reduced rate, because it was a bit old and soft. But, that's better than nothing. It had to do, because nobody else had bunker.</div><div><br /></div><div>After heading back to get the boat, drive to the ramp, launch, and head back to the spot, we were excited once again to try and tame another cobia. By the time we got there, the tide had stopped and wasn't moving at all. It was completely slack. </div><div><br /></div><div>There was no point in setting up quite yet, so we opted to fish the CBBT bridge pilings to pass some time. We caught some sea trout, and Steve hooked a big fish, probably a drum, on a Coach Jighead rigged with a 7 inch Z-Man fluke, but it came unbuttoned just under the boat. Once we noticed the current picking up around the pilings, it was time to get back to the Captain's favorite spot. The sole purpose of the trip was to catch cobia, not jig the pilings or flounder fish.</div><div><br /></div><div>We anchored up, set the chum bucket, cut bait, rigged and baited all six rod, and cast our baits out. Even anchoring the boat properly requires teamwork. One person drops the anchor while the other controls the boat to set it into position. By now, I'd participated in almost all phases of the work aspect of this way of cobia fishing, enabling us to work on everything as a team, not just catching fish. I did as much as I could by helping with the anchor, chum bucket, cutting bait, retying lost tackle rigs, releasing fish, or anything else that needed done.</div><div><br /></div><div>At first, the action was pretty slow. Now, all we had to do was to wait for the tide to really get moving. We relaxed a bit, made sure that we were hydrated, and waited for what we hoped would be a good bite. The lack of action persisted until sunset. We weren't sure if cobia bit at night or not, but we were going to try anyway. In the past, Steve had caught several bull drum after dark, but no night time cobia to date.</div><div><br /></div><div>During slack tide, obviously, the lines that you have out just sit wherever you cast them, and the boat sets at whatever angle the wind pushes it. When the tides begin to move, the current changes the position of the boat and swings the stern down current, and then pulls the lines toward the same direction behind the stern. Of course, strong winds can change this, but not on this night. When the tide pickes up, the fish get active, it's because strong tidal currents push bait out of their hiding spots leaving them vulnerable for being eaten. The chum bucket takes advantage of the cycle, and draws bait and predators to the boat.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cobia most often hit the bait closest to the chum bucket, and usually, that's where Steve likes to drop their favorite food, a fifteen to twenty inch live american eel, the bigger, the better. That is the rod that, when it usually goes off, most likely to latch on to a cobia. But, keep in mind, sharks love live or dead eels too, big time.</div><div><br /></div><div>After the sun dropped over the Western shore, the first rod to go down after the tide changed was the eel next to the chum bucket, and it went down hard. It went down so hard that the braided line broke during the initial run. Whatever hit that eel was a monster something, perhaps a shark or a cobia. We'll never know. </div><div><br /></div><div>During the entire trip, that happened a half dozen times. Each time, you lose the entire rig, hook, leader, and sometimes the swivel and sinker. That's a bummer, because it takes time to rig back up, especially when the action gets frantic. And, earlier, I spoke about how much tackle we lost. I couldn't tell you how many times sharks bit through the line at during the hook set, during the fight, and at boatside when trying to unhook them. We lost a lot of tackle, and, as active as the sharks were, that became expensive. </div><div><br /></div><div>As the tide picked up the pace, the action was, to say the least, frantic! Our baits were getting eaten faster than Fat Boy's pizza at the pizza parlor. Over the next couple hours, we had multiple sharks or rays on at the same time. By now, we had a routine down pat. One of us fought the fish, and the other helped keep the lines free from the rod fighting the fish. If we both had fish on, and one was a potential cobia, the other had to land his fish, or, if it was a small shark, just let it swim around out there, then help the other guy out. Usually, it was me that held on to the fish while Steve popped the hook out. He was better at it, and if you didn't do it right, the sharks took your hooks. </div><div><br /></div><div>We fought sharks and rays all night long like that. It was hectic, to say the least. And, it took a while to get each one in, especially the ones that were about five feet long. Our tackle was pretty heavy, but, for the sharks, you had to wonder if 80 pound braid was strong enough. If I remember correctly, the bigger sharks and all of the stingrays took at least ten to fifteen minutes to land. So, you can imagine that we were busy all night long.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2s45zZ-QDyOjUVhQfxzzv7Eodk1mzMGLF1SgBre5H0CAo_Qnj7G2RKdVGZ60U_LTY8p5ePLkBzRUK9KAiP0keh03GJkMVAIgtAmt21sYx1OYzmPDuQ1mtmoyrVpyJFgKVSgGwDiTD9EKv/s1280/sk+big+shark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="1280" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2s45zZ-QDyOjUVhQfxzzv7Eodk1mzMGLF1SgBre5H0CAo_Qnj7G2RKdVGZ60U_LTY8p5ePLkBzRUK9KAiP0keh03GJkMVAIgtAmt21sYx1OYzmPDuQ1mtmoyrVpyJFgKVSgGwDiTD9EKv/w640-h312/sk+big+shark.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Steve caught this six foot long shark on a previous trip that probably weighed over 100 pounds. These guys get up to eight feet long. We use 80 pound braid and 50 pound leader. It's easy to understand how these toothy critters steal tackle, by their sharp teeth to brute power.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Around ten o'clock at night, we considered wrapping it up. We'd been up since the wee hours of the morning, and all we were getting were sharks and rays. Steve said that maybe we'll fish the baits we had out, then call it quits when the baits were used up. We had two eels out, one under the chum bucket, and one cast further out. The one further out had been getting all sharks. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then, all of a sudden, the one with the eel further out went down hard and ripped off line as the reel sang the beautiful song indicating a huge fish was on. Steve picked it up, set the hook and the fish went ballistic. The monster fish tore line off of the spinning reel at a blistering pace down to the little bit of backing that he had on. He was sure it was going to break off, but, he luckily turned the fish. </div><div><br /></div><div>When a fish seems like it's going to spool you, rather than lose everything, line and all, you have to do something. One tip that works for me is to feather the spool a bit with your other hand to slow the fish down. It puts more pressure on the line, but, when you don't have time, it's a better option than reaching to tighten your drag. Plus, you have much more finite control of the tension that way, rather than crank the drag down to a set tension.</div><div><br /></div><div>He pumped the rod and gained line, then held on for another run. This went on several times. About twenty minutes went by as this fish took Steve around the boat twice. Each time we passed a rod, with a line out, in a rod holder, I helped him maneuver around it. Sometimes, it took a few seconds to figure out if we had to go over or under a line. Why didn't we just clear the lines? Because, remember earlier, often cobia will travel together, and you have a chance at another cobia with more than one line out. So, we fought fish with the lines out, hoping for a double. </div><div><br /></div><div>After a few runs, Steve got the fish close, under the boat. We hadn't seen it yet. It was just out of sight straight down. Was it another ray? Was it a huge shark? Or was it another cobia? Out of the depths, my headlamp caught a glimpse of the massive fish, and I yelled out, "COBIA!!!" It was a three exclamation point fish, for sure. To me, it was a monster. The water always magnifies fish and makes them look larger, but, in this case, it was larger, definitely a better class of fish than the one we boated earlier.</div><div><br /></div><div>As the fish tired, I readied the net. I placed the net into the water, held the bag, and moved it out to receive the fish, but, the fish had other ideas. Like our earlier cobia, this one took off like a shot when it saw the net. It was so strong that it took almost all of the line off the reel again, but Steve was able to turn the fish, pump the rod, gain line, and bring it back to the boat. Luckily, it didn't run around the boat this time and came straight in. </div><div><br /></div><div>Steve was nervous. This was a big cobia. Put those to together and things get intense. That's not a bad thing either. It keeps us both on our toes. He yelled at me to "Hurry up and net it already!" I was not going to lose this fish for him, no way. The last thing that I want to do is knock the fish off with the net. The most important thing a net man can do is to think and be calm, and not beat the fish with the net. You have to be quick with the net when you get your opportunity, especially with psycho cobia. When the fish presented itself at the right angle for a head first netting, I took my chance and quickly got the head of the beast safely into the net. Net man tip: always net head first. Never attempt a tail first netting job, it will lead to disaster.</div><div><br /></div><div>It wasn't over. The fish was bigger than the net. It was tricky to hoist it onto the front boat deck, and, fortunately, that's what I did. The fish flopped and thrashed while in the net on the front deck. In the video below, you can tell how thrilled we were, and almost out of breath from the excitement while in awe of this fish.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3H4tgUrjHYM" width="320" youtube-src-id="3H4tgUrjHYM"></iframe></div><div>We both exchanged high fives, fist bumps, screams, and rebel yells as we both were shaking almost uncontrollably. After the fish calmed down, Steve put a tape on it and it measured a whopping 50 inches! What a beast! Steve again reminded me that, although this was a nice fish, they get much bigger. My word...I can't imagine what fighting a 60 or 70 inch cobia would be like. These fish are amazing. Although the first two didn't show breathtaking leaps that they're known for, they sure made catching one a hectic experience indeed. It was pure mayhem.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2rerYsg63w1AMBN2wLTlIzFZLb24OQaGMfDUL0D2549jXyzCHlpdZuExBAUMPKu5-aqCenyebWL_P1pxhZLNfk6bKR8iaMOesDCk0HAfb0u8W-uohROJDXucfDezYaSmOlPwU3C2r3mJk/s2048/cobia+50+sk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2rerYsg63w1AMBN2wLTlIzFZLb24OQaGMfDUL0D2549jXyzCHlpdZuExBAUMPKu5-aqCenyebWL_P1pxhZLNfk6bKR8iaMOesDCk0HAfb0u8W-uohROJDXucfDezYaSmOlPwU3C2r3mJk/w480-h640/cobia+50+sk.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Steve poses with our biggest cobia of the trip. This one measured 50 inches. what a beast! As if fighting a cobia like this isn't crazy enough, imagine multiple rods going down during the fight. The shark action made it pure mayhem. You had to fight and get the sharks in, because those hits might have been another cobia.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNde8zOa4P5u_F-btVxoc17cfbtMZ_15Z5e-V0K-tudZ-Gx7vIqXO0HlOQ4RKHtEYbQMCrwcmNID5ncfPWAANdzy8fcJYWMC4JQppSp2ePZEq3DAVyBzVlmfZ4zhoZ0pb7TiTyLVNq03X-/s2048/cobia+50.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNde8zOa4P5u_F-btVxoc17cfbtMZ_15Z5e-V0K-tudZ-Gx7vIqXO0HlOQ4RKHtEYbQMCrwcmNID5ncfPWAANdzy8fcJYWMC4JQppSp2ePZEq3DAVyBzVlmfZ4zhoZ0pb7TiTyLVNq03X-/w480-h640/cobia+50.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>This 50 inch cobia gave us both a thrill. It was my pleasure to net this fish for Steve. What a crazy day we had!</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Oh, I forgot to mention...I caught and released two sharks while Steve fought that fish! So, at least those two lines were cleared, and he only had to maneuver around three other lines the rest of the time. Is that mayhem or what? Now you understand the title of this post! When the action was fast and furious, as it was most of the time we fished, it was literally mayhem. We had no time to rest or take a break. We were either fighting fish, or re-rigging, re-baiting hooks. It was constant action like I'd never experienced before.</div><div><br /></div><div>We caught several sharks and rays over the next hour, and decided to call it quits around midnight. At the end of the day, we finished with 66 sharks between 3 and 5 feet long, ten stingrays and two cobia. This was my first cobia experience. I was hoping to get one, after not catching one over my last four day trip, but we got two! And, to top it off, we had one that was 50 inches long!</div><div><br /></div><div>We were beat. We arrived at the boat ramp around a half hour after midnight, we still had to clean the fish. Neither of us had eaten much all day. We grabbed a quick bite from lunch that we packed as we drove to get bait, but that was it, at lunch time. So, we were starved and so very tired. Being in a boat all day is tiring enough, but when you fight big fish all day long, one after another, it wears on an old man like me. Still, I loved every minute of it.</div><div><br /></div><div>We still had another day of this adventure, and for me to do it justice, it will require a follow up blog post. I will have, as the late great Paul Harvey would say, "the rest of the story" ready for you in a few days. I'm trying to have my posts published by Wednesday of each week, but this post, along with last weeks post, took me extra time to write about and proof. So, please bear with me and come back to read the rest. I hope you liked the story so far, and thank you so much for following my outdoor adventures!</div></div>Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-68700214351876510982020-12-31T13:51:00.020-05:002021-01-12T09:29:26.197-05:00The Old Man and the Sea - My First Offshore Adventure!<p>When I was about ten years old, I remember watching the movie, "Old Man and the Sea", based on Ernest Hemingway's novel. The drama, the seemingly never ending battle against a monster swordfish, the exhilaration of catching the gigantic fish with a hand line that ripped apart his hands, followed by the old man's exhausting ordeal fighting off the sharks while trying to get the behemoth back to shore whole. </p><p>That story left a mark on me, not only the vastness of the ocean, but the tranquility, the beauty, and also the potential terrors, not only from what lies beneath, but of the sea itself. Although it was a fictional drama, it seemed to me to be very realistic and a well told tale. The open ocean has been a mysterious wonder of mine for my entire life.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBvkvyBzcESv4HOyTH3cz8CusyxTXw1EXCvvKGx4OhvingonrKyGivqfwk6Xr1pXYzA3anwr6AxEC8vkxgdiib8OYT_XrZHg_R_1sYY3CVPYtLeRd1O5P2A-jO2WfGquXrujEJB5WFC4_/s2048/mahi+ocean.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBvkvyBzcESv4HOyTH3cz8CusyxTXw1EXCvvKGx4OhvingonrKyGivqfwk6Xr1pXYzA3anwr6AxEC8vkxgdiib8OYT_XrZHg_R_1sYY3CVPYtLeRd1O5P2A-jO2WfGquXrujEJB5WFC4_/w640-h480/mahi+ocean.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>An August sunrise over the Atlantic. What deep sea monsters and adventures await us at the fishing grounds of "The Old Man and the Sea"?<br /></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>At that young age, memories of helping my grandfather surf fish off of Ocean City, Maryland while we were on vacation always stuck with me. I remember cutting squid and mullet for him to bait the hooks on his surf rigs. I remember him catching lots of small sharks and rays, slammer bluefish, an occasional nice rockfish, sea trout, flounder and one big really big red drum. That drum seemed gigantic to a ten year old like me. I remember creating tide pools in the sand to play with Northern puffers that he caught. I remember tickling their bellies so I could watch them inflate themselves in a defensive maneuver.</p><p>While he surf fished, I always remembered "The Old Man and the Sea", and wondered what monster fish might bite his rig and give my Grandfather the fight of a lifetime. As I grew older and surf fished on my own, I realized that offshore fish like that would never come within surf casting distance. Still, as I fished and gazed out to the vast open ocean, I always wondered what it would be like to catch a monster fish like that, or, what monsters were inshore that might give me the fight of a lifetime. </p><p>Well, this past summer, thanks to my good friend, Ed Lewandoski, that dream came true as he offered me a nice two day weekend open ocean trip of a lifetime. One of his trip goals was to catch a big mahi-mahi, but we'd be happy for just about any other gamefish out there that would offer up a good fight. For me, the entire experience was the goal. One of the wonders of fishing the ocean is that you really don't know what you'll hook into. The variety of fish that you may encounter blows my mind.</p><p>On our first day, we stopped at the local gas station, gassed up, picked up some eats for the trip out, and bought lots of ice for the fish bag. After ingesting a couple Dramamine pills during the wee hours of the morning, we dropped Ed's boat in at Chincoteague and headed out to the canyons some 50 to 60 miles offshore. </p><p>Thinking of my comfort, Ed brought a bean bag chair that I could sit in behind the console so I could sleep during the trip out. Are you kidding me? Heck, no sleep for me. I insisted in taking part of every moment. After all, it's my first trip out to the deep blue. I wanted to witness everything. I was so STOKED! There was no way that I could sleep, even though it was tough to see anything as we plowed through wave after wave in the dark. It was nice of Ed to think of my comfort though, and I appreciated that.</p><p>The ocean was a little choppy, but not bad. The forecast was pretty good for the first day, and even better the second. It took a bit of getting used to the rhythmic motion of the boat plowing into one roller after another, but posed no problem for my inner ear. </p><p>As the sun began to rise in the East, Ed encouraged me to keep my eyes out for anything floating in the water, and I mean anything. If there is something out there on the water's surface, it will attract bait and predators, especially mahi-mahi. Upon spotting such flotsam, we'd stop and cast for whatever hungry teleosts might inhale our offerings.</p><p>Basically, you look for anything out there that floats on the surface, whether it be crab pots, trash, macroalgae like sargassum weed, or balloons, or whatever! We heard one boat on the radio talking about a pallet floating out there that they caught fish off of.</p><p>My eyes scanned the vast ocean as far as my poor eyesight would allow me to see, hoping to see something that might put us on fish, or maybe witness something out there that I may not ever see again. Ripples on the waves, or the waves in the distance, offered my poor eyesight mirages of potential pelagic critters. I wanted to see something so bad, that my eyes invented images of sea monsters or lesser activity, when in reality, it may have been just a white capped wave.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="382" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gukwPOatAu0" width="629" youtube-src-id="gukwPOatAu0"></iframe></div><p>Ed told me during our long truck ride about his most recent trip with his pal Jason, when they came across a partially deflated kids foil balloon floating out in the middle of the ocean. They stopped and cast jigs and caught some really nice sized dolphin (mahi-mahi). That's all it takes. He jokes about a time when he saw a party balloon on the ground in at a local grocery store parking lot, and texted a picture to Jason with the caption, "Mahi!". Only an offshore angler would get excited seeing a downed foil balloon!</p><p>When we stopped, finally, after almost a two hour trip out, we set up for trolling one of Ed's spots that he had planned to visit. The wave action still posed no problem for me. The Dramamine worked just fine. After trolling a short while, Ed hooked up and caught the first of several small mahi-mahi. We trolled various squid type baits at different distances and depths using outriggers to keep some of the baits out to the edge of the boat wake. </p><p>I was amazed at how beautiful mahi-mahi, or dolphin fish, were in person. In the water, they are absolutely stunning as they approach with electric blue and green coloration. Even landed, for a brief period, their colors are so vibrant. What a beautiful fish they are. Already, my trip was made, catching another species of fish that I've never caught, and a beautiful one at that.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFu_wUk3YZAKadvHVYznepvyA1YWVwd7evEwmBx0D2M5XSG3K7T1jj9JysUtBUTophbbeHkDF7HiFA05In6UaUNL9fdBJZkTslC0mRsPC2Bf1iPyqnYDR40CdNnsCSd3dvvYaH3h-DpTWT/s2048/mahi+first.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2048" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFu_wUk3YZAKadvHVYznepvyA1YWVwd7evEwmBx0D2M5XSG3K7T1jj9JysUtBUTophbbeHkDF7HiFA05In6UaUNL9fdBJZkTslC0mRsPC2Bf1iPyqnYDR40CdNnsCSd3dvvYaH3h-DpTWT/w640-h468/mahi+first.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>My first ever dolphin fish (aka mahi-mahi</b></span><b style="color: #01ffff;">). This little one was released, but we kept some for the table on this trip. They are so tasty. I could not get over how beautiful these fish were as they approach the boat, and even while posing for pictures. Their beautiful colors fade the longer they are out of the water. Pictures don't really do them justice.</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I couldn't believe how blue yet clear the water was. The prop wash was even a bright blue. You could easily see fifty feet down or more. When we hooked fish, the colors were just amazing. Now, it makes sense when the Wicked Tuna guys yell that they see color when a fish nears the boat.</p><p>We had one massive hit that sounded like a canon going off. We looked around and one of the lines was down, but didn't seem like it had a fish on. Ed reeled it in, and there was a small mahi hooked and not moving, with massive bite marks across it's body. A shark, or perhaps a big bluefish, was most likely the assailant. It probably chased and hit the mahi as it hit Ed's lure or shortly afterwards.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGO0Jaa4fFRFJitS3cTST0xfLbsNBjR3TSnOoub5RXBOpMYJa1qJxElHCm4qImkKb6p2A79Q59arMLBwQRyu-Q7jqjSl5auCsMh_mTyf8LHGW7eNcaQF0oPksi-IpGOOvJzo0FvAHkpbR/s2048/mahi+shark+bite.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGO0Jaa4fFRFJitS3cTST0xfLbsNBjR3TSnOoub5RXBOpMYJa1qJxElHCm4qImkKb6p2A79Q59arMLBwQRyu-Q7jqjSl5auCsMh_mTyf8LHGW7eNcaQF0oPksi-IpGOOvJzo0FvAHkpbR/w480-h640/mahi+shark+bite.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Ed caught this mahi-mahi</b></span><b style="color: #01ffff;"> that was attacked by a toothy critter, perhaps a shark or a big chopper bluefish.</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After that, we headed for the canyon. On the trip out, we came across a pod of bottlenose dolphins. Ed slowed the boat down and they immediately moved in to frolic in the wake of the boat. I jumped up and yelled to them like a little kid. I took a video of that experience (below). Again, I'm a newb to that world, so forgive me. I loved it. One dolphin kept turning and looking at me as I yelled and filmed. So very cool to make contact with other intelligent life forms!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="527" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hrmGRDCdt-I" width="634" youtube-src-id="hrmGRDCdt-I"></iframe></div><p>On the way to the canyon, we passed what I thought looked like a crab pot. What the heck, way out in the ocean? I yelled out and Ed slowed down and pulled a U turn. He guided the boat to within casting distance of a crab pot marker buoy. Ed asked me to move the bean bag to the front of the boat out of the way. It was big and bulky, and the only way was to push it around the fish bag. </p><p>I swung the bag partially over the gunwale and gave it a heave toward the front. Then, disaster struck as the handle on the bag snagged the reel handle of Ed's jigging reel that was sitting in a nearby rod holder. The weight of the bag broke the rod off at the base of the handle. The rod and reel fell into the deep blue sea, but I managed to bend over and grab it without falling in myself. </p><p>I felt awful as I handed Ed his brand new broken rod. He actually was able to use it and caught a bunch of fish jigging with it. It looked like an ultralight crappie spinning rod combo at this point. That incident bugged me the rest of the trip, but Ed was a good sport about it. After the trip, I ordered a replacement for him and had it delivered directly to his house. As I said earlier, I felt absolutely awful about it.</p><p>Meanwhile, I threw a jig/soft plastic combo that worked well for stripers, having never been out there before. Why did I have that on? I don't know, maybe just lazy, or confidence, as it was already tied on from striper fishing. But, I still thought it might work. It didn't.</p><p>Meanwhile, Ed, using his abbreviated rod handle spinning rod, immediately hooked up on his jigging spoon and boated a nice mahi-mahi worth putting in the fish bag. On his next cast, he hooked, landed and released a smaller one. </p><p>Then, we noticed that there were more crab pots, in fact, a whole line of them, perhaps eight or nine of them. With no more action at the first crab pot, we moved to the next one. Ed hooked up again on his next cast and added another keeper for the fish bag. He then lent me a jigging spoon similar to the one he had luck with, and I hooked up on a small mahi that I released. </p><p>We moved to the next pot and repeated our success. I'd say that we had at least a fish on for just about all of the crab pots. None of them were the big monsters that we hoped for, but many of them were good enough for the table, so we added more to the fish bag.</p><p>After trying the crab pots a couple more times, the action slowed. Ed marked the spot on his GPS, so we could return another time. Then, we continued toward the canyon. </p><p>After about another half hour ride, we finally made it to our destination, the canyon. We only saw a few boats in the distance all morning long, but we got to the canyon only to find about a dozen or more boats trolling the area. There were a series of lobster pot markers that everyone trolled around. Last time out, Ed and Jason caught a couple nice mahi off of them. We covered a fair amount of water at various depths, but we didn't have any luck trolling around the canyon.</p><p>After marking a huge school of fish on the bottom, we tried deep dropping some bait to them. But, while fishing over 350 feet down or more, you don't feel much without using braided line. The rods that we used were spooled with mono, and, with the stretch, you couldn't feel anything. I still managed to catch a new species, something that I've only seen in public aquariums, a chain catshark! Apparently, this particular species is rarely caught by anglers. Way cool! That's what I love about fishing the ocean, you never really know what you will catch!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvdtzYYyh6V6xC90-SeNrDHTTKaxqahZz4bRpc7geZEYzz9zsJzuVTt5Yv8HHrKxAfKv8JIl1tbPxfSvFsOOvGmJxazuS8ufvYPo3Ld4maovsmJjEvnLO0vkoKaRAWBDUy8DrcZKXNAlIs/s2048/cat+shark.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvdtzYYyh6V6xC90-SeNrDHTTKaxqahZz4bRpc7geZEYzz9zsJzuVTt5Yv8HHrKxAfKv8JIl1tbPxfSvFsOOvGmJxazuS8ufvYPo3Ld4maovsmJjEvnLO0vkoKaRAWBDUy8DrcZKXNAlIs/w480-h640/cat+shark.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Most people wouldn't be happy reeling in one of these. But, I was thrilled. It's a new species for me, and one that is rarely caught by anglers, a chain catshark!</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>We were hoping to latch on to a tilefish or perhaps a triggerfish, but no luck with that. After an hour or so, we decided to head back in and troll where we had success earlier, and perhaps troll a couple other locally known hot spots. On the way back, we saw what we thought was an ocean sunfish. We went back to look for it, but couldn't find it. Maybe it was something else, a shark, or a pilot whale perhaps? Would game fish be hiding under it as well?</p><p>We returned to the area where we trolled and caught fish earlier, and locked on to a nice mahi. I reeled this one in and it turned out to be the biggest mahi that I had the pleasure of boating on the trip.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmwFXgzBkCNobliM18g-vz-Iyet_699EGJ5X5Dvh4nszmVwKeVGx9qnk-FFrqktlZNb4on1atQKi5UnVt2-algFRXnQE4v3aq8ZLh-P7XBoQJh-MozpTTVYwteIeUdoCUlHJCIEwGxtmf6/s2048/mahi+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmwFXgzBkCNobliM18g-vz-Iyet_699EGJ5X5Dvh4nszmVwKeVGx9qnk-FFrqktlZNb4on1atQKi5UnVt2-algFRXnQE4v3aq8ZLh-P7XBoQJh-MozpTTVYwteIeUdoCUlHJCIEwGxtmf6/w640-h480/mahi+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>This nice mahi hit a trolled squid near the end of the first day. It was a decent sized one, at least for me, the biggest that I reeled in that day.<br /><br /></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table>One thing to note is that when trolling, Ed pretty much did everything. I helped as much as I could, but he was the one setting up the rigs and outriggers, driving the boat, just about everything needed to troll and catch a fish. Other than reeling in between spots, I didn't do much except reel a few fish in. Ed had me reel in the first one, so I guess I caught that fish. After that, we alternated fish hits and reeling the fish in. In truth, Ed (or his boat), caught the fish, and I just helped. <div><br /></div><div>I want to make it clear that, for the entire trip, when we caught fish trolling, it was his strategies, his spots, his efforts, that put fish in the boat. When I "caught" fish, I did the easy part. So, when you read this article, please know that when I speak about me catching a trolled fish, it's really "we" caught that fish, or more true, Ed did, and I assisted.</div><div><br /></div><div>As the trip went on, and I learned the ropes a little bit, I wound up taking orders and helping as much as I could. Nobody that fishes as much as I do wants to be a deadbeat on the boat. We want to participate, to do anything to help catch fish, or make the trip easier and less of a burden on the Captain. And, quite honestly, no boat owner wants to take repeat guests out again if they fall into that deadbeat category.<br /><div><br /></div><div>On the next pass, one of the rods on an outrigger slapped down and we had fish on again. At first glance, we thought it was a tuna as Ed fought the hard fighting fish and brought it to the boat. He handed the rod to me and he carefully brought it into the boat with an expert gaff to the lower jaw. It wasn't a tuna, but rather, a false albacore. As it turns out, they're not good eating, but the oily meat is good for using as bait for deep dropping to other large species.</div><div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZtSF4Q4PBq0ExfYjYU9RbJKmcAnwcU70fAzXcc6Oqj4lQrstXZP4zvcwnvtgUHv6TTn8TEGCJ_fh_1-wBo6g2PQpLalZpp-lq2gWBnG7BIJsXGHyO5078JpcwR8C0VfRMft2_x-RosKC/s2048/Ed+bonito.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZtSF4Q4PBq0ExfYjYU9RbJKmcAnwcU70fAzXcc6Oqj4lQrstXZP4zvcwnvtgUHv6TTn8TEGCJ_fh_1-wBo6g2PQpLalZpp-lq2gWBnG7BIJsXGHyO5078JpcwR8C0VfRMft2_x-RosKC/w640-h480/Ed+bonito.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;">Ed caught the first false albacore of the trip. It put up a great fight and made for a nice picture. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Ed told me that the false albacore (Euthynnus alletteratus) has several common names, including albie, little tunny, fat albert, bonito, and spotted bonito. He says that little tunny is probably the most popular name. No matter what we call them, they are popular game fish, not as table fare, but for their fight. They hit hard, produce drag ripping runs, and put up an incredible fight for their size.</p><p>We caught another Mahi trolling, and not long after that, Ed caught a small, almaco jack, a cousin of the amberjack. Another species that Ed can add to his list! We didn't have much time left because Ed wanted to get back before dark, so after a little more time trolling, we headed back to port.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZwcbQiw6JINvoVpdBst3sM2ELVQ3zMCjkgIxbBAFE1sR-Uo4P6ALa6Eb84uu7R_mqRadFsmW0tLIw0m7nlk5pjgal6_nkl8DRKOgNn-aSmML1_-bqP0RZo2LFmmHqs0TTnpVyEFeK8K7/s2048/almaco.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZwcbQiw6JINvoVpdBst3sM2ELVQ3zMCjkgIxbBAFE1sR-Uo4P6ALa6Eb84uu7R_mqRadFsmW0tLIw0m7nlk5pjgal6_nkl8DRKOgNn-aSmML1_-bqP0RZo2LFmmHqs0TTnpVyEFeK8K7/w640-h480/almaco.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Ed caught an almaco jack, a cousin to the amberjack. It has a black bar across the eye just like the amberjack. These fish get pretty large, but not quite as big as it's cousins. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ZrQ2FRM1m9CHl5kV909qoIALQuMuXsrmafNvAG1lJWSp6dvAhgYDWr6xAXk0PggJYbrHktqrqfdmbQot61apJ1tY0PigvB_3k_5v9nmz2VRhZ092hMZ3eRTazgWNPbeuhEaJmi8OZEMD/s2048/almaco+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ZrQ2FRM1m9CHl5kV909qoIALQuMuXsrmafNvAG1lJWSp6dvAhgYDWr6xAXk0PggJYbrHktqrqfdmbQot61apJ1tY0PigvB_3k_5v9nmz2VRhZ092hMZ3eRTazgWNPbeuhEaJmi8OZEMD/w640-h480/almaco+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Close up of Ed's almaco jack.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The next morning brought us even calmer seas. It was like glass out there with slight rollers. Obviously, it took us a little less time to get out to where we finished up the previous evening. We decided since we had all of our luck a bit more inshore, to not make that long run to the canyon.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6MWsJBA0xcyhbM4-CMOYBfQbmyZNUctDyySOlxa0PqD-IXW3bdLjNyC7GlMhzJI27QUPl-iqZROrZ_oSfCe5nZ2sdiW10gn6Ohyn1pdE3uHNtGQMsvbSPETBdbSDn4r_S-5CPLtSQT_gs/s2048/ed+boating.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6MWsJBA0xcyhbM4-CMOYBfQbmyZNUctDyySOlxa0PqD-IXW3bdLjNyC7GlMhzJI27QUPl-iqZROrZ_oSfCe5nZ2sdiW10gn6Ohyn1pdE3uHNtGQMsvbSPETBdbSDn4r_S-5CPLtSQT_gs/w640-h480/ed+boating.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Here's Ed on the second morning cruising around looking for flotsam as we trolled. Ed put me on fish during my first open ocean trip, so that qualifies him as a Captain in my book. Captain Ed Lewandoski...has a nice ring to it, right?</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknJ6nIP7jLoxoQl2TkvuOpGj1jH5qX_lZ7yurKn8dLhUbBfN7GuMBgQvBcMxuIIbuMK7QOieUPQrvNy9XQU_dlLv24oGONtdjNnT0ShIL-oYzMlJT5PmUsYvhUrZ8EdSKHsvvoEt2j9bP/s2048/ocean+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknJ6nIP7jLoxoQl2TkvuOpGj1jH5qX_lZ7yurKn8dLhUbBfN7GuMBgQvBcMxuIIbuMK7QOieUPQrvNy9XQU_dlLv24oGONtdjNnT0ShIL-oYzMlJT5PmUsYvhUrZ8EdSKHsvvoEt2j9bP/w640-h480/ocean+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>The conditions on the second day were perfect. Calm glass-like water conditions and overcast skies really seemed fishy to me. We had to have a good day. These conditions made it easy to see flotsam further away.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Our first goal of the day was to find those crab pots again. Ed headed toward the spot that he marked on his GPS a day earlier. We found them easily, and fished each one carefully. We caught fish on just about every crab pot again. Ed had the hot hand, catching at least two on each pot with his broken handled rod.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy2L8Jf9Lv-rMUNm0_ua6rYZdflV1bh5Uzfg-vB0pKdMcnvkpWgK2aF6ZoahDvjqZ-fE44CCeQenrqgKf7hgjO4M5pcbCAbE65gtppSsNcaw-c7Ts60xs5-Nrecl4nkoWJdZ3f5NPvlWoa/s2048/mahi+colorful.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy2L8Jf9Lv-rMUNm0_ua6rYZdflV1bh5Uzfg-vB0pKdMcnvkpWgK2aF6ZoahDvjqZ-fE44CCeQenrqgKf7hgjO4M5pcbCAbE65gtppSsNcaw-c7Ts60xs5-Nrecl4nkoWJdZ3f5NPvlWoa/w480-h640/mahi+colorful.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>My first jigging mahi of the second day. Small, but so colorful and cool.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>We gave the crab pots a good effort, and when the action slowed, we decided to troll the spot where we had success at the end of the previous day. We set up for trolling again, and hooked up almost immediately on our first pass. After a hard fight and cramping hands, I landed the first false albacore of the day. They are beautiful fish in their own right! </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHhzUrS-2eUJDb6PJuUHrj-xXrqImke0-L1C2JE7fwCRrNcS9TxJNt4hYRpQFpQXY0u9ZkiCZR1HDH34laWLTPddUx8s5jNnYwUjOvoY9CkQEIUi30TkRqWB9eBGzOfy1PqHBp8UNXEsni/s2048/bonito.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHhzUrS-2eUJDb6PJuUHrj-xXrqImke0-L1C2JE7fwCRrNcS9TxJNt4hYRpQFpQXY0u9ZkiCZR1HDH34laWLTPddUx8s5jNnYwUjOvoY9CkQEIUi30TkRqWB9eBGzOfy1PqHBp8UNXEsni/w640-h480/bonito.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>I landed another species for me, the beautiful false albacore (also known as bonito or albies). Man, do they ever fight hard. They are like miniature tunas!</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There were a couple wrecks in the area and a few boats fishing for triggerfish and tilefish, and a couple boats trolling off in the distance. We wondered if the bonito were hanging out around the wrecks that may have been drawing baitfish. At any rate, every time we trolled through that general area, we had a fish on. And all of them were hard fighting albies. </p><p>We trolled back and forth over this particular area and wound up taking turns to catch ten false albacore. We could have kept on catching one after another, as they were thick and aggressive there. But, we decided to stop at ten. Why? Our shoulders were sore from fighting them one after another! Also, it was getting late and we both wanted to catch more mahi to bring home.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8OXS1JU0WR3DA46h1rqsjw5fK-sCaxKRrfuyz5nikcmr7qrezarlCKTi7mp5vOO0zLFIG7CfSyGS_AKcX8aMniuz_AUD_Gke3ysCPyX_ITQo6KOGMVB7iBrYuc9uWw2WNMkQPmMMZI0C/s2048/mahi+fight.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8OXS1JU0WR3DA46h1rqsjw5fK-sCaxKRrfuyz5nikcmr7qrezarlCKTi7mp5vOO0zLFIG7CfSyGS_AKcX8aMniuz_AUD_Gke3ysCPyX_ITQo6KOGMVB7iBrYuc9uWw2WNMkQPmMMZI0C/w480-h640/mahi+fight.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>My shoulders ached and hands cramped after reeling in those false albacore. One thing that I had to learn was how to reel in the line and guide it back and forth across spool using my thumb, even when fighting a fish. Doing this keeps the line neat and even on the spool, so line will come off easily if needed and not bind the spool in the reel. I'm so used to the level wind baitcasting reels that automatically do it for you. A really big tuna or swordfish would break the line off using a conventional baitcaster because line couldn't come off fast enough.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>What lures did we troll with? Most of the lures were various types of plastic skirted squid type lures rigged either singly or in multiple squid rigs. The squid lures are four to six inches long and colorful attracting colors. The picture below shows a few different style squid lures with varying heads that pop, dart, swim or dive, depending on their shape:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XAULJhK2fIA4eMuPnKZXOunyH67Pa-MXo9Hi9TmXPnC8Qyql4DzCGAY7k0remxDWcUF2lsSa2ydyLHCN8KRHuBpScP5A2fw4R7k0Sb1cXyqORhnhFtmGgY05DUWpOXsn_YZNWJVPz1Jr/s2048/mahi+lures.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XAULJhK2fIA4eMuPnKZXOunyH67Pa-MXo9Hi9TmXPnC8Qyql4DzCGAY7k0remxDWcUF2lsSa2ydyLHCN8KRHuBpScP5A2fw4R7k0Sb1cXyqORhnhFtmGgY05DUWpOXsn_YZNWJVPz1Jr/w640-h480/mahi+lures.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Darting and diving squids to the left, popping versions to the right. Blue and white is thought to resemble the favorite food of mahi-mahi, the flying fish. Pink and white is also a popular fish catching color.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Spreader bars are used with teaser squids teamed with the actual hooked lures, giving the fish the impression of a school of baitfish, similar to the concept of an Alabama rig used for largemouth bass. Another popular rig is called a dredge, which may have as many as 100 teasers that are designed to run about 5-10 feet down, almost like a striper umbrella rig. This rig supposedly resembles a bait ball and can be quite effective, but also tough to reel in with all that drag, as you might imagine. We didn't use a dredge during this trip. We used another daisy chain style rig, where several squid like lures were rigged in-line. </p><p>Basically, whatever rig you use, you want the surface and subsurface lures to bounce and thrash the surface to attract fish that think that they are chasing baitfish such as the flying fish. There are many other types of rigs, these are just a couple things that we used. Below is an example of a spreader bar:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjQamg-IWYRDIQf8uqMKtgxGMWJMpDGJ8lB_bncTBIjzLR2XCtRVkBfMp3t5tRc28DAfQlzrAtEZHOzbHpu-QFebfRHAkhuNd-VNLcJstqZ6TCvGQXsHM185sy-fPa7O6K7V-Q5uJ3iq0u/s1588/mahi+squid+bar.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="1588" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjQamg-IWYRDIQf8uqMKtgxGMWJMpDGJ8lB_bncTBIjzLR2XCtRVkBfMp3t5tRc28DAfQlzrAtEZHOzbHpu-QFebfRHAkhuNd-VNLcJstqZ6TCvGQXsHM185sy-fPa7O6K7V-Q5uJ3iq0u/w640-h420/mahi+squid+bar.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>The spreader bar dances around causing the squid lures to bounce around like fleeing baitfish. It creates quite a ruckus. Reeling these things in as almost like fighting a fish because they have so much resistance. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Basically, you set up lines off outriggers and several rod holders at different distances apart and behind the boat, to cover as much water as possible. You have to cover the prop wash as fish are often attracted to them. You also set up lures just inside and outside the boat wake, and one really far back behind the boat.</p><p>On the way to the next spot, we found another group of crab pots and checked them out. These didn't hold any fish for some reason, so we moved on. Maybe someone fished them already? Why didn't these crab hold fish and the others did? </p><p>We stopped at another location where Jason and Ed caught fish on their last trip. On the first trolling pass, we hooked up again on another good fish. After a ten minute fight, Ed landed another chunky false albacore. The next pass yielded a nice mahi for the fish bag. After a few more trolling passes around that area with no hits, and since it was starting to run late, we decided to head back.</p><p>But first, on the way back, we decided to visit the crab pots that we found earlier that held fish. We found them, and with no other boats around, had them all to ourselves. We moved from pot to pot, casting jigging spoons and lures toward each one. Ed hooked up on several mahi-mahi. Ed had it down pat while I struggled to get bites. Eventually, I got the hang of it and landed a couple more. </p><p>These pots enabled us to put some more fish in the bag though, so we were happy. They weren't huge, but, they taste great. With not much time left, I decided to give a crankbait a try. I put on a Rapala suspending X-Rap and hooked into a decent mahi-mahi that added to our fish bag total. When I was fighting this fish, you could see a bunch of mahi underneath in a frenzy trying to get in on the action. Ed dropped his jig down to them and hooked up immediately, and after a short fight, boated yet another mahi.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaeh1KPbS8IXhOqSMlDhIvr2bG1j0X9uiM9ckZmt8QCEturF6uZxUGW-PW75qcfLcAnvDlDeDQZAuy0tJkzGElDwEhjzCMy2dwqCm5rq5yO99oJiDD078VnSKhr1uiBBWorWlAuZRoVYSh/s2048/mahi+3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaeh1KPbS8IXhOqSMlDhIvr2bG1j0X9uiM9ckZmt8QCEturF6uZxUGW-PW75qcfLcAnvDlDeDQZAuy0tJkzGElDwEhjzCMy2dwqCm5rq5yO99oJiDD078VnSKhr1uiBBWorWlAuZRoVYSh/w480-h640/mahi+3.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Here's a small mahi that I caught on a Rapala X-Rap crankbait. It was especially fun casting to fish like this. So much fight in a small package. I can't imagine what fighting a bull dolphin would be like. What a pretty fish!<br /><br /></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table>As we pulled up and drifted close to one of the crab pots, we noticed a fish holding about a foot under the surface on the down current side of the crab pot rope. It was a filefish! Later, we drifted by another one and it also had a filefish on it. We noticed the same thing on other ropes. We wondered deeper down what other species of fish hung out there, and which ones the mahi-mahi fed on.<p>On the way back, only a few miles from shore, we finally found the huge sargassum weed patch, exactly what everyone looks for further out. Could predators lurk below the weeds? The conditions were perfect, clear water, cover, just about everything you'd ask for. But, after trying several spots without any sign of fish, we gave up and headed back to port. </p><p>We had a long evening ahead of us, as we had to clean fish and the boat, pack up our gear, and we still hadn't eaten anything for dinner. We'd been up since the wee hours of the morning two days in a row. It was a tough two days physically, but well worth the effort. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFtgs3VVPzhvtzUlzWrDpc5nNeXh26YEZJS4hHzQ9phXmIVnx-N-lrNlBZfV8aciJolbiOL95Lv7PclCt-wWhisLfIPdOLh4cdgBcrNExsQw-74xEEJK3gWvIHUDfSDU_AS9Di7KyCdIw/w640-h480/ed%2527s+boat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Ed's fishing vessel docked after a long day of fishing. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFtgs3VVPzhvtzUlzWrDpc5nNeXh26YEZJS4hHzQ9phXmIVnx-N-lrNlBZfV8aciJolbiOL95Lv7PclCt-wWhisLfIPdOLh4cdgBcrNExsQw-74xEEJK3gWvIHUDfSDU_AS9Di7KyCdIw/s960/ed%2527s+boat.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"></span></a></div>We put in two solid days of fishing out in the open ocean, in water as deep as a thousand feet or more, so deep that the sonar couldn't read the bottom! I caught three species of fish that I'd never caught before. Time flies out there too. Hours flew by like minutes when we were out offshore fishing. Those ten albies took a lot of time to reel in, about ten to fifteen minutes each. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ed's boat is a smaller offshore boat. So for safely reasons, it's good to do research ahead of time to make sure conditions are on the calm and safe side out there prior to heading out. There are internet resources and weather/wind phone apps that make available real time conditions. Most of the larger offshore fishing boats have multiple motors that enable them to get back if one fails. Ed has a single motor, so it's imperative to be as safe as possible, to plan and hit it right so the conditions make for an enjoyable day on the water.</div><div><br /></div><div>In addition to that, other safety considerations should include having ditch bag with water, portable VHF radio, water, strobe, reflectors, first aid kit, Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB), etc. on board. It's best to not take chances offshore that you might risk in a bay or river, especially in a smaller boat.<br /><div><br /></div><div>What a terrific experience. Now, I need to invest in more tackle for another type of fishing. I think my first investment would be a jigging set up, beefy enough to handle a monster mahi, but with enough finesse to jig comfortably. I'd also consider a rod and reel combo for deep drop fishing. Maybe I can do it with one set up. I have to research a bit more.<br /><div><br /></div><div>The visual appeal of the movie and plot of the book, "The Old Man and the Sea" bounced around in my head throughout the trip. All I could think about was how beautiful, amazing and surreal it was out on the open ocean. The entire time, I couldn't believe I was out there. It was a trip that I will never forget. And, on top of that, we had some delicious fish to bring home to the table. And man, did those mahi filets taste great! Thanks Ed for the trip of a lifefime!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div>Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-34255431069285652882020-12-23T13:53:00.005-05:002021-01-12T09:30:47.797-05:00"The Sickness"<p>The call of the wild drives our passion for the outdoors. That's what drives us to get outdoors as often as we do. It's primeval. Every now and then, as one season ends prior to another one beginning, I explain to my wife, when bargaining for fishing time, that maybe this is the last best chance that I'll have for the season to get out and catch or bag whatever it is that I'm after. Her response is that it's all one big season, that they all run together, and they never end... "So, just go, if that will make you happy.". </p><p>Each season ends and butts up against another one. It's so true. And each season can be as addicting as the last, whether it's hunting or some aspect of fishing. But, my friend Steve and I have one major addiction that crosses all seasons and overrides all other addictions. That addiction is fishing for rockfish, and it's an all year long affliction. My friend, Captain Steve Kelley calls it, <b>"The Sickness"</b>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXxEq7oOo_u1TyWPJScs9XDdTeF6jTOEGiG0rBgqb27rY9bsE2H_thFOJoTsQG9uoI1WhaT8zDYnT6DS0VLBWaq7mqoq1QEuuPxiLxfc5Ih7yT4u3Q9mzHrWpPtx3L-UdLzp4F2Cu5qIX/s960/IMG_3079.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXxEq7oOo_u1TyWPJScs9XDdTeF6jTOEGiG0rBgqb27rY9bsE2H_thFOJoTsQG9uoI1WhaT8zDYnT6DS0VLBWaq7mqoq1QEuuPxiLxfc5Ih7yT4u3Q9mzHrWpPtx3L-UdLzp4F2Cu5qIX/w480-h640/IMG_3079.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Fishing for rockfish is an addiction. We call it, "The Sickness". If you catch a bunch of these, you'll understand.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's not just an addiction, it's an obsession. It's grown into this monster that pushes us to get out in extreme (not unsafe) conditions to fill the need to feel that bite, set the hook, and fight fish that just don't quit, even after they've been landed. </p><p>Let's face it, the striped bass (Morone Saxitilis) is one tough hombre. In 1881, Dr. James Henshall wrote a book titled, "Book of the Black Bass". Within that book is an oft-quoted passage, that smallmouth bass are "inch for inch, pound for pound, the gamest fish that swims". Although I agree with the premise that smallies are among the strongest fighters for their size, I have to wonder if Dr. Henshall ever hooked into a striped bass. If he had, then perhaps he might have revised that statement to "one of the gamest fish that swims". </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/susky0612114.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="343" height="478" src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/susky0612114.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>"Inch for inch, pound for pound, the gamest fish that swims." -Dr. James Henshall from his 1881 book, "Book of the Black Bass". Although I love smallies and understand his passion, it's obvious to me, Dr. Henshall had never hooked into a big rockfish. Pictured: Bob Barber with a nice Susquehanna smallmouth.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In a nutshell, that's why they are addicting. Rockfish are so strong that I often hook a decent one and claim that it's a better fish than it is, often shouting to my fishing pals, "This is a good one!" as a little drag peels off, and then realize later in the fight that it's the same size that I've been catching all along. I'll follow up with a statement like, "well it's a future forty incher!" </p><p>However, when you actually hook into a jumbo rockfish, you can tell it's an entirely different class of fish. Let me tell you, the big ones can really test your light tackle skills. No big rockfish is caught until you've either got a hold of it or it's in the net, because they simply have no quit. </p><p>On my last trip out, I hooked a fish on a topwater plug, and it turned out to be a jumbo rockfish. I hooked it on a medium spinning rod with ten pound braid, and that fish took me around the boat. My fishing pals were all fighting fish too, so I had no help. I was on my own to land this fish. No biggie, right? I've done it hundreds of times. This fish was just a little bigger. With my rod in my left hand raised as high as I could, I eased the lunker rockfish toward my hand. The huge mouth that could have almost enfulfed my head had my large Stillwater Smack-it all the way inside it's mouth. We didn't have a net large enough for a fish like this, so I tried to grab it's lower jaw, as it seemed that the fight was over. </p><p>The fish had other ideas. It took off straight down under the boat like a shot, and my 20 pound Seaguar Fluorocarbon leader snapped. The fish escaped with my favorite topwater lure, leaving me with an empty line and leader blowing in the wind. I almost cried. What an amazing species. It showed me who's boss!</p><p>Fishing for rockfish isn't new to my circle of fishing buddies. We've fished the tidal catch and release areas for brute migratory rockfish for years. The exception was this past spring, because our local laws changed to prohibit catch and release fishing in the major tributaries of the Bay. That was painful. Prior to last year, it's been an annual April tradition. </p><p>Over the years, those spring runs have produced some tremendous days, with catches yielding rockfish over 40 inches numerous times. Casting crankbaits has been our pattern of choice for targeting big spring rockfish. The crankbait bite is truly an addiction within this addiction. There's nothing like the vicious hit of a rockfish on a crankbait. It's pretty amazing when a big one smashes it and nearly dislocates your shoulder on the strike. You work the crankbait fast and erratically, and then all of a sudden, one crushes it. It feels like you've hooked a bucking bronco. That feeds the addiction alone, nevermind the ten or twenty minute fight that you have coming.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8VIneATxERxkVGVXVVSlP62BcN00LsVE2Ibot3qH_MqhR2pOUWIrTFkCrcjLQbOEFJNVDoBnt3GnR5EHTcMJKPg8ORDs-B-mUd-e7gZBjYsPTopyGrfDc_UDMHRFUI5uFG-eteLKWaZP/s570/tidal+rock.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="427" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8VIneATxERxkVGVXVVSlP62BcN00LsVE2Ibot3qH_MqhR2pOUWIrTFkCrcjLQbOEFJNVDoBnt3GnR5EHTcMJKPg8ORDs-B-mUd-e7gZBjYsPTopyGrfDc_UDMHRFUI5uFG-eteLKWaZP/w480-h640/tidal+rock.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Crankbaits rock when it comes to catching big spring rockfish.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The truth is that we stumbled on the tidal crankbait pattern. One day, many years ago, my friends, Bill Dowd, Bill May and I were bass fishing out of his bass boat. It was a frosty early April morning. Bill May caught a nice chunky three pound largemouth that hammered a spinnerbait from under a partially floating log, but, other than that, the bass fishing was very slow. We used the trolling motor to venture out from shore in an effort to mark fish along a drop off or in a channel. It seemed like it took forever to move from three feet of water to six. Then, it went rather quickly down to twelve feet of water, and lo and behold, we marked fish. </p><p>Bill May, dropped a green pumpkin bass tube jig down to the bottom and had a nice fish hit it immediately. That fish came unbuttoned just out of sight under the boat. We all thought it was a big largemouth. Then, I hooked up and fought a nice fish as well, and it turned out to be about a six pound fish, but...it was a striped bass! We repeated the drift and observed the sonar, and noticed them holding in a twelve foot trough for about a mile mile long. </p><p>After repeated drifts down the trough, we caught numerous stripers all day long. We caught fish on bass lures, mostly four inch tube jigs, Rat-L-Traps, spinnerbaits, small crankbaits, and jigging spoons. My friend Bill Dowd caught one that went just over 30 inches, and I managed to boat a 34 incher that hit a jigging spoon, which was my personal best at the time. </p><p>After hearing about our trip, my good friend Bob Barber invited Steve and I to fish out of his boat and we found them again in the same "trough". We caught lots of 18 to 30 inch rockfish by jigging or trolling sassy shads and Rat-L-Traps. Steve and Bob pounded them all day on the jigs. </p><p>Stubborn me, on the other hand, wanted to fish crankbaits. I caught a few fish on a Rat-L-Trap, but the action was a little slow on that lure. The crankbait action was hot the prior trip at the end of the day, and I wanted to duplicate that with more time. I was frustrated as Bob and Steve landed fish after fish, about three or four to my one.</p><p>During the late afternoon, the tide changed and the action picked up, and things started to change for me as well. Bob fought a nice mid-twenty inch fish to the boat, and, right at boatside, a monster striper rose from the depths and tried to eat the smaller rockfish, and nearly knocked it off of Bob's hook. We all stood there with our mouths agape. In the movies, one might say something like, "We're gonna need a bigger boat..."</p><p>I immediately dug into my tackle box looking for the biggest crankbait that I could find, and pulled out a seven inch Bomber Long A. If I remember correctly, it was about the third cast, just as Bob swung the boat around with his trolling motor, a fish hammered my Long A.</p><p>I fought that fish for a long time. It seemed like forever. In my mind, it seemed like maybe forty minutes, but, in reality, it was probably only ten or fifteen minutes. I'd have to have Bob or Steve chime in on that.</p><p>We were using light tackle, and this big fish fought extremely hard against the spinning rod that I typically used for fishing plastic worms for largemouth bass. I was using twelve pound Fireline that day. It took me quite a while to get that fish to the boat after several runs. It was a monster, a 45 1/2 inch striper and weighed 38.1 pounds! That fish remains my personal best to this day. I'm glad that I stuck with fishing crankbaits! After an excellent job putting that fish into Bob's undersized net, we admired the fish and set her free. Bob and Steve both tied on big cranks and caught good fish for the rest of the day.</p><p>The Long A really turned my day around, as my biggest four fish went 45 ½ inches and 38.1 pounds., 37 inches and 21 pounds, 34 inches and 15.2 pounds, 31 inches and 11 pounds, and I caught several between eight and ten pounds. It was nice to have a scale to record the weights of the fish. Because of that day, I have a good idea of how much the fish we catch today weigh. </p><p>I'd love to share pics with you of any of those fish. But, I can't. You see, this was way before any of us owned a digital camera or a phone with a camera, and, earlier in the day, we used up all of our film on the smaller fish. We had no idea monster rockfish were in the area. The only proof that I have are the eye witness accounts of my friends, Bob and Steve.</p><p>What a day! That changed everything. That's when the striper addiction started for us, way back in 2002. From then on, we went back to that area in an attempt to repeat our previous success. Conditions vary during the spring there, and you have to hit the conditions just right to fish crankbaits for stripers. The right conditions need to be the right water temperature, good water clarity, light winds, and the fish have to be there.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/1striper1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="480" src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/.highres/1striper1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>My friend Bob Barber, Steve and I had a great day back in 2002. Here, a few years later, Bob lands a really nice rockfish that he caught on a crankbait during a past April catch and release season.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>We've had some successful days since then, but, you had to time it right. Finding suitable fishing or boating conditions doesn't always coincide with when the fish are there. The weather in April is usually not the most stable. Wind is the enemy, because, not only does it result in small craft advisories, it muddies up the water. Dirty water is not a good condition for fishing crankbaits for striped bass. You need some visibility. It doesn't have to be gin clear, but clear enough for the fish to see your lures. </p><p>A few years ago, out of Steve's boat, I was nearly able to match that 45 1/2 inch rockfish, with a really fat 44 and 3/4 inch fish. It may have been heavier than the one that I caught in 2002, but, we never weighed it. I'll post the details of that memorable day in a future post.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIK7xovYEMgY419i45oFgIOjX9Oc9L5dOcRBnn0WDYYVjgQWf43MVKL96mNLzolUicb3OxOQR37xPEm9DCmQ0T8Xm0cz1PDkY2ejxvqrgZ5o4Q346ftZkjs0J9nLexyeKyAojhCWo9lrw/s2048/biggest+rock+for+net.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIK7xovYEMgY419i45oFgIOjX9Oc9L5dOcRBnn0WDYYVjgQWf43MVKL96mNLzolUicb3OxOQR37xPEm9DCmQ0T8Xm0cz1PDkY2ejxvqrgZ5o4Q346ftZkjs0J9nLexyeKyAojhCWo9lrw/w480-h640/biggest+rock+for+net.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>This 44 3/4 inch beast hammered an 8 inch Bomber Long A. You can see why, when you catch a trophy like this, you're addicted for life and crave ever so more...</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After that, we were all obsessed with the catch and release spring striper fishing, so much so, that we'd forget all of those other good fishing opportunities available to us for other species. I mean, I was a largemouth bass fanatic from way back. I never thought that I'd pass up fishing for largemouth bass in April for anything. For the month of April, fishing is good just about everywhere for any species.</p><p>Don't get me wrong, the good Lord knows that I love catching three to five pound largemouth or smallmouth bass, or slab crappies, or big white perch. But, put each of those fish up against a trophy rockfish, and the choice is clear, at least for me, what I'd rather target.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ajs6T1SoLYKdFQ6yEFX-5iRvACD905GiyKhHBfcOk95Vz3mCuBHIzE0D_0WMGL-qfAfXLefsqs_6ppdMvK8Vp6yPtU_ZzKAdklUGpeahpmhWwQyBWpEJmoVE3jhp1VOgGuDLU9p8km7Q/s617/IMG_20120319_184019.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="606" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ajs6T1SoLYKdFQ6yEFX-5iRvACD905GiyKhHBfcOk95Vz3mCuBHIzE0D_0WMGL-qfAfXLefsqs_6ppdMvK8Vp6yPtU_ZzKAdklUGpeahpmhWwQyBWpEJmoVE3jhp1VOgGuDLU9p8km7Q/w628-h640/IMG_20120319_184019.jpg" width="628" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>I caught this big largemouth on a Rat-L-Trap off of </b></span><b style="color: #01ffff;">Captain Steve Kelley's boat also. We both love fishing for largemouth bass in the spring. But, our first choice is to target rockfish in April.</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>When the spring crankbait bite is on, you can't beat the thrill or the action, especially when you have the chance at the fish of a lifetime. But, the spring trophy catch and release "season" is short lived, as the bigger fish leave the tributaries and head out to the Bay and into the Ocean in a matter of weeks. In other words, our addiction pretty much ended when that "bite" was over. It was truly a short term sickness.</p><p>Summer traditionally for me was the time to wade fish for smallmouth bass. I love small stream fishing. But anytime Steve invited me out to the Bay, the chance of catching a big rockfish trumped stream fishing for bass. No offense to my stream fishing buddies, but I like variety, and getting out on the Bay was a welcome change.</p><p>When Steve invited me to fish the Bay with him in the summer, we always had the goal of getting a few keeper fish and simply have fun. We'd drift bait back to the bridge pilings and catch a few keeper rockfish mixed with white perch. It was fun, because you never really knew what you were going to catch. Rockfish, toadfish, drum, trout, flounder, perch, bluefish, and sea bass catches always kept you guessing.</p><p>We were convinced that bait was the way to go to catch big fish, and, although we knew that anglers regularly jigged for rockfish successfully, we clung to the notion that bait was the best way to go. It's no secret that live or fresh bait will tempt big fish of all species.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggCHSu9afAZGgjMRI8jvR0jyjJvSzI0zq7t9jKdkhVf-9CmwpDaJvTnMcgm4gCigLKSJBnrH1GBSh21oc0kjPVrLHH0hLAeN7Y4pWidiafsab5RIhqPa5BRTRCxmlENgyyYYc0eugwevdj/s2048/steve+peeler+rock.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1535" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggCHSu9afAZGgjMRI8jvR0jyjJvSzI0zq7t9jKdkhVf-9CmwpDaJvTnMcgm4gCigLKSJBnrH1GBSh21oc0kjPVrLHH0hLAeN7Y4pWidiafsab5RIhqPa5BRTRCxmlENgyyYYc0eugwevdj/w480-h640/steve+peeler+rock.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Steve with a nice rockfish caught by drifting bait to bridge pilings. Bait will catch fish, big fish, consistently. However, learning to catch big fish on jigs really stoked our addiction for striped bass fishing.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After we'd run out of bait, we'd head out and look for breaking fish under birds or find spots with good current and structure that held rockfish. Once we found such places, we'd toss paddle tail swimbait jigs to catch lots of schoolie sized rockfish. It was fun, and, although we both heard that big fish may be under the smaller fish, we didn't know how to find them or fish for them. Still, we had fun fishing the Bay that way. Every now and then, we'd catch a smaller sized "keeper" fish. Even though we had fun, we didn't really feel the rockfish addiction as we did during the spring catch and release bite.</p><p>We both wanted more. We tried jigging with limited success around the Bay Bridge pilings, but still were convinced that bait was the ticket for bigger fish. Steve and I researched the internet to learn more. We watched YouTube videos about fishing the Chesapeake Bay, read blogs, and fishing forum posts. </p><p>I purchased <a href="https://www.chesapeakelighttackle.com/" target="_blank">Shawn Kimbro's books</a> after we watched every single one of his videos. The books and videos were not only very informative, they were also inspiring. We did everything that we could do, purchased the right tackle, practiced the right techniques, and did everything that he recommended. That was the start of "<a href="https://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-striper-jigging-revelation.html" target="_blank">The Striper Jigging Revelation</a>". </p><p>You can read all about that by clicking on the blog post link above, or simply scroll down the page to post below this one. That article contains information about jigging techniques and recommended tackle. Each trip out, Steve and I learn something new. Every time we successfully found and jigged up nice rockfish, it was like putting the bigger puzzle together, one piece at a time. </p><p>However, it's more than that. Our growing rockfish success caused us to give up other outdoor activities. Steve and I both bow hunt. Since my Brother, Kyle, passed away, Steve's been the only person that I've hunted with on a regular basis. We each have our own spots too. Neither of us missed hunting season for anything. It was another seasonal addiction.</p><p>But, last winter, we wanted to catch stripers so bad, that neither of us purchased a hunting license. Steve typically winterized his boat each year around late October or November or so. Last year was the first year that he didn't do that. We kept fishing, and never sat in a tree stand. We gave up one addiction for another. That's sick!!!</p><p>October though mid-November used to be reserved for bow hunting during the rut. Now, those months have become addictive striper fishing months. Now, we fully understand the Maryland term for that time of year, "Rocktober". Our bow hunting time has been relegated to a late season phenomenon.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9r4RyybE1C9b6N7XyFTMH0RfJh_iDZCngnaIZrjrjKDldR4pvXYQQYirGMK4mZ_7E7xgl0rP7jdIoKXmmNmKAvUgyszuvN-z3g8zqXR7nrtEY5ZtABpnNIzM390mteYZkwVGbbTu_ab3/s2048/Dan+rock.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9r4RyybE1C9b6N7XyFTMH0RfJh_iDZCngnaIZrjrjKDldR4pvXYQQYirGMK4mZ_7E7xgl0rP7jdIoKXmmNmKAvUgyszuvN-z3g8zqXR7nrtEY5ZtABpnNIzM390mteYZkwVGbbTu_ab3/w480-h640/Dan+rock.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Dan Ricker knows the sickness too as he sports a fat slob of a rockfish caught on a <a href="https://www.coachjigheads.com/" target="_blank">Coach Jig Head</a> rigged with a Bust'em Baits Fat Boy. Dan constantly barks out how he'd rather be walleye or crappie fishing, but you can tell that he's as addicted as we are.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>So, for those of you that know this disease and suffer the same affliction as we do, then you recognize the symptoms. That's when you know you have it bad. All you think about is the jig, topwater or crankbait bite, and the fight of a big rockfish that peels drag off and fights so hard. All you think about is how you can find more pieces of the rockfish puzzle to achieve further fishing success. Instead of watching television with your family, your mind drifts off to another world as you scan the Navionics app on your phone, looking for good structure that might attract rockfish via current breaks and ripping tides.</p><p>You can't put down Shawn's books. You've read them until you've almost memorized them. You scour the internet and read every local fishing report that you can find, or any web forum post about striper fishing, for that matter. You can't stop scrolling through the Facebook posts of your fishing groups to read rockfish reports for the days that you couldn't fish. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxbLon-YDfbjazCYDEH0nIED3iBAqs-4URZJ5j6k1By6w7Czrs1-7SNIrzgDgpV09SzheTZtcQFN2ViHzzXDosLfJwF_VhrSsngwFFInf1TER2QBbCEzJ7XJIGuH2Vqt7c9Mdbr71V7_0/s2048/steves+pb+rockfish.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1932" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxbLon-YDfbjazCYDEH0nIED3iBAqs-4URZJ5j6k1By6w7Czrs1-7SNIrzgDgpV09SzheTZtcQFN2ViHzzXDosLfJwF_VhrSsngwFFInf1TER2QBbCEzJ7XJIGuH2Vqt7c9Mdbr71V7_0/w604-h640/steves+pb+rockfish.jpg" width="604" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Catching fish like this just aggravated Steve's symptoms. After a fish like this, you'll get "the sickness". </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>You go through and organize your tackle and repair the rigs on your striper rods even though you may not have a trip planned yet. You order tackle on-line, or visit the local tackle shops to get more of what worked for you. If you're broke like me this time of year, you visit on-line tackle stores and add items to your cart or wishlist, knowing that you can't afford to pay for them yet. You may visit a local tackle shop to buy some tackle for a fishing friend as a holiday gift, but, of course, you can't help picking up some tackle for yourself.</p><p>You find that, while doing other things, whether it's shopping at the local hardware or grocery store, doing errands around the house, sitting in a tree stand, or even other types of fishing, you dream of jigging for rockfish. You find yourself always checking the weather...not at home. No. You check, at multiple locations around the Bay using various weather apps to find out wind and wave conditions for the next ten days.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKSftNCH_lX7PsrdSo95qs_0pSsyxrKfX4Os93cjd4aNZuPm0KLLjT7Dq6ajo3Cpm0Td96TAxW52sqFmy3Tn_v8P7uqTYO0N87prMIgk04m0FbpmCow4HA8QiEO5D8LAJZ2_cSHF0tc-jY/s960/rodg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKSftNCH_lX7PsrdSo95qs_0pSsyxrKfX4Os93cjd4aNZuPm0KLLjT7Dq6ajo3Cpm0Td96TAxW52sqFmy3Tn_v8P7uqTYO0N87prMIgk04m0FbpmCow4HA8QiEO5D8LAJZ2_cSHF0tc-jY/w480-h640/rodg.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><b>Check out our buddy Rodger Moran's expression after catching this rockfish. Think he's got "The Sickness" or what? </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>You also call your fishing friend network to find out the latest intel. When your fishing pals are out there on days that you can't go, you text them constantly for updates, knowing full well that if you were out there and the bite was on, that you would focus on fishing and ignore your phone.</p><p>You dream about jigging for rockfish, and you set the hook in your sleep and accidentally knock your spouse in the arm. Or, perhaps you have a dream where, on every cast, big rockfish are knocking your topwater plug out of the water or crushing it so hard that they set the hooks themselves. These are recurring dreams, by the way. </p><p>You've got it bad. There is no cure. Your only hope is to treat the symptoms. How? By going out fishing for rockfish. <b> </b></p><p><span style="color: #01ffff; font-size: large;"><b>You've got "The Sickness"!</b> </span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-48501978760929619532020-12-16T22:19:00.004-05:002020-12-17T07:11:15.140-05:00The Striper Jigging Revelation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjedvLYIdj73b5uUcw3QojEHPJTTERiQlfPg6QA1IzH-fvw_wOvDbsMOE5cl_MbKhoss3b30ZWXVIDXSyj1XakJZNIphJHN-E3msvJm40sRET7k3ndK5rPH7FiQKYO5GFpjVztRsys5j2wK/s2048/Bay.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjedvLYIdj73b5uUcw3QojEHPJTTERiQlfPg6QA1IzH-fvw_wOvDbsMOE5cl_MbKhoss3b30ZWXVIDXSyj1XakJZNIphJHN-E3msvJm40sRET7k3ndK5rPH7FiQKYO5GFpjVztRsys5j2wK/w640-h480/Bay.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Probably the biggest change with my outdoor experience over the past year and a half was how my fishing buddy, Captain Steve Kelley, and I approach fishing for rockfish (a.k.a. striped bass, stripers, rock, etc.). The biggest change was that we learned how to find and jig for nice sized rockfish no matter the time of year.</p><p>In the past, we tossed crankbaits in tidal catch and release areas of the Chesapeake drainage or fished live bait over structure. We caught nice fish along with some monsters in the spring, but that bite is hit or miss, depending on the weather, water quality, and water temperatures. During the summer, we worked crankbaits and jigs and caught mostly schoolies (smaller sized stripers in the 14 to 18 inch range). Most, if not all, of our bigger fish came on bait. Every time we fished, while he fished bait and caught keeper sized rockfish, I would try unsuccessfully to catch stripers on lures. </p><p>Then, a year ago in the late summer, Steve got me hooked watching and reading about jigging for stripers in the Bay using light tackle. That convinced us to take the inevitable path that we both really wanted, to be more proficient with catching rockfish on lures with light tackle. So, we both invested in the right tackle, rigged our rods appropriately, and then gave it a try.</p><p>I remember the very first day that we took jigging seriously was a year ago from this past September. We searched everywhere as we looked for birds and fished for the fish pushing bait up under them. We had no idea what we were doing, really as we caught a few smaller fish on smaller baits. </p><p>That evening, right before sunset, a last ditch effort on a frustrating day, we found a nice current rip over a large long rock pile type structure, shallow water next to deep on both sides. Steve lobbed his 3/4 ounce skirted Coach Jig Head teamed with a seven inch Bust 'em Baits Fat Boy trailer and instantly hooked up on a trophy size sea trout. I can't remember exactly, but it was about 25 inches long, and, without a doubt, the fattest trout that I'd ever seen. Literally, three casts later on the next drift, Steve hooked up again on back to back keeper sized rockfish sized in the mid twenty inch range. We both became believers and have been addicted to jigging for rockfish ever since.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBuNZBAnUOsa1EeOeP39_DPtz1tyi5qZpHrJ6dLvZxJYWNVtw3LsS8d0tXDy4Cl0ihrjS-A7TJyWrrublrivskgdV0f2HSbA8TyGX1EsTRAhLiYRZorA7oYmTaGOrVqUEgQbxwAfdnZyBu/s2048/IMG_1750.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBuNZBAnUOsa1EeOeP39_DPtz1tyi5qZpHrJ6dLvZxJYWNVtw3LsS8d0tXDy4Cl0ihrjS-A7TJyWrrublrivskgdV0f2HSbA8TyGX1EsTRAhLiYRZorA7oYmTaGOrVqUEgQbxwAfdnZyBu/w480-h640/IMG_1750.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Steve Kelley's tank of a sea trout jump started our jigging addiction.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I struggled that evening. I didn't have the knack of feeling that striper jig bite yet, despite having the right tackle set up. I was hampered by tackle problems. I snagged on my first cast, but got the lure free. On the next cast, however, since the braided line became buried in the spool of my baitcasting reel, the shock of the next cast caused my lure and leader to break off. I became mesmerized as I watched my lure fly off into oblivion. As I tried to tie on another leader and lure, that's when Steve hooked into his second striper. </p><p>But man, Steve had it down pat. I always thought of him as the "Striper Whisperer" anyway, ever since our crankbait striper fishing days, as he has a sixth sense of when a rockfish is around his lure and ready to bite, just by the feel of what is going on with his lure. That's when he'd take action to make that fish bite with erratic jerks of his crankbait.</p><p>About a couple weeks prior to that night, Steve searched YouTube videos about fishing the Chesapeake Bay. Several videos stood out, most notably were those done by Shawn Kimbro and Jeff Little. Shawn and Jeff have some great "how to" stuff that they share, from every topic you can imagine when it comes to jigging for stripers. I linked both of their channels in my favorite haunts section of this blog to the right. Please check them out. </p><p>Anyway, we listened, and after that first night, we really took notice and focused on what we needed to do. In fact, for both of us, it became an obsession. Now, jigging for rockfish is all we think about. Last week, we both reminisced about having dreams of fish biting and us setting the hook. Steve's wife caught him physically setting the hook in his sleep one night and has been teasing him about it ever since. You don't want to wake up from dreams like that. Even more, you don't want to leave the water when the fishing day is over when that bite is for real.</p><p>We had no idea that you can catch fish like that all year long consistently. I purchase two of Shawn's books (you can purchase them from his blog, <a href="https://www.chesapeakelighttackle.com/" target="_blank">Chesapeake Light Tackle</a> site or on Amazon). These books offer a ton of good information and I highly recommend them. My failures that first night combined with Steve's success drove me to learn as much as I could, and, I'm still learning. These books were a great start.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXlU-P6T5DnHSwdKkWqObYe2e6dbbawj4wyX_6xau22W8KkrfFV0E-fRlI9UkRB6YvxcVbudqMcryG7HRGYprf1FqSJnoqEyNl2pQ_wB5zC6NuTLS65Vumu0twE252xk4x_nEvr-uOB1XE/s2048/books.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXlU-P6T5DnHSwdKkWqObYe2e6dbbawj4wyX_6xau22W8KkrfFV0E-fRlI9UkRB6YvxcVbudqMcryG7HRGYprf1FqSJnoqEyNl2pQ_wB5zC6NuTLS65Vumu0twE252xk4x_nEvr-uOB1XE/w640-h480/books.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">These two books by Shawn Kimbro are chock-full of great information that will help you fish light tackle on the Chesapeake Bay, or anywhere, for that matter. Not only that, but both books are a great read. I highly recommend them if you want to improve your fishing in the Bay.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It took me most of last fall to get the hang of it. Steve picked things up right away. It wasn't unusual for him to catch two stripers to my one. Things started to change for me after I purchased my first rod and reel dedicated to striper fishing. For Christmas last year, I bought a St. Croix 6 foot 8 inch, extra fast action, medium power baitcasting rod matched with a Shimano Tranx baitcasting reel. I spooled it with light braid. I absolutely love this set up. Now, I can feel the lightest of bites. </p><p>With a sensitive rod, you can determine what exactly is a bite, and what could lead to a bite. Sometimes rockfish nose your jig but don't quite bite, almost like short striking largemouth bass, and the action necessary to get that fish to bite is needed. You know a fish is there, you've marked them on the finder, they're interested in your lure, but you need to make it happen. I truly think that when I struggled, I felt fish there, but didn't realize it. I thought that perhaps what I was feeling were jellyfish being cut by my line or stuff like that, when probably, most of the time, fish were nosing my jig. That's where jigging techniques come in to play, turning those short strikes into hits. More on that later in this post.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqHV2UOzZgs4Mla5jJYhn0-9y2uu_LC-AKxtoXDGjDsjt3uLX8e0Oh6gwnUkYsZI7ZiQnFrh1Bn036zeJSvWshJooB49AEs_Apj8wPHe4Rlkoxoe5_3DPEqI30XNwarYgJZi9VvtEiInnX/s2048/rock5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqHV2UOzZgs4Mla5jJYhn0-9y2uu_LC-AKxtoXDGjDsjt3uLX8e0Oh6gwnUkYsZI7ZiQnFrh1Bn036zeJSvWshJooB49AEs_Apj8wPHe4Rlkoxoe5_3DPEqI30XNwarYgJZi9VvtEiInnX/w480-h640/rock5.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">A year and a half ago, we never thought that you could jig up fish like this in the summer. We thought that live bait was the ticket for big fish. Boy, were we wrong, and we are thrilled that we were. You can jig rockfish like this all year long with light tackle.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>First, what tackle works best? Basically, a medium power, fast or extra fast action, graphite 6 foot 6 inch (or 6' 8") baitcasting rod teamed with a reel that holds a fair amount of line but is light enough to jig with, has a good drag, and a high speed gear ratio works best. Baitcasters give you better control of how much line you have out, which is critical to catching big stripers. But, there is a trade off. Baitcasters tend to not quite cast as far as spinning rods. Most of the time you don't need to make really long casts. But, when I feel the need to, I also have a spinning outfit rigged with similar tackle as my baitcaster. I use that when I need a long cast to reach fish that the other rod can't reach. </p><p>What about line? Most of the experienced light tackle striper anglers use ten to fifteen pound braided line, matched with fluorocarbon twenty or thirty pound leader, depending on the size of the fish. Lighter braid allows your lure to get deeper with less drag. The leader should be long enough to reach past the sharp spines and of the size fish that you are targeting. For most of the year, and for fish under thirty inches, two to three feet of twenty pound leader works fine. For the big slob stripers that show up in early spring and late fall, it's probably best to up that to thirty pound leader. These fish are so strong, and so much can go wrong, and you probably don't want to lose a fish of a lifetime. </p><p>Lures are, of course, a matter of personal preference. I will mention my favorites for jigging, but the key is always getting the lure in front of the fish and taking action to make them bite. My advice is, go with what you are confident in. If you find a lure that works for you, stick with it until you find something that works better. My suggestions below might help if you're struggling, but please know that there are lots of choices out there. The suggestions below work for me and have reduced my learning curve. Starting off with good tackle also saves money, because you benefit from the experience of others, as I have.</p><p>I like the <a href="https://www.coachjigheads.com/" target="_blank">Coach Jig Heads</a> made by Shawn's fishing pal, Rich Jenkins. They come in a variety of sizes and colors. I think I use one ounce size most often. However, there are times when the tide, current and winds aren't as strong, where a 3/4 ounce or lighter jighead might perform better. You can fish them with or without a skirt. By skirt, I mean skirts that are designed for spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. When the currents are strong and the wind picks up, you may wish to up the weight of the jighead to an ounce and a half or maybe two ounces, especially if you are fishing bigger soft plastics. Use whatever the lightest weight jig is that gets the lure to the fish effectively given the conditions. If the fish are finicky, a heavier lure might be dropped by the fish quicker, or the action might not be right to get a fish to bite.</p><p>Fish will bite on these jigs whether or not they have a skirt. Skirts give the jig and soft plastic combo a little bigger profile and movement. But, if you need to lure to get down, say for strong windy conditions of lots of current, maybe leave the skirt off, as it creates drag, preventing your lure from perhaps getting to the bottom. I personally like fishing the skirted jigs because I have confidence with them. But, I've also caught nice fish without the skirts.</p><p>The three brands of soft plastics that I like are made by Z-man, Bust'em Baits, and Bass Kandy Delights (BKDs), not necessarily in that order. The seven inch sized fluke style baits made by each company resemble "bunker", the bait that the bigger fish prefer. But, bunker can grow as large as ten or twelve inches, so the ten inch sized plastics work well when you find big fish feeding on big bunker. In fact, my biggest fish this year was a fat 41 incher that fell for a ten inch BKD on a two ounce Coach Jig Head without a skirt.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfpPjfTOzW3DjrEiQl-OmY622EJeEOHp9uuLihSefWSp1Ns5G8d2bDiKUR6PwPOwwWb2bmDdlvm5UPj625HUTj-ZAYk-5WP20jHy6yKcYg0Y35rb7qT-6OtfD9YOvREPoTcROuqAXMU8OQ/s2048/rock7.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1396" data-original-width="2048" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfpPjfTOzW3DjrEiQl-OmY622EJeEOHp9uuLihSefWSp1Ns5G8d2bDiKUR6PwPOwwWb2bmDdlvm5UPj625HUTj-ZAYk-5WP20jHy6yKcYg0Y35rb7qT-6OtfD9YOvREPoTcROuqAXMU8OQ/w640-h436/rock7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">This beast of a rockfish nailed a ten inch Bass Kandy Delight (BKD) earlier this year. As it turned out, it was my biggest rockfish of 2020. Big lures catch big fish!</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>As far as color goes, go with what you feel confident in. Anything that you can do to get a fish to bite, whether adding a skirt, dying the soft plastic to give it contrast and scent, trying contrasting colors, or anything like that is worth a try. When you are successfully catching fish, file that into your memory about what you were using, the conditions you faced, and how you worked the lure. I'm a big fan of the color chartreuse. In fact, a former Potomac River bass guide, Glenn Peacock, had a saying that I adopted and repeat to this day, that "if it ain't chartreuse, it ain't no use!" </p><p>That said, popular colors in the Chesapeake Bay are white or chartreuse, or a combination of that. But, other colors work just fine. Think about the conditions. If your favorite lure isn't working and your fishing pal is catching fish, take note of what your fishing buddy is doing or what he is using and adapt. Adapting is the key to catching fish. </p><p>Don't be afraid to use scented dyes to alter or add a little extra oomph to the lure. I've been dying the tails of my plastic worms chartreuse while fishing for bass for years. I made my plastic worms seem less monotone and more lifelike, plus, the added garlic scent certainly seemed to help get me more bass bites. The dyed tails always reminded my of how a bluegill looks while swimming off. At the very least, my repeated success using soft plastic dye gives me confidence. </p><p>The shad style soft plastics work great, but sometimes, a paddle tail soft plastic will catch fish and generate more bites. I really like the 5 inch Z-man Diezel Minnowz for many reasons as my favorite shad tail bait, but mostly they catch fish. In fact, when bluefish are around, the Z-man baits can, most of the time, withstand a bluefish bite while other brands become cut in half. That's probably my primary reason for using them as often as I do. When is a good time to fish a paddle tail? When the fish are super active and are in chasing mode, or, when they aren't very active and dragging the bottom produces. </p><p>Of course, you can jig these using the same techniques as the shad tails. I've caught some really nice fish this past year using this bait just by snap jigging it. I've had particular success catching nicer fish under feeding birds with this bait too. For these, I use a long spinning rod so I can get that extra casting distance and reach more fish. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglHDrHmSDYKSxXRRqQmyKO9yUIfrqytvUFTJD_rS7NpraYWt0NqmclN63a79LAeeOTQYsX29K0lkX77WJ0UYMXLP9zBlj2s5qdPdmiZY3lGfxLk_Tp5hAKFPlT7scJqlw4jP2iaF5OSJN6/s1200/Diezel.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="821" data-original-width="1200" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglHDrHmSDYKSxXRRqQmyKO9yUIfrqytvUFTJD_rS7NpraYWt0NqmclN63a79LAeeOTQYsX29K0lkX77WJ0UYMXLP9zBlj2s5qdPdmiZY3lGfxLk_Tp5hAKFPlT7scJqlw4jP2iaF5OSJN6/w640-h438/Diezel.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">I've caught bunch of nice fish on these swim tails, the Z-Man DieZel Minnowz. I don't know what it is about them, but stripers like them. </span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Each of the aforementioned brands of soft plastic has worked well for me. If I'm not getting hits on one brand, size or color, then I'll switch to another. BKD's, Z-Man 7 inch Jerk Shadz, Bust'em Baits 7 inch Fat Boys have caught me so many fish that I can't count. I've linked Coach Jig Heads above, so I'll link these soft plastics here. Coach Jig Heads, Bass Kandy Delights, and Bust'em Baits are all made locally in the Maryland section of the Chesapeake Bay, but you can order directly from them on-line. I really believe in supporting our locally produced products. But, not only that, they work wonderfully! They all have great customer service. </p><p><b><a href="https://www.bkdlures.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html" target="_blank">Bass Kandy Delights (BKDs)</a></b> </p><p><b><a href="https://bustembaits.com/jerk-bait/7-fat-boy-jerk-bait/" target="_blank">Bust'em Baits Fat Boys</a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://www.zmanfishing.com/cms/products/scented-jerk-shadz/" target="_blank">Z-Man Jerk Shadz</a></b></p><p>By the way, the Bust'em Baits "Fat Boy" has nothing to do with the name of this blog, but it is fitting, I guess. My blog name comes from the name of an ice fishing jig.</p><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYaUTloAEHi1UFQIQs-3Lvw_sOaiU3OxqIFGAt_J3wMMVIXt2iZNT3PHErJUyNwzzlsmGUjKX260MTp57K2T7OKS3RrDP0N51gIJs0-B4_ZDQ4umkf7EFRB008LpOrb4fmMcr7lrDP1AYA/s2048/steve+bust+em+rock.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYaUTloAEHi1UFQIQs-3Lvw_sOaiU3OxqIFGAt_J3wMMVIXt2iZNT3PHErJUyNwzzlsmGUjKX260MTp57K2T7OKS3RrDP0N51gIJs0-B4_ZDQ4umkf7EFRB008LpOrb4fmMcr7lrDP1AYA/w480-h640/steve+bust+em+rock.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Steve Kelley showing us a nice rockfish caught on a skirted Coach Jig Head teamed with a 7 inch Bust'em Fat Boy. The color? "It ain't no use if it ain't chartreuse!"</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Look, the brands of lures mentioned above aren't the only ones that catch rockfish. There are many brands. It's not the lure that catches them, it's you. If you have a brand of lure that you like and have confidence in, then give it a try. If it works, stick with it. The entire point of this is that the size, weight and shape of the lure play a big roll in getting the lure down deep enough to the fish. Also, it needs to resemble the baitfish that they feed on. What you do with the lure, presentation, is the most important thing. You can use the "right" lure, but if you don't work it properly, you probably won't catch as many fish as someone next to you that may work their lure properly. And believe me, that type of thing frustrates me. I simply named a few lures that I rely on and have had success with to show you as examples of the types of jigs that catch fish. </p><p>What about techniques to catch rockfish on jigs? Snap jigging is a popular method to get fish to bite when they won't otherwise. The snap is usually so hard and fast, that you can actually hear a whipping sound. The erratic quick movement of the lure when snapped like this really draws strikes. Sometimes, multiple quick snaps are necessary to trigger a good strike. Stripers tend to strike short often, almost like they're trying to taste the lure first. That extra snap fires them up into biting.</p><p>Click here to watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZq58gV-rDE&t=18s" target="_blank">Shawn Kimbro's Snap Jigging Video</a>, where he demonstrates his technique that he made famous in our area. Snap jigging is the primary technique that I use to jig up nice size rockfish. </p><p>The most important thing when snap jigging, or when jigging for stripers in general, is to always keep slack out of your line, keep the line as tight as possible, as the lure falls at the end of the snap. That's when most bites occur, and most often, the bites are very light. Be ready to set the hook at any time, because rockfish sometimes bite at the very top of your snap. If your line is slack, you won't feel the bite. If you feel anything, set the hook. Even better, become a line watcher. If you see the line go slack, or twitch in a way that it shouldn't, set the hook. Sometimes, you see the bite before you even feel it. </p><p>Other times, you feel something that doesn't feel like a bite so much, almost like a spongy feeling or something like a jellyfish hitting your line. If you feel that, jig aggressively, because it could be fish nosing the lure or something like that. Often, you can entice them to inhale the jig rather than just mess with it. Don't assume it's not a bite until you know it isn't.</p><p>OK, before I go on, you may be wondering why I mentioned jigging with a spinning rod after previously stating that I purchased a dedicated baitcasting rod for jigging. I think that they have a place in my own arsenal. It's your preference, really. For me, I have a muscle cramping disease, and after lots of jigging and catching fish with one rod, my jigging arm cramps up. When that happens, I have to switch to fishing with my right arm, and the spinning rod fits that need. I jig my baitcaster with my left arm, meaning that I cast with my right hand and switch hands, old school style...it's how I learned. I cast and jig a spinning rod with my right hand and arm, so having the ability to switch between rods and jigging arms actually gives me more fishing time. So, in addition to what I said about spinning rods above, I have my own personal reasons.</p><p>There are other ways to generate strikes. Sometimes, simply dragging your lure on the bottom will get rockfish to bite. For me, that usually happens when I try to grab a drink or eat a bite of lunch. I always leave my line in the water as much as possible, because of the old saying, you can't catch fish if you're lure isn't in the water. </p><p>Of course, just swimming a bait can also catch really aggressive fish. There are times when you may reel in quickly to make another cast, and have a super aggressive rockfish nail your lure on the way in. I find situations like this to be a bit random though. Dragging the lure or speed reeling is a technique to catch fish, but not really a jigging technique. However, when you combine that with jigging, you can really get a fish to bite.</p><p>For example, my fishing pal, Steve Kelley, has a very effective technique to draw rockfish hits. He often makes a long cast, lets the lure sink to a desired depth, then jigs it, reels it very fast for a few cranks, snap jigs it a couple times, then let's it fall while keeping a tight line, again, waiting for that hit on the fall. If no hit occurs, he repeats that process, perhaps several times, all the way back to the boat. This technique evolved from our spring crankbait fishing days. Erratic action draws strikes.</p><p>Don't be surprised if a rockfish nails your lure at boat side. Don't remove the lure so quick for that next cast. If you just let it hang there for a second before going on to another cast, you just might get that boat side hit. I can't tell you how many times I've had nice fish take a swipe at my lure as I've lifted it out of the water.</p><p>Another key is to always fish your lure in the strike zone. Use your sonar to determine where the fish are. Are they on the bottom? Are they suspended? Or, are they breaking on top, or just finished doing so? Obviously, if they're on the bottom, let it sink to the bottom, and then keep jigging to the boat. If they are at mid depth, let it fall part way and start jigging the lure back to the boat. If they are in the upper third of the water column, cast out and start jigging aggressively right away back to the boat. If they are all over the screen, big fish tend to be deeper than the smaller fish breaking on the surface, so get the lure down to the deepest fish marked, and jig. If no bites, crank it up a bit and jig different depths until you get a bite.</p><p>Basically, just jig to where the fish are. As an example, if they are suspended, you probably don't want to fish the bottom and fish underneath the fish you are marking. You should try and put and keep your lure where the fish are, the strike zone. It makes sense, right?</p><p>Not everyone can see the sonar at the same time in Steve's boat. So, when Steve and I fish together, the one who can see the screen will constantly communicate where the good marks are. Teamwork like this helps everyone in the boat consistently catch nice fish. It's always more fun when everyone is happy catching rockfish. </p><p>Over the past year, I've caught more nice size rockfish than I have my entire fishing career. It just gets better and better the more we learn. I'm blessed to have fishing buddies, especially Steve, to learn or jig with along the way. I haven't discarded any of my crankbaits or topwater lures, as there is always a place in my box and often a need for them, but jigging has become my primary method to catch big rockfish. I think that applying these techniques may prove useful for targeting stripers in reservoirs as well.</p><p>One last thing about light tackle jigging in the Chesapeake Bay for rockfish, that this is nothing new around here, just new to me. There are many good jigging anglers out there in the Bay area that use these techniques. Some have been a huge influence on us. Thank you to those pioneers that are willing to share their knowledge, like Shawn Kimbro and Jeff Little, their friends, and many others. </p><p>Also, I'd like to formally thank Steve Kelley for introducing me to this wonderful fishery. We've caught a lot of big fish together over the years of different species, and these experiences just add to those great memories. Steve's not a charter boat captain, but could be, because he's that good of a fisherman. It's a nickname that I gave him since we most often fish out of his boat. I still call him "Captain" when we're chasing other species in the upper rivers out of my jet boat. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxbLon-YDfbjazCYDEH0nIED3iBAqs-4URZJ5j6k1By6w7Czrs1-7SNIrzgDgpV09SzheTZtcQFN2ViHzzXDosLfJwF_VhrSsngwFFInf1TER2QBbCEzJ7XJIGuH2Vqt7c9Mdbr71V7_0/s2048/steves+pb+rockfish.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1932" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxbLon-YDfbjazCYDEH0nIED3iBAqs-4URZJ5j6k1By6w7Czrs1-7SNIrzgDgpV09SzheTZtcQFN2ViHzzXDosLfJwF_VhrSsngwFFInf1TER2QBbCEzJ7XJIGuH2Vqt7c9Mdbr71V7_0/w604-h640/steves+pb+rockfish.jpg" width="604" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Steve sporting his well deserved personal best 42 inch beast of a rockfish.<br /><br /></span></b></td></tr></tbody></table>There will be more posts about fishing for rockfish, so stay tuned. In the meantime, check out the references mentioned in this article for more information. <p></p><p>Thanks for following the blog. I hope the info here helps you catch fish. I think that it's important for me to share stuff like this, to help others, as others have helped me. Until next time, good fishing!</p><br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-80280123204656580472020-12-09T15:41:00.001-05:002020-12-17T07:12:29.259-05:00Fat Boy's Outdoors Apology and Blog Resurrection <p>Every year on this day, I think about my Brother, Kyle, who passed away in 2007. I can't believe it was 13 years ago today that this tragic event happened. And when I think about him, I think about why I started this blog in the first place, to dedicate and document my outdoor experiences and share what I've learned over the years. </p><p>The last time that I posted was a year ago today. I've been negligent about keeping this blog up to date, and for that, I apologize to my brother to those of you that follow my blog. I also vow to regularly post and keep this blog up to date. I appreciate the following and hope to keep it up, not for my sake, but to honor my brother.</p><p>So, with tears in my eyes, I'm going to move on and write this next post. Kyle, if you're reading this from heaven, this is for you.</p><p>My outdoors experiences have evolved once again. I have many new topics to cover. Probably the biggest direction with my fishing has been targeting rockfish (a.k.a. striped bass or stripers) and other fish species in the Chesapeake Bay. </p><p>Kyle loved fishing the Chesapeake Bay from my Dad's sailboat. He mostly trolled surgical eels for bluefish. He caught quite a few "slammers and choppers" off that boat. Slammers are medium sized bluefish in the five to ten pound range, while choppers are bigger bluefish in the ten to fifteen pound range. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-3QKL-1jMM_5SlosxEXUXBVObpzY9CKKuYI1xOLzOsQ5l7hYJHfhDhgi9UNZ9QNwAVWf-MF8ooiNBGbpLw_DWb5CXogtGeeE2mmry-QnyVmM6Qh1usGfYPC071RFVLv8OXOrDe5axyaa/s2048/Bridge.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-3QKL-1jMM_5SlosxEXUXBVObpzY9CKKuYI1xOLzOsQ5l7hYJHfhDhgi9UNZ9QNwAVWf-MF8ooiNBGbpLw_DWb5CXogtGeeE2mmry-QnyVmM6Qh1usGfYPC071RFVLv8OXOrDe5axyaa/w640-h480/Bridge.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Kyle loved fishing the Chesapeake Bay out of my Dad's sailboat. The area around the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (pictured above) was his stomping ground. The Chesapeake Bay has become one of my favorite fishing spots too. (photo by Captain Steve Kelley)</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While trolling for bluefish, Kyle would occasionally catch a nice rockfish. Back then, all rockfish had to be released, because there was a moratorium on them. Since then, the striped bass fishery has rebounded nicely, and they are once again, the most prevalent predator in the Bay. Blues still show up, but not in the numbers found back in Kyle's day. Kyle would have loved fishing the Bay for rockfish.</p><p>I promise to post more about fishing the Chesapeake Bay, my experiences and other topics surrounding fishing for stripers and other Bay species. I've learned so much and have so much to share. But, for this post, I'm going to keep it to a few pictures of some of the rockfish that I caught this year and dedicate those fish to Kyle. </p><p>I'll post more on how I caught these fish among other adventures on the Bay in future posts. I'll keep the blabbering to a minimum, so I'm going to stop here. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCWOaNjlPuFpJmgUcIxPnC_KD9Dztwzr7BRB4HKeMkcnA5LNJUYh2XawsURnOmlL5vizGf0LFiipof2IJNPjuW3DT1hEdHxOMe_gtLDKqjahfftmtuAgFPfbb9t6m7-tSXqXKIk8k1nAg_/s2048/rock6.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCWOaNjlPuFpJmgUcIxPnC_KD9Dztwzr7BRB4HKeMkcnA5LNJUYh2XawsURnOmlL5vizGf0LFiipof2IJNPjuW3DT1hEdHxOMe_gtLDKqjahfftmtuAgFPfbb9t6m7-tSXqXKIk8k1nAg_/w480-h640/rock6.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">This was my biggest rockfish of 2020, a 41 inch fat brute of a striper, caught and released back in March. It's not my personal best, but might be the fattest one that I've ever caught. You can see my personal best pictured in a prior blog post about that day.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_upqo9TR_3L_5R-svmQluqdK8o43ro8RtDvsU-9O5NWWzFT1-VwuMNlvf6ySJAZvMqzXyu25VoNlciIRXBdoNjdM_C_RNPmSPGIqR4xAr10VI9rUNQ0KPurkR267p1TQ99btfWjJjDld/s2048/rock7.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1396" data-original-width="2048" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_upqo9TR_3L_5R-svmQluqdK8o43ro8RtDvsU-9O5NWWzFT1-VwuMNlvf6ySJAZvMqzXyu25VoNlciIRXBdoNjdM_C_RNPmSPGIqR4xAr10VI9rUNQ0KPurkR267p1TQ99btfWjJjDld/w640-h436/rock7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">This is the same fish pictured above, a 41 inch rockfish. This picture gives you a good idea of the girth of this fish. Notice the large soft plastic lure used, a ten inch Bass Kandy Delight (BKD) on a 2 ounce jighead. Big lures catch big fish!</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sWh-W7LRnLbSB_w51te_0LpI1SiKJ74WvoHdosKEk4lJvatjBdc8onKuzXh5RdyODQ77wmoT9_vpTxTYRy7RTQDe2nD4u7jjKa-obfHDpgtwcSj-dnqToRUcIztgemt1A95HP-bcNJj-/s2048/rock4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1632" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sWh-W7LRnLbSB_w51te_0LpI1SiKJ74WvoHdosKEk4lJvatjBdc8onKuzXh5RdyODQ77wmoT9_vpTxTYRy7RTQDe2nD4u7jjKa-obfHDpgtwcSj-dnqToRUcIztgemt1A95HP-bcNJj-/w510-h640/rock4.jpg" width="510" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">We caught a good many keeper sized rockfish this year on topwater lures. What a blast. Kyle would have loved doing that.</span><br /><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyAENxm7hyphenhyphenilW1z6u0sMstp1Fi7ACpdQm3vowBI4iGPngBLzN15x6LfCkbMZrIav7mnZQN_kr-GyzgU3bSFDizDEfo43INxfM35C4Lfb8hi5N6oUv01e99u-Er7Msa7v7J0rWJhZayiSYh/s2048/rock1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyAENxm7hyphenhyphenilW1z6u0sMstp1Fi7ACpdQm3vowBI4iGPngBLzN15x6LfCkbMZrIav7mnZQN_kr-GyzgU3bSFDizDEfo43INxfM35C4Lfb8hi5N6oUv01e99u-Er7Msa7v7J0rWJhZayiSYh/w480-h640/rock1.jpg" width="480" /></b></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Here's a nice rockfish that I jigged up using a skirted one ounce jig with a soft plastic fluke style lure. <br /></span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRVjReyQ4zdYPo1SSJExuqSD0sK6oOWkiUowd_Dz4eQcIN2CKCiu23pkHmU3nJAkIgc4T_vvSQGPZqjL6ZGu00SDsMDaytb-KkKrgiokPSKSFmhdCz35sd3rDViqJ4LmPdDG1Kcuz_JIG/s960/IMG_3079.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRVjReyQ4zdYPo1SSJExuqSD0sK6oOWkiUowd_Dz4eQcIN2CKCiu23pkHmU3nJAkIgc4T_vvSQGPZqjL6ZGu00SDsMDaytb-KkKrgiokPSKSFmhdCz35sd3rDViqJ4LmPdDG1Kcuz_JIG/w480-h640/IMG_3079.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Here's another nice striper caught on a skirted jig/soft plastic combo. I'll cover topics about jigging for rockfish with light tackle in future blog posts.<br /><br /></span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroxKM2-7V2PXvZ-82-BKpCI-lna0x8jbVgaqwUwiNOIXhrRvwqDhAuJxHPC-jtSHNIHr0wJ2m8FMCfBlddIF128YHttnG-8oa9jz0BsDnkBkRZkBuEm5vcbbF9vOjS4Z2sYZYTjhEMosj/s2048/IMG_3073.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroxKM2-7V2PXvZ-82-BKpCI-lna0x8jbVgaqwUwiNOIXhrRvwqDhAuJxHPC-jtSHNIHr0wJ2m8FMCfBlddIF128YHttnG-8oa9jz0BsDnkBkRZkBuEm5vcbbF9vOjS4Z2sYZYTjhEMosj/w480-h640/IMG_3073.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="480" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Another thick rockfish. You can see why fishing for these can be addictive. We caught quality fish like this throughout the year, but there is nothing like fishing for this species in the fall.</span><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroxKM2-7V2PXvZ-82-BKpCI-lna0x8jbVgaqwUwiNOIXhrRvwqDhAuJxHPC-jtSHNIHr0wJ2m8FMCfBlddIF128YHttnG-8oa9jz0BsDnkBkRZkBuEm5vcbbF9vOjS4Z2sYZYTjhEMosj/s2048/IMG_3073.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhVSFz5sJ1vIzsRrD82JNewmPZMdseDaQ08GvGna5MqHaTBnkWVeySVDIb8thq-pzl8ta93loI2MOwU1JDnSslXnXy8_ZT_7nS69Cd2ofQdWUb5qcK8ELkl_2EHnwi2d50FVmo6_hDmtP/s2048/rock5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhVSFz5sJ1vIzsRrD82JNewmPZMdseDaQ08GvGna5MqHaTBnkWVeySVDIb8thq-pzl8ta93loI2MOwU1JDnSslXnXy8_ZT_7nS69Cd2ofQdWUb5qcK8ELkl_2EHnwi2d50FVmo6_hDmtP/w480-h640/rock5.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">This was a summer time rockfish caught jigging bridge pilings. As you can see, I've come to rely on sun protective clothing. For fair skinned folks like me, these types of clothing are a must.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpEcdyFSEt5oudcKaIEDUDy8j0hmFZYJ5K9uHfPfKYS4g0KsFIRbxPXTiWq3gqS1Y2jY8T0k0WFD9lbzC19b7VEE-kc7RvuPnPOH05K_vKStHdePp4ciFcWET1EuvUBYfrxRQ69lAlDyV/s2048/rock2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpEcdyFSEt5oudcKaIEDUDy8j0hmFZYJ5K9uHfPfKYS4g0KsFIRbxPXTiWq3gqS1Y2jY8T0k0WFD9lbzC19b7VEE-kc7RvuPnPOH05K_vKStHdePp4ciFcWET1EuvUBYfrxRQ69lAlDyV/w480-h640/rock2.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">Catching fish like these are a blast on top. I get pumped when I see schools of fish like this breaking. Then, after tossing a topwater lure nearby and seeing fish like this blow up on it...what a thrill, let me tell you!</span><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9aD4X35baYEBr4_tGTvaqnSCAqPjsxGi1M_waCMpjCrJ3sYIzF5DFaC4i-nxldk8sOmiTGhAFeViiohO7W_ehUlM7WVmqw67Vt0IO57ZJIkdxRgnIINncYT7h88yxITi-DlUlfF4OP7lq/s2048/steve+rockfish.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9aD4X35baYEBr4_tGTvaqnSCAqPjsxGi1M_waCMpjCrJ3sYIzF5DFaC4i-nxldk8sOmiTGhAFeViiohO7W_ehUlM7WVmqw67Vt0IO57ZJIkdxRgnIINncYT7h88yxITi-DlUlfF4OP7lq/w480-h640/steve+rockfish.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #01ffff;">I owe a debt of gratitude to my good friend and fishing/hunting buddy, Steve Kelley (shown here with a nice rockfish that he jigged up), who put me on the fish pictured above. In addition, I caught my personal best striper off of his boat. Meet Captain Steve Kelley. He's not a charter boat captain, but he's every bit as good as one... I've mentioned him in past blog posts, but you'll read more about him in future blog posts.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-55240244746298643382019-12-09T15:13:00.002-05:002019-12-09T16:59:11.667-05:00The Walleye Fisherman That I'll never forget......my brother. His influences on me are a huge part of my success in the outdoors world, probably about as much influence as I had on him as his older brother. Not only did this influence me, but also some of my fishing friends, especially when it came to walleye fishing locally. Kyle figured it out, and we took advantage of that.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipu-h86xJX3shYQuPVN4zzEM2wNHNrN4WSEj222nPcYSgR2MWVxentalPEgfaR4oi22ch8-5MVwEffUdJPZ7KQqkT9iJZHhLjWokT7skRtlGrq0aoga0WYK2LRymauRAeiBTMRNfVW5lJK/s1600/kyle+walleye+4.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="338" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipu-h86xJX3shYQuPVN4zzEM2wNHNrN4WSEj222nPcYSgR2MWVxentalPEgfaR4oi22ch8-5MVwEffUdJPZ7KQqkT9iJZHhLjWokT7skRtlGrq0aoga0WYK2LRymauRAeiBTMRNfVW5lJK/s640/kyle+walleye+4.bmp" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: cyan;"><b>Here's a nice 'eye that Kyle caught while night fishing from shore at one of his favorite spots. </b></span></td></tr>
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Kyle was an extremely intelligent and analytical person. When he set is mind to do something, he was all in, one hundred percent, and he always seemed to succeed. In this post, I'll detail one goal that he mastered, and what it taught my friends and I.<br />
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When our Mom began her battle with cancer, my Brother moved back to Maryland from Mississippi to help take care of her. He coached a competitive swim team and had everything going his way. He gave up everything to come back to Maryland and take care of my Mom. But, he made the most of the situation with some of his free time by doing some fishing.<br />
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During his time in Maryland, Kyle read in the newspaper fishing reports that people were catching walleyes, and decided that he wanted to figure out how to catch them also. We all knew that they were there, as we'd caught them now and then while fishing for smallmouth bass. But, this was different...he only wanted to target walleyes and catch them consistently. He wanted to catch a lot of them, and he was driven to be good at it. That was his way, always strove to be the best.<br />
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Kyle became obsessed with walleyes. He researched the web, read books, and watched fishing TV shows on how to catch walleyes. In developing his strategy, the first thing that he did was to check out maps, both paper and on-line, and look for river structures that would hold walleyes, similar to the types of places that you'd see on fishing shows when they fished for river walleyes. In 2004, Google Maps and Mapquest came out with satellite map imaging. He used that to find specific spots to fish.<br />
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After researching, Kyle set out to catch them. It took him a couple of trips to figure out which of the spots that he scouted held fish. One afternoon, while at work, he emailed me a report after one of his trips and a picture of the fish that he caught. He was so excited. He had my attention. At this point, none of my fishing buddies or I had really thought about doing this.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiax_6sfMme9WNLFo2bZmomtTAKgSo9bA89vk47Pv1hGeWseVaWBq_fgAtRZNnVvs_xOzFj15pS9bGh2Z27TQ-YcVbmKJPecihpCsKOJ-Ss-DqJJ5qTI4QCXXWI77k-skpeKSOcpvekOmkx/s1600/walleye1+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1210" data-original-width="884" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiax_6sfMme9WNLFo2bZmomtTAKgSo9bA89vk47Pv1hGeWseVaWBq_fgAtRZNnVvs_xOzFj15pS9bGh2Z27TQ-YcVbmKJPecihpCsKOJ-Ss-DqJJ5qTI4QCXXWI77k-skpeKSOcpvekOmkx/s640/walleye1+001.jpg" width="466" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Here's what Kyle emailed me after his first successful trip. "I caught a walleye! In fact I caught 3 and kept the two biggest, 18 and 18 1/2 inches. There is a slot limit right now from 15-20". These were filleted right after this horrid picture..."</b></span></td></tr>
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Naturally, that night he had to call me and tell me all about it. He was back at it two days later. The picture and report are below.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuZYREfXhqWIco7PSzz0v5GLkAHIl_kN7HahSrKvTucnCCIm2U1QZmRNX4ODv08NcxnOMSTgfxO0PbtewknB_IVVRjnC4y2xUUPyffy63L3qFG5i3LSkb7Fd91-TpGdhSxP2a6FNGJyYxz/s1600/walleye3-4-04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="891" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuZYREfXhqWIco7PSzz0v5GLkAHIl_kN7HahSrKvTucnCCIm2U1QZmRNX4ODv08NcxnOMSTgfxO0PbtewknB_IVVRjnC4y2xUUPyffy63L3qFG5i3LSkb7Fd91-TpGdhSxP2a6FNGJyYxz/s640/walleye3-4-04.jpg" width="532" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b><i>"The water was like chocolate milk, but I found fish. I fished where a small, clear creek flowed into the river. The first fish I caught was 23" and dwarfed these. I'd estimate around 4 pounds. I had to throw it back because it exceeded the 20" limit. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera. These are 17", 18", and 19". Targeting walleye has been challenging, but every bit as fun as I thought it could be."</i></b></span></td></tr>
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The very next day, he was at it again.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd4cYZCHRWJPw6IgDrII7oLXJMCaU5qAOO5FfbJ3hYiUg3LkWcC93aPJj05ohNMyWEx4XtjEQE6NDyXjAXOkQdWLN97S6zDWzFAgbwWanh7-fmjyGx0OtLgpPvI_WQb30bgwmVy836RKz-/s1600/bigeye1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="557" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd4cYZCHRWJPw6IgDrII7oLXJMCaU5qAOO5FfbJ3hYiUg3LkWcC93aPJj05ohNMyWEx4XtjEQE6NDyXjAXOkQdWLN97S6zDWzFAgbwWanh7-fmjyGx0OtLgpPvI_WQb30bgwmVy836RKz-/s640/bigeye1.jpg" width="528" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b><i>"Caught several eyes in about 1 1/2 hours. I left to clean a couple and I'm going to scout out another spot. I'm confident I can catch more in that hole...I'm pretty psyched, this was my largest Maryland walleye (24") yet and today I brought my camera! I released it right after the picture per MD regulations. I kept the two 20 inchers in the other picture. I've now caught 11 walleye and kept 7. I'm going to start taking pictures and releasing them, the freezer is beginning to fill up."</i></b></span></td></tr>
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Not a bad start, right? One thing that I should mention, is that, after that trip, he consistently practiced catch and release. He kept a few fish early on, mainly to help my Mother out and give her another healthy option for food. Once he got the hang of it, I believe that he released all of the walleyes that he caught.<br />
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Just five days later, he really was dialing them in:<br />
<i>"I was fishing for walleye today and caught a 41" musky on a a 5" Rapala husky jerk, using a medium action rod with 12 lb test. I'm estimating the fish weighed about 22 lbs. At first I thought he was a little longer, but the measurement I made using my rod came out to 41 inches. What a great way to end the day! After this fish, I called it quits, 11 walleye and a monster."</i><br />
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After that, he consistently caught walleyes mixed in with a musky here and there. Kyle eventually used his kayak for all day trips to gain access to more spots, mixed in by shore fishing for quick short trips. After a little more than two weeks of fishing, he stated, <i>"I've now caught 69 walleye and 2 musky since 1st of last month, and 107 walleyes to finish the spring.”</i><br />
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Below are a few pics.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="488" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh26wOfE17_tNL5wGFir9IAJ2nMeiGkc0DxLxpN4rfujkKr-pq-WBq66EZCUuu_2a_ZlF4Er9CnW27NleuS9kdSEBxFZvqJisnUHr-62S5_NESKb-EhyACZq1KLq8Ji-tHxAK-NrdBjNMe2/s640/kyle+walleye+1.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="426" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>I had the pleasure of shooting the picture of this nice walleye after one of our walleye trips.</b></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh26wOfE17_tNL5wGFir9IAJ2nMeiGkc0DxLxpN4rfujkKr-pq-WBq66EZCUuu_2a_ZlF4Er9CnW27NleuS9kdSEBxFZvqJisnUHr-62S5_NESKb-EhyACZq1KLq8Ji-tHxAK-NrdBjNMe2/s1600/kyle+walleye+1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: cyan;"><b></b></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfZcsASHwLB1NffIhUcTj7rH6VGHRWisP3nRQOXDBClo17RK8fOhCskUmc7GzvpV2OhHoyBDnazkkqlmedboit4SXqIFCNo7SSJ6yeVp9_tLv3tPD8VUxsgX1vNw6A0RwMIsluyMJgI7Sw/s1600/kyle+muskie+1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfZcsASHwLB1NffIhUcTj7rH6VGHRWisP3nRQOXDBClo17RK8fOhCskUmc7GzvpV2OhHoyBDnazkkqlmedboit4SXqIFCNo7SSJ6yeVp9_tLv3tPD8VUxsgX1vNw6A0RwMIsluyMJgI7Sw/s640/kyle+muskie+1.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Kyle caught this musky on a 5 inch twister tail jig while jigging for walleye.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzi9kMmncVLC0S6zm0vKiEpKH2eQ8M9nN2AbfT7RFQnlCijf5iA7jEJMhJ-SFVLZ-hjrDxCTVpkXOk67RtTRucMtYjlolQUik5QezOprqwpFvadZo5uJHtXx4TEIsZb29WceIKFVZzNmju/s1600/kyle+carp+1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzi9kMmncVLC0S6zm0vKiEpKH2eQ8M9nN2AbfT7RFQnlCijf5iA7jEJMhJ-SFVLZ-hjrDxCTVpkXOk67RtTRucMtYjlolQUik5QezOprqwpFvadZo5uJHtXx4TEIsZb29WceIKFVZzNmju/s640/kyle+carp+1.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Kyle caught this carp one day while jigging for walleye, fair hooked on a 5 inch Kalin's grub on a 1/4 oz. jighead. He told me that, when fighting it, he thought he had hooked the mother of all walleyes!</b></span></td></tr>
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Here's the account from one of his fishing reports about that carp catch, "I threw a cast along a current break and it was slammed! The fish immediately started peeling line off my reel and I just sat back and thought, "relax, relax and play this fish right, it's probably another muskie." It was exactly where a muskie would be, hanging in the slack side of an eddy. When the fish came closer, I could see that it was a carp and I could also see that it was "fair hooked (you can see the grub lodged in the upper lip)." It was strong at times and a lot of fun to fight. Good practice for other, more desirable big fish, as Fat Boy noted. It was 30" long and somewhere around 10-15 lbs. It was fun, although it didn't fight as long as the muskies did."</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4g5XDzXUmYr3fmywjgKbUs41-zFzpKsBajt5XphjxrilHLrcPsSPuVixnrURYd5czIzd7aOi9xMsZT07HtEgnRZHbccZF_TKNCh0I-vF4DCIZYVpe6Qj7OPwW_57OUW2zj-2yoqYcolWD/s1600/kyle+muskie+3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="1012" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4g5XDzXUmYr3fmywjgKbUs41-zFzpKsBajt5XphjxrilHLrcPsSPuVixnrURYd5czIzd7aOi9xMsZT07HtEgnRZHbccZF_TKNCh0I-vF4DCIZYVpe6Qj7OPwW_57OUW2zj-2yoqYcolWD/s640/kyle+muskie+3.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Here's a musky that he caught while fishing from his kayak. He hammered the walleyes that day, and picked up two muskies, all on Rapala Husky Jerks. He learned that it's tough to get a good picture of a musky out of a kayak!</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQk3clmDiZWo3uNsbBUFSCzH7ITiUF2yvTVF8s6C6ONKozmNxP_f1JuOQsBqdGIGi4S1-jx00hKSl18K4mrDJBnQrPSRu9sBD0lp4zk4x8q4hPJyPhpF76pNWCbXwhyphenhyphen4NezRRT1bd9Wmr/s1600/kyle+muskie+5.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQk3clmDiZWo3uNsbBUFSCzH7ITiUF2yvTVF8s6C6ONKozmNxP_f1JuOQsBqdGIGi4S1-jx00hKSl18K4mrDJBnQrPSRu9sBD0lp4zk4x8q4hPJyPhpF76pNWCbXwhyphenhyphen4NezRRT1bd9Wmr/s640/kyle+muskie+5.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>When Kyle caught the second one, he wanted a better picture, so this was the best that he could do. He towed the fish to shore, climbed out of the kayak, and placed the fish carefully in the yak. He didn't want to beach the fish and get it all muddy, or risk hurting the fish. The fish was released quickly thereafter, unharmed, and took off like a shot out of his hand.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgLSgxjkEbfT42j0OOAIHj_I9QS0kAkVgNDzHMCHscZBltCsFYUScyeA5Yms2zWw5XvvvQWAHvgPLiEdolTJcUl-yazJjbFzEI4OTmif1Q1NryqGmPDIBBJph8XdiDnt8ygj_hSD3gkMGL/s1600/kyle+walleye+3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="486" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgLSgxjkEbfT42j0OOAIHj_I9QS0kAkVgNDzHMCHscZBltCsFYUScyeA5Yms2zWw5XvvvQWAHvgPLiEdolTJcUl-yazJjbFzEI4OTmif1Q1NryqGmPDIBBJph8XdiDnt8ygj_hSD3gkMGL/s640/kyle+walleye+3.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Here's a big fat 26 inch walleye that he caught while night fishing for them out of his kayak, also released.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDck46oMqXyUGoLZFkpJRLPw56Ha3f7y_aNRXT-nrvVQ3YF9Qu_r21KsZ7S2R7G8aSYi6A288k-1Wr3nRvAbKzVapaqQeBWBBhmhuw9vSdRJ-ckUH3gNhNI2TMeMKvweWQlnw_443tV7_-/s1600/kyle+walleye+2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="288" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDck46oMqXyUGoLZFkpJRLPw56Ha3f7y_aNRXT-nrvVQ3YF9Qu_r21KsZ7S2R7G8aSYi6A288k-1Wr3nRvAbKzVapaqQeBWBBhmhuw9vSdRJ-ckUH3gNhNI2TMeMKvweWQlnw_443tV7_-/s640/kyle+walleye+2.bmp" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Here's another fish he caught that night out of his kayak. He caught a dozen that night, all on 5 inch Kalin's grubs. This pic, and the last one, were his two biggest fish.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ggND8Z8L2p9mkmkvLSsPmIQ8_h-j7R_0tOXEMkwgtzSkn67TpEKopBvYxzzzC7lUR9-dL9ioWqwYFfFFWCf4V-uxyim6viRnBxTBjSE6eXaCCJyi5-wlDYP4pJoQWef5ZZz8_WE6wk3A/s1600/kyle+walleye+5.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ggND8Z8L2p9mkmkvLSsPmIQ8_h-j7R_0tOXEMkwgtzSkn67TpEKopBvYxzzzC7lUR9-dL9ioWqwYFfFFWCf4V-uxyim6viRnBxTBjSE6eXaCCJyi5-wlDYP4pJoQWef5ZZz8_WE6wk3A/s640/kyle+walleye+5.bmp" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>This nice walleye fell for a five inch grub while Kyle fished from the bank.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYJTHYjDCUhVa3Yf-jCLu9lmF98BB09FB0YsUtTvEb5sWwFgejsUvRPYWRysbrUPE6B6me9rzJLckgwlnlLvbkAXhj4Z-57aFjYvvU-jpKocG9MFiI_9dDzuup9qfAFuhbQHwS47WZVXM/s1600/kyle+walleye+6.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYJTHYjDCUhVa3Yf-jCLu9lmF98BB09FB0YsUtTvEb5sWwFgejsUvRPYWRysbrUPE6B6me9rzJLckgwlnlLvbkAXhj4Z-57aFjYvvU-jpKocG9MFiI_9dDzuup9qfAFuhbQHwS47WZVXM/s640/kyle+walleye+6.bmp" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Kyle landed this 25 inch walleye that hammered a 6 inch Rapala Husky Jerk while bank fishing the same night.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgHLBMawEcSehelKVVMwERPwIJbTsnW01X313eLNPqhuyc2-PDab_wdxN0PvpfhsPx_bTlCteLsZ4brhFUoEPXMRy7Eldosd_MXQC3d12PnobF2uyHm3-jHVCAbhJ_WnFbzZT2hpLdLaM/s1600/kyle+walleye+7.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="863" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgHLBMawEcSehelKVVMwERPwIJbTsnW01X313eLNPqhuyc2-PDab_wdxN0PvpfhsPx_bTlCteLsZ4brhFUoEPXMRy7Eldosd_MXQC3d12PnobF2uyHm3-jHVCAbhJ_WnFbzZT2hpLdLaM/s640/kyle+walleye+7.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Kyle loved fishing that Husky Jerk. Here's a kayak walleye that took that jerkbait.</b></span></td></tr>
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So, how did all this influence us? It changed the way we thought about our fishing calendars, to bring our attention to a couple new species that we could target. Kyle paved the way for us. My close fishing friends and I benefited from Kyle's desire to master walleye fishing in the area.<br />
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As a result of what we've learned, I've caught several walleyes since above 27 inches long. What they'll bite is pretty simple, when they're hungry, they'll hit just about anything that you'd toss for smallmouth bass in our rivers. But, they seem to particularly like shallow suspending minnow jerkbaits, like Kyle's favorite Rapala Husky Jerks, and large twister style tail grubs. Those were the staples of Kyle's fishing walleye tackle.<br />
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When the water is up, shoreline current breaks, eddies, or wing dams are favorite targets. During lower water river levels, they can pretty much be anywhere, but ambush points where current meets deeper river runs are likely walleye hideouts, such as ledges and rock outcroppings that hold deep water behind them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJoknrKcizAHYQVfVFJR-pZaVu_2iZmV4ZCHwX22y27id6-OKFhOCZNSFpaw3Rrah0Llx2nur6gd9RJP8-YZZOzmnCKWKNHxpA9PQYtb8bMqL41GVU9B9zbtTFUQfXDx38phUcA1I2X33y/s1600/Steve+Walleye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJoknrKcizAHYQVfVFJR-pZaVu_2iZmV4ZCHwX22y27id6-OKFhOCZNSFpaw3Rrah0Llx2nur6gd9RJP8-YZZOzmnCKWKNHxpA9PQYtb8bMqL41GVU9B9zbtTFUQfXDx38phUcA1I2X33y/s640/Steve+Walleye.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Because of Kyle's influence, walleye fishing has become one of our fishing passions between my fishing pals and me. Here's my buddy that I've referred to on this blog as Captain Steve Kelley with a really nice walleye.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghvjP_I2NKTAcC_9OwU0MRZCzzk1HNmWXkhz0I7Pz8FHmuuhM9f5EViS1AmncV9JtAvQgpPfGf2DhKD7goHgjymMgLENfEse4m91lL3gRPDsa2Um37nvZCNK6HmDg_ZwT0xvbfOzYsb8q0/s1600/IMG_0459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghvjP_I2NKTAcC_9OwU0MRZCzzk1HNmWXkhz0I7Pz8FHmuuhM9f5EViS1AmncV9JtAvQgpPfGf2DhKD7goHgjymMgLENfEse4m91lL3gRPDsa2Um37nvZCNK6HmDg_ZwT0xvbfOzYsb8q0/s640/IMG_0459.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: cyan; font-size: medium;">My good friend and fishing pal Bob Barber has also developed a passion for walleye fishing. He's done quite well catching them over the years. Kyle's efforts paid off for all of us.</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi517dukQbipDuqaqTx7jLDpZi0lBf8CYBN_NA1s4jcDJoBvjuCostbSw_TDvNoNE4elvaxSG4aemUgrpbrB0XB-TWZk_qwHqldxt_HDmbO689T4abaT-DUYPdUttfJawwJcs7e8TOpR-Qk/s1600/walleye123011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="632" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi517dukQbipDuqaqTx7jLDpZi0lBf8CYBN_NA1s4jcDJoBvjuCostbSw_TDvNoNE4elvaxSG4aemUgrpbrB0XB-TWZk_qwHqldxt_HDmbO689T4abaT-DUYPdUttfJawwJcs7e8TOpR-Qk/s640/walleye123011.jpg" width="636" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>This walleye is probably is my personal best. A 29 inch beast that hammered a musky lure. </b></span></td></tr>
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Kyle got us all fired up to catch walleyes locally when we hadn't really done much of that before. He wasn't a pioneer by any means, as there were many local anglers targeting walleye successfully for years. But, his efforts to learn about walleye fishing, and that fact that he figured them out so successfully and quickly, inspired us to get into that game.<br />
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However, from all of this arose another passion of mine. It all started on one of our walleye fishing trips that got me hooked on something else, as told by an excerpt out of one of Kyle's fishing reports below:<br />
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<i>"I recently witnessed the usually restrained, well mannered 'Fat Boy' go into an intense fit of rage! We were walleye fishing in the river, and it had been a pretty slow day. A roughly 30" muskie hit Fat Boy's grub and the battle was on. The fish made a run along the bank around a pretty good sized sapling. I quickly positioned myself to grab Fat Boy's rod if he wanted me to, so that I could hand it back to him and he could continue to fight the fish. Fat Boy wanted to maintain control, so I grabbed the sapling and pulled it down to make it easier for him to get around. Unfortunately, the line wrapped around a branch, giving the muskie a little slack in the line, which proved to be all it needed to release the lure. </i><br />
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<i>I was upset for Fat Boy, I know the fish would have eased the frustration substantially, but all I could do was sit in awe at the next serious of events. After a brief silence, Fat Boy began to look like the Tasmanian Devil and a torrent of obscenities came out of his mouth for about the next 15 seconds. After another brief pause, Fat Boy eyed his nemesis, the sapling. Then, he lashed out at the tree, ripping off branches and bending the trunk!</i><br />
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<span style="color: lime;"><b><i>This was the result of his tirade:</i></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwOvaaNlv_nedJjDkdrFROTLg7SdPK62aM0bqtqX8cfuentL-6O-hnVHuMmTEYs-eP9oX3CuuE-HpCC1kPVYRAzIKPaDZ8ERLwQI3r87W7w4zV9yB-jeeZUycJPtxoYrAvk_KQ-s-wWLx/s1600/kevin+muskie+tree.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwOvaaNlv_nedJjDkdrFROTLg7SdPK62aM0bqtqX8cfuentL-6O-hnVHuMmTEYs-eP9oX3CuuE-HpCC1kPVYRAzIKPaDZ8ERLwQI3r87W7w4zV9yB-jeeZUycJPtxoYrAvk_KQ-s-wWLx/s640/kevin+muskie+tree.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
<i>I've been told that you can cruise the shores and banks of lakes and rivers in Maryland and Pennsylvania and actually see Fat Boy signs where frustration reared it's ugly head. This picture is evidence of a confirmed Fat Boy rub. We're not sure if he scrapes, but considering recent events, it is very likely..."</i><br />
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Yes, that was embarrassing and a bit funny, but, it was out of character for me. I guess that's why it was funny. I haven't had those fits of rage since, keeping in mind that embarrassing fallout could result. From the next few years until his passing, he never let me hear the end of it.<br />
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But, it was that story along with his success at walleye fishing, and especially his musky catches, that sparked my passion and obsession for musky fishing. Because of Kyle, my personal best walleye, pictured above, and every musky caught since he passed away has been because of his desire to learn and master walleye fishing. That musky, that caused all the rage, as mad as I was, really intrigued me, and lead to my intense desire to catch them. They're such a challenging fish to catch. So, I just took the next logical step, to upgrade my tackle and lure selection to target them, and learn to fish for them. After all, they eat walleyes!!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan;"><b>I've learned a lot about musky fishing from my musky fishing pals from present to recent past. But my passion for fishing for them was sparked by Kyle's passion for walleye fishing, his musky by catches, and from that fateful raged tree incident.</b></span></td></tr>
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Kyle's passion was walleye fishing at the time. Eventually, after my Mom passed away, he moved back to Mississippi, and then, on to Southwest Virginia. While in Mississippi, he became obsessed with catching flathead catfish. He did fairly well at that too, even catching flatheads in Virginia.<br />
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With regard to muskies, this statement from him pretty much summed up where he was at the time. <i>"All the muskies I caught in the river were naturals, all while targeting walleye. I thought about switching over to targeting muskies but I was already into a solid pattern." </i><br />
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I'm certain that if Kyle was alive today, he'd be right at my side targeting muskies and the many other species of trophy fish that we target today. I think that was a species that he meant to chase, but, simply ran out of time.<br />
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So, why write about this today? This date of the year is the one that I dread most, the anniversary of his passing, 12 years ago today. I miss him greatly. You can read more about what happened to him on my tribute page, here: <a href="https://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/p/tribute-to-my-brother-kyle.html">Tribute to my Brother Kyle</a><br />
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I miss you Brother!<br />
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<br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-38332422753281392092019-05-14T12:54:00.000-04:002019-05-14T12:57:01.237-04:00Search, Find and Follow-up Bassin'I guess that I'll categorize this as a combination of a fishing report, fishing story, and bass fishing tips type of blog post, all in one. A few days ago, my buddy, Rodger, and I got an early morning start and ventured out in search of bass on a cloudy day with a high percent chance of rain. The hourly weather outlook on my weather app indicated that we'd be mostly rain free until the early to mid afternoon. Our original plan was to take my boat out on a local lake. However, one of my trailer tires was flat, and the spare had dry rotted. Rather than spend all morning of rain free weather fixing the boat trailer tire, we decided to maximize fishing time, hoof it, and fish from the bank.<br />
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We met at the lake around six thirty AM and decided to fish a cove next to the bridge that crossed the lake. The shoreline consisted of a reeds over a shallow spot that dropped to deep water, and rip rap with a fair amount of blow downs that often held fish. The water depth in the cove averaged about twenty feet deep in the middle, with much deeper water at the mouth of the cove, and a shallow flat in the far end of the cove. I know this because I fish there with my boat often.<br />
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This particular cove had been very good to us this time of year. I've had success tossing hard and soft jerk baits, as well as soft plastic worms and creature baits. I've also had success casting faster moving baits, like crankbaits, chatterbaits, buzzbaits and spinnerbaits parallel to shore that pick off more aggressive bass and cover water quickly, especially during low light time periods of the day.<br />
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I carried two rods with me. My baitcasting outfit was rigged with a chatterbait, and the other rod was rigged with a baby brush hog (a creature bait made by Zoom) that Texas rigged, using light weight and line on a medium action spinning outfit. My plan was to alternate between the baby brush hog and a finesse plastic worm until I could figure out a decent pattern.<br />
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Rodger was the first to catch a bass. I wasn't near him at the time. According to him, it was a decent sized fish, about seventeen to eighteen inches long. He used a small, four inch plastic worm, and tossed it to the tip of a log that dropped off into deep water, and let it sink. After a few seconds of dead sticking the lure, the line started moving off in the opposite direction. Rodger picked up the slack and set the hook, and landed a decent sized bass.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9idvURgQVLx3cVlBJUACD07hXPJMM7kUqBUXz2S6wd6d2plQ7PyR3ouPioHRcnu1T9-DBk_t80zZsj0YwNK65rBSCnLe9uXYjkH0KKOZiDRRUGY3QUB_PFu26XmE6DMb3KxWoCZtTRHxQ/s1600/IMG_1025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9idvURgQVLx3cVlBJUACD07hXPJMM7kUqBUXz2S6wd6d2plQ7PyR3ouPioHRcnu1T9-DBk_t80zZsj0YwNK65rBSCnLe9uXYjkH0KKOZiDRRUGY3QUB_PFu26XmE6DMb3KxWoCZtTRHxQ/s640/IMG_1025.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Rodger working a plastic worm around some blow downs.</b></span></td></tr>
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Access to the cove from the road was easy, but tricky, especially since I'm ten years older than the last time that I'd accessed this spot. I was pretty spry ten years ago, now climbing down rip rap is risky business for me. Back in 2012, I was in a car accident that pretty much blew out my ankle. Surgery may have fixed me up, but, the doctor recommended that I take the rehab route and make a few changes in my lifestyle. I had to give up playing softball, at least, playing infield, because, I couldn't plant my right foot while going to my backhand from the left side of the field, to make that long throw to first base. If I couldn't play like I used to, and I wasn't interested in playing other positions, then it just wasn't fun any longer to me. Plus, the doc said that surgery may not have made a difference anyway.<br />
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Sorry that I digressed. We worked the area thoroughly and decided that the action didn't warrant us to spend much time at the first spot, so it was time for a spot change. I had plenty of good shoreline spots to try. So, we left and tried another spot on the lake.<br />
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This area of the lake was much shallower, with a submerged rip rap sediment barrier that crossed the lake. We walked an old road bed where the shoreline had numerous dead falls that provided plenty of cover for bass. I started off with the first bite at this spot, as a fish aggressively inhaled my baby brush hog and swam off. I was excited as I set the hook, only to find out that it wasn't the species that we were looking for. It was a less than spectacular sized nine inch crappie! I've never had a crappie inhale a baby brush hog before, much less a small one, so that was surprising.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5rcz5i83RqPONeNtWjTwZDQDLcCPEeufLQmAy4HrZSr5tbkA8hEJMtTbpHvEIpSmX7MOmIq0ea4_w9N6ENX_wco21u6OSakArVA6kvEnZL2ZDIKW2uAWnqqaFIjgTOPBi7LMbtiHK9MAA/s1600/IMG_1024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5rcz5i83RqPONeNtWjTwZDQDLcCPEeufLQmAy4HrZSr5tbkA8hEJMtTbpHvEIpSmX7MOmIq0ea4_w9N6ENX_wco21u6OSakArVA6kvEnZL2ZDIKW2uAWnqqaFIjgTOPBi7LMbtiHK9MAA/s640/IMG_1024.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Never would I imagine a medium sized crappie eating a baby brush hog. He inhaled it! Learn something every day, I guess. </b></span></td></tr>
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I moved up the lake in search of more bass and logs that hid them. At the next spot within a spot, there were several submerged logs and trees. This was another spot that I'd done well in the past. I worked the baby brush hog thoroughly through all of the logs. Birds were singing nearby. I'm not sure what the species was, but, it sounded like it was singing the word, "chatterbait, chatterbait, chatterbait". I took that as an omen, so, I switched up and tossed the chatterbait. However, the bass weren't listening to the bird, at least at my spot. Rodger, meanwhile, again, out of my camera range, texted me a selfie. He'd just caught another nice bass on a chatterbait! That bass was listening! I mentioned the birds to Rodger, and he didn't notice them, so, the chatterbait idea was his all along.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcSugntKpN70LqBsT9Q6QFNBNkxgUPCrOV0zuB_wv8_8SoS6_N6csfDXq1s2nTomvat-nrziSBtTVYuBhj8eRkonZEHeD0LY94kLvj_H_9sc4m5dZNNiITX5e1KH2fv6CeD1abFetui12/s1600/IMG_1032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcSugntKpN70LqBsT9Q6QFNBNkxgUPCrOV0zuB_wv8_8SoS6_N6csfDXq1s2nTomvat-nrziSBtTVYuBhj8eRkonZEHeD0LY94kLvj_H_9sc4m5dZNNiITX5e1KH2fv6CeD1abFetui12/s640/IMG_1032.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Rodger's selfie sporting another decent sized bass that listened to the birds singing, "chatterbait, chatterbait, chatterbait"!</b></span></td></tr>
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We moved further down the lake along the old road, and I picked up a Maryland "keeper" sized bass, a twelve to thirteen incher, on a chatterbait. So, finally, a bass that I targeted with a chatterbait listened to the birds!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI25J2pkQf1Tvdlj-C9nvEUbo0GKb5p0dPkY8EzwezszFiEoSl8loBQbt9mP6t1cyuixITf7C1PqQZK0vR1CeK9a2FpbrImBHdxXXZh9aispHyH03VFnmz_R-eojclo0HkrJPcrbySMRLu/s1600/IMG_1027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1203" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI25J2pkQf1Tvdlj-C9nvEUbo0GKb5p0dPkY8EzwezszFiEoSl8loBQbt9mP6t1cyuixITf7C1PqQZK0vR1CeK9a2FpbrImBHdxXXZh9aispHyH03VFnmz_R-eojclo0HkrJPcrbySMRLu/s640/IMG_1027.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Finally, I found a bass that listened to the birds.</b></span></td></tr>
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We worked our way down the lake to a cove that is heavily wooded with standing timber and blow downs. I picked up a dinky sized bass that chased down my four inch finesse worm as I reeled it up to make another cast. Hmmm, I figured that maybe these fish were more active than I gave them credit for. So, I cast to the same spot, reeled the worm in quickly, and caught another twelve incher. Maybe a pattern? I tried it all over the area without another bite, so no, not the pattern.<br />
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In that same area, there was a log that reached out to what was left of the cove's creek channel. I decided to work that log thoroughly, as it seemed very fishy to me. On one cast, I put the worm right where a branch on the log created a Y, at the channel edge, and let it sink to the bottom. I took off my sunglasses and cleaned them, then, put them back on, reeled up the slack, and there was a fish hanging on my plastic worm. So, I set the hook and it turned out to be a decent sized sixteen inch bass. That was all the action at that cove, so we decided to fish our way back to where we started.<br />
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On the way back, Rodger caught another nice eighteen inch bass that inhaled his plastic worm. I made a bee line to the same log where I caught my first bass. This time, I tossed my finesse worm off the tip of the log, same exact spot where my first bass hit. Sure enough, another fish was there. I felt the tap on the worm and watched the worm swim toward the thick cover, so, I set the hook. It was a nice fish. I could see it as it splashed at the surface.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9kZzjG3zdsWK1ejWYOqn9r8dq6uiomHCJTfJ6ahbEchNtX5x12SRW0bDExOei0DnnvlHtikopjWImsrp3QwqxvLHj2gMCgjVIzR4R-K8FqGQj5RivOOZ1e2_KKcgBSgo5amkIgh2hGdFX/s1600/IMG_1028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9kZzjG3zdsWK1ejWYOqn9r8dq6uiomHCJTfJ6ahbEchNtX5x12SRW0bDExOei0DnnvlHtikopjWImsrp3QwqxvLHj2gMCgjVIzR4R-K8FqGQj5RivOOZ1e2_KKcgBSgo5amkIgh2hGdFX/s640/IMG_1028.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Rodger with his third nice bass of the day, caught using a four inch plastic worm.</b></span></td></tr>
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The only problem was that the fish took my line into the brush, and my line was over the top of a small branch, just by an inch or two. As the fat female bass dangled half way out of the water, I tried giving it line so it could free itself from the cover, but, that didn't work. Next, I tried shaking the rod tip to free the line or get the bass to flip itself off. In doing so, I must have sawed a week spot in the line, because, it broke, and the fish, and my lure, were gone. My guess was that fish may have been between eighteen and twenty inches, and my heart sank as that could have been my best chance at a decent fish all day.<br />
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The fish were just not on. The bite was slow, typical for post spawn fish at this lake. A few boats that we talked to had similar results. The common theme was, "you shoulda been here last week"! We fished our way back without another bite. It was almost noon, and we decided to leave, get lunch, and try another body of water.<br />
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After a nice lunch, we hit our second body of water not far from a local country store that served up a mean cheeseburger sub that I found quite satisfying, while Rodger enjoyed a tuna sandwich. I was worried about this spot, because, rain pounded our area the previous night, that it might have been muddy. But, after a short drive, we arrived to find that the water was in really good shape.<br />
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The water had a tannic acid stain to it. The spot was very weedy and had a bunch woody cover in the water, perfect for bass fishing. It's not an easy spot to fish, and, I wasn't familiar with the best spots in this area, since I rarely fish it. I decided to rely on my chatterbait to cover as much water as possible in an attempt to find active bass.<br />
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Early on, I had a light bite and missed the fish. Rodger was fishing his finesse worm, so I urged him to toss to the spot where I had the hit, but, after a couple casts, the fish did not bite. After that, I threw the chatterbait a few more times, hoping the fish would take it more aggressively, then moved on. That might have been a mistake, that I didn't continue to try for that fish with my plastic worm. Instead, I moved on in search of more fish.<br />
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Meanwhile, Rodger gave crappie fishing a go, and caught a decent crappie right off the bat. I didn't bring any panfish gear, so I kept moving to cover water, walking down the bank, casting to any cover that may hold a bass. And, there was a lot to cast to. Places like this are often difficult to fish, because, the bass could literally be anywhere. Still, with time, you can establish a pattern.<br />
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About a hundred yards up the lake, I had another fish dart out and nip my chartreuse chatterbait and miss it. So, I switched tactics, reached for my other rod that was rigged with my finesse worm, and followed up with a cast to the spot where I had the bite. A fish instantly inhaled my plastic worm, and I set the hook and landed a twelve inch bass. I was on the board here, and my confidence grew. Not only did this place look very bassy, there were willing bass here.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_20120323_190626.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="687" height="498" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_20120323_190626.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>I just love when fish hammer chatterbaits. This bass from a different fishing trip inhaled a white chatterbait with a white plastic worm trailer.</b></span></td></tr>
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Not long after that, about another hundred yards up, I caught another twelve incher on the chatterbait. No follow up needed on this fish, as it slammed the chatterbait. I released it and moved on. I had the bug now, more confidence, and felt like I was starting to dial in a pattern, finally. A few casts later, and another bass fell to the follow up worm after it missed my chatterbait.<br />
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Rodger didn't have much luck crappie fishing, so, he switched back to bassin' and caught up with me. I skipped a couple huge blow downs to give him a better chance at finding a bass. Instead, I decided to work a small tree branch that stuck out along the near shoreline, that had a weed mat sandwiched between it, and the bank.<br />
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I tossed my chatterbait out and worked it back across the tip of the log. A big fish shot out and nailed the chatterbait, but, missed it. I yelled out that it was a nice fish that I just missed. Quickly, I reached for my follow up rod, and tossed my plastic worm to the spot...nothing. No bite. I tried several casts from different angles, and nothing. I figured that the bass still had to be there, so, I persisted.<br />
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My next cast followed the same trajectory as the one where I had the bite. Only, this time, I worked the worm very slowly through the spot, jigging very slightly, to make the worm dance, almost in place, without gaining much line.<br />
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Finally, I had a pick up, the line went tight and the fish started to swim off with my bait. I set the hook and hooked the fish solidly. As the fish rose to the surface, it shot half way out of the water, with big mouth agape as she shook her head in an effort to throw the hook. I pleaded out loud for the fish to not spit the hook as I fought her. Eventually, she tired enough that I was able to lift her out of the water.<br />
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After I unhooked her, I started to do my hand measurement as I admired the fish. Rodger was right there, and pulled out a measuring tape. I held the fish steady as he measured her at twenty inches. During pre-spawn, a female bass like this could weigh four to five pounds, but, my guess was that she was now between three and a half to four pounds. Still, a nice fish that saved my day, and redeemed me from my earlier heartbreak of a lost fish.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3U7CmHSHjVutVIGOtYKwtQrP38n7e63qSK5n7KbiFZwWSfLpMBCjcWigWph9Znhtq9gIVc9RfMzgVvQ3yOjqIbyEZSGOZtwX_EEnDZgyuekZU4-kdSDnHyxhAay0Cg7FFnZWsvM_Kozu/s1600/IMG_1033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3U7CmHSHjVutVIGOtYKwtQrP38n7e63qSK5n7KbiFZwWSfLpMBCjcWigWph9Znhtq9gIVc9RfMzgVvQ3yOjqIbyEZSGOZtwX_EEnDZgyuekZU4-kdSDnHyxhAay0Cg7FFnZWsvM_Kozu/s640/IMG_1033.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>The key to catching this twenty inch bass was to follow up my chatterbait with a finesse worm that she couldn't resist. It took me a few casts, but was eventually able to tempt her into biting. That was my pattern for the day, search, find and follow up. Sorry about the leaf in the pic. Apparently, as I hoisted her out of the water, a leaf stuck to her side, and I didn't see it.</b></span></td></tr>
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I worked my way up the lake but the water was very shallow and weedy there. Not that fish couldn't be there, as it would be worth fishing when they are more active, but, they didn't seem to be in the shallows on this particular day. Rodger stayed put and fished the sunken logs while I worked my way back to him. It started to rain pretty heavily at that point, and we were both sore and tired. Getting old sucks!<br />
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So, we called it quits and were thankful that for most of the day, the bad weather held off. Most of all, it was great fishing together again with a good friend. Next time, I hope to have my boat ready so we can sit and relax on something more comfortable than a rock or log once in a while! Still, shore fishing brought back a bunch of memories, and proved that we can still find fish with or without a boat.<br />
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One thing that I do when shore fishing, is to secure the fishing rod that I'm not using to a clip that hangs off the back of my fishing vest. Keeping my hands free allows me to make more casts and stay mobile. I don't have to bend down a hundred times a day to pick up a fishing rod. Wearing a fishing vest, stuffed with my tackled needed for the day, allows me to not have to carry a tackle box with me, for the same reason, to keep my hands free.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNTus9nFgcXf_atrdbvOxyTv9RYrlHrQMq6M0tFQrmy39DIYbvS0f4CrR5UCAuvGChyphenhyphencQQAe2yEF2aek_LpI5nlv-H5VIR4r6nJmlL__njlNbvuvRS4z6pPvFOA0RyQ-a0emna6o7Xqe8/s1600/IMG_1035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1462" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNTus9nFgcXf_atrdbvOxyTv9RYrlHrQMq6M0tFQrmy39DIYbvS0f4CrR5UCAuvGChyphenhyphencQQAe2yEF2aek_LpI5nlv-H5VIR4r6nJmlL__njlNbvuvRS4z6pPvFOA0RyQ-a0emna6o7Xqe8/s640/IMG_1035.JPG" width="584" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>In this picture, other than me unhooking a bass, you can see my tip above in action, with the rod hanging by a clip attached to a strap behind the neck of my vest, so my fishing rod can hang behind me as I fish my other fishing rod. If I need it quickly, all I have to do is unclip it, then clip on the one that I don't need.</b></span></td></tr>
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Finally, the pic above provides my fishing tip, the fishing report is well detailed, as was the story, and the pattern for the day that resulted in most of my fish caught, was the search, find and follow up technique. I used a search lure to find the fish (a chatterbait, in this instance), and when they bit and missed, as finicky fish often do, I followed up with a finesse plastic worm on light line to get them to bite and seal the deal. As it turned out, the birds were correct, that a chatterbait played a vital role with my fishing luck for the day. Fishing was tough, but, we made the most of it, and caught some pretty nice fish.<br />
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I hope you liked this report/story/tip/pattern blog post. Please let me know in the comments if you enjoyed the post, and let me know of your find and follow patterns that have worked for you. Thanks for following. Until the next post!!!!<br />
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<br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-73804309402182259282019-05-02T10:08:00.000-04:002019-05-02T10:08:05.889-04:00How About a Little Bait, Big Bass Story?Here's another campfire type story that brings back fond bass fishing memories for me, one of a big bass caught while finesse fishing on a rather small lure. Only this big bass wasn't caught by me, rather, it was caught by my fishing pal, Captain Steve Kelley.<br />
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It was early spring, near the end of March. Cloudy skies, light winds, air temperatures in the upper fifties, and water temperatures in the low fifties were ideal conditions to catch pre-spawn big bass. Water visibility was about two feet, which was really good for such a windy month. We started out fishing with a moving incoming tide in our favor.<br />
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Recently, in previous trips, we'd done well casting lipless crankbaits, and we expected similar results on this trip. Basically, the hot pattern at the time was to find emerging weedbeds, cast out a crankback, and as you reeled it in, tick the tops of the weeds with it. Often, if you lighly snagged a weed during the retrieve and jerked the crankbait off it, you'd provoke a bass to strike. Lipless crankbaits work great with this method. <br />
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<a href="https://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2019/03/spring-is-here-time-to-break-out.html" target="_blank"><b>Click Here</b> for more info on fishing lipless crankbaits and fishing this weed pattern.</a><br />
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We reached our first location of the day around mid morning, a cove at the mouth of a creek that had a fair amount of sunken wood and plenty of fallen timber along the bank. The bottom consisted of pea gravel along the bank, and a muddy bottom out toward the middle of the cove. Bass consistently spawn in this cove, so we felt that was a great reason to start there for the day. This cove usually had a fair amount of weeds, so we thought that the crankbait pattern be the perfect method.<br />
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However, the fish had other plans for us, at least at this spot, at that particular time. Steve finally hooked up on his first largemouth, an eighteen incher, after about a half hour cruising the cove on a crankbait. I picked up a couple of punk fish, but the bite wasn't as fast and furious as it had been during previous trips. For some reason, the weeds hadn't grown as they had in the past at this spot.<br />
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Sometimes, when things are slow in the cove, it often winds up being better fishing inside the creek. We fished our way into the creek. As we entered the creek, Steve commented that he often caught fish on plastic worms off one of the points. At the tip of this point, there was a log that created a small current break during an incoming tide. Steve picked up his rod, rigged with light weight, a light wire hook, and four inch green pumpkin ringworm, and pitched his worm perfectly into the eddy created by the log. Almost immediately, he yelled, "Fish! It's a good one!"<br />
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After hearing that, I reeled in my lure and grabbed the net. The current swept us further into the creek as Steve battled the fish on eight pound fluorocarbon line spooled on a medium light action spinning rod and reel combo. As the fish neared the boat, I had the net in the water at the ready, but the fish saw the net, and took off for a run. At this point, neither of us got a good look at her.<br />
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It peeled off a little line, and then Steve worked her back in. After a few head shakes under the boat, Steve brought the fish out from under the boat and I eased the net underneath her. This fish was a fat girl for sure. After I netted her and took pictures, Steve placed her on the measuring board and she went twenty one and a half inches long. We didn't have a scale, but I'd guess, based on her girth, that she weighed about six pounds, perhaps a little more. At the time, this was Steve's personal best tidal river bass. What a beast!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgriH_hzrLkR8z7BB7FmlptknFTZGhuxx-zMuCwIDJw-eclO-yOQbq7u-aTvwRN5LU1wb9shfEPTJGLUwdjyc8yHOR7QWiLAdlxJfgjiEA3f73NDOWEGO8H-pAHhLtHORR5DrwG2PSfEGyv/s1600/IMG_20120330_104517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="465" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgriH_hzrLkR8z7BB7FmlptknFTZGhuxx-zMuCwIDJw-eclO-yOQbq7u-aTvwRN5LU1wb9shfEPTJGLUwdjyc8yHOR7QWiLAdlxJfgjiEA3f73NDOWEGO8H-pAHhLtHORR5DrwG2PSfEGyv/s640/IMG_20120330_104517.jpg" width="622" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Steve's twenty and a half inch personal best tidal river largemouth bass inhaled a four inch finesse worm!</b></span></td></tr>
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In recent blog posts, I posted stories about big bass caught on big lures, and that is such a true saying worth repeating. But, this bass was caught on a finesse style worm, texas rigged fished with a light bullet sinker on light line. It wasn't a new pattern for either of us, as this rig has caught lots of fish, for both of us. And, I personally have caught several five pound or better fish on this rig. It's productive. During a tough bite, you can't beat it. But, this fish was caught finessing on a day when the crankbait bite should have been king, and at the end of the day, it was. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/softplastics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="398" height="640" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/softplastics.jpg" width="544" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Pictured here are a few productive finesse soft plastic lures. The second lure from the top, a four inch green pumpkin ringworm, fished with a light wire hook, and a light 1/16 ounce bullet sinker on eight pound line caught Steve's lunker fish.</b></span></td></tr>
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After that fish, we moved to another spot with a good weedbed, where the fish really turned on to the lipless crankbait pattern. I don't remember if he caught any more on a worm, but, it's tough to finesse fish when your boat partner is cranking in big fish and covering water. In other words, when the crankbait bite is on, it's a tough choice to put that lure down. Let's face it, lures like that cover a lot of water, and when they're hot, you can really rack up the numbers of good fish in a hurry.<br />
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We fished into the early afternoon and then he had to be off the water for a family function. Steve finished with fifteen bass, all of the over three pounds, including his personal best fish. I had a great day as well, finishing with sixteen bass, including nineteen incher and several in the seventeen to eighteen inch range, along with a couple fifteen inch fish.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV4pHgvxvaBs4aoU0pAc_3i6SnwdMHFlcqCvGGUaXYpYFeWaJSxDbO4csUP8UUJ4hvoCMayfw3GVkPSZEaE3dRSP_k4N4dRmqwV09f-VrEDlCRmkEY4PDVGzuh9VtbnOuJMorNKf99keAZ/s1600/IMG_20120330_132405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="538" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV4pHgvxvaBs4aoU0pAc_3i6SnwdMHFlcqCvGGUaXYpYFeWaJSxDbO4csUP8UUJ4hvoCMayfw3GVkPSZEaE3dRSP_k4N4dRmqwV09f-VrEDlCRmkEY4PDVGzuh9VtbnOuJMorNKf99keAZ/s640/IMG_20120330_132405.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>I had a good day as well, as I caught good numbers of bass, including this nineteen incher.</b></span></td></tr>
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What made this day memorable, other than fishing with a good friend, and other than the fact that we caught good numbers of nice sized bass in a short amount of time, was that I got to experience my fishing pal catch his personal best tidal river largemouth bass. It was my honor to net and photograph this fish. I can't wait to do the same when he catches his next personal best bass, if I'm lucky enough to be there when he does!<br />
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Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-11994628624333359992019-04-30T11:45:00.000-04:002019-04-30T18:39:39.047-04:00The "Make Fun of Me, Will Ya" Bass...Continuing with my story telling, as we sit around our virtual campfire, let me tell you about a what might have been my first bass over five pounds out of my home lake. It's a kind of an "I'll show you" story, sort of a tale of an underdog, overcoming the odds and achieving a goal. But for me, it turned out to be a good memory that may have shaped my approach to bass fishing altogether.<br />
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This story took place in the late 1980's, way before anyone, that I knew of, heard of blogging or the internet. In fact, I don't think that Al Gore had even invented the internet yet! This particular lake was one that I learned to fish on, just a couple miles from where I grew up. This lake never really got any serious bass fishing pressure. Most of the anglers that fished there were focused on fishing for the stocked with trout, as I had also done for several years prior to this event.<br />
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Spring was in full force. The spring peepers had been chirping for a few weeks, forsythia bushes were in full bloom for almost as long, and eastern redbud and cherry tree flowers filled the landscape splashes of pink and purple. Other trees and shrubbery sprouted new leaves that tinted the landscape with a hint of green. Parking was limited, because just a week earlier, the Maryland DNR stocked several thousand rainbow trout into the lake. As we'd come to learn, all these signs meant that big bass cruised the shallows in search of a fishy meal.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Howard sports a nice spring time bass caught on the lake that I grew up fishing.</b></span></td></tr>
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Certain popular access points were packed with anglers that fished for the stocked trout, most of them seated on buckets that contained their tackle, bait, supplies and perhaps, lunch. Their rods were seated between the twigs of carefully selected fork sticks that they stuck in the bank in front of them, intensely focused on their rod tips for the slightest of nibble of finicky trout. The hot baits at the time were round globs of Velveeta Cheese or Berkeley Powerbait molded to their hook, or the commonly used and equally effective bait, a juicy fat night crawler.<br />
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Other trout seeking anglers found room and cast out Roostertail, Mepps, or Joe's Flies spinners in search of more aggressive trout. That day, many of those using bait or lures already had stringers with a few trout dangling in the water as they sought their limit of five trout per person per day.<br />
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One of these access points was at the upper end of the lake, where a road bridge crossed the main feeder creek. On both sides of the bridge, trout anglers stood or sat shoulder to shoulder in pursuit of their coveted limit of trout.<br />
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The upper end of this lake also was, as we discovered, a pretty good area to find bass. It made sense. There was shallow water near a deeper channel, with a nice gravel point that we suspected was a spawning area. There was plenty of debris and cover on the bottom. On the other side of the channel, there were stumps on the flat providing nice ambush points. Also, the upper end of the lake happened to be the Northern end of the lake, where the lake received plenty of sunshine from the Southern sky, providing the warmest water in the lake that time of year.<br />
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The incoming creek sported a good population of minnows. Stocked trout roamed in and out of the creek. My buddies and I always wondered if the largest bass in the lake fed on these stocked trout as opportunities arose. Or, perhaps they kept minnows on the move into locations where largemouth could wait in ambush.<br />
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My fishing pals that day, Howard and John, joined me at the lake after work on one warm cloudy afternoon in April. Although the vast majority of anglers that frequented this lake targeted trout, there were, at times, guys like us that liked to target crappie or bass.<br />
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On the East side of the bridge, there was a swampy area that most of the fishermen avoided walking through. After the swampy area, there was a long, shallow point that led to the creek channel about a cast away. There, brush piles often held good populations of panfish and bass. The creek channel ran through the bridge, along the Eastern shore, and then turned and followed the point out into main lake. The use of hip boots or waders allowed us to traverse the swamp like area, and provided us with more room to fish or wade out off the point, away from the crowd.<br />
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Howard and John waded out off the point, and tossed Texas rigged plastic worms fished on light spinning gear to the brushpiles, where they hooked into a few keeper sized bass. I decided to lob a bigger lure, a half ounce white tandem spinnerbait, along the creek channel, hoping for a lunker largemouth bass. I changed out the outer blade in favor of a huge size 7 willowleaf blade. This spinnerbait put out a lot of flash and vibration, and I felt that it surely would call in a big bass if there was one nearby. If that didn't work, my plan was to switch off to fishing soft plastics. <br />
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I thoroughly worked the side of the point along the channel to the right of the brush piles, and then cast parallel to shore to my right along the creek channel. The oversized willowleaf blade moved a lot of water, perhaps a key to tickling a big mama bucketmouth's lateral line and allow her to hone in on the beefy bait.<br />
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The spinnerbait created a loud splash on each cast, prompting the trout guys to grumble that, perhaps, I was scaring their fish. My lure never went near anyone's lines or where they were casting, but many of the trout guys, sitting on their buckets, rather than concentrating on their rod tips, joked out loud and made fun of me tossing such a large bait.<br />
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Why were they mocking me? I have no idea. Perhaps they felt that the splash of my spinnerbait chased their precious trout away. Maybe they just didn't know that there were nice bass in this lake and trout were the only game in town. Maybe the sight of such a large lure seemed silly to them. I have no idea, but, they were laughing it up pretty good. I just ignored them and kept casting. I had a good feeling about my lure choice.<br />
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After several casts worked parallel to shore along the creek channel, a fish finally annihilated my spinnerbait. After I set the hook, my rod doubled over, and she shot straight up out of the water and fell back with a tremendous splash. My immediate thought was one of elation and surprise that I hooked this big bass, followed by the thought, "That outta scare the trout away!"<br />
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I fought her for a bit, and, as she tired, I was able to wade out and lip her. I hoisted her out of the water, and showed off her massive mouth and bulging gut to my fishing pals. This fish was at least twenty inches long, perhaps slightly longer, and may have been my first five pound or larger bass out of my home lake. I didn't carry a tape or scale back then, or a camera, for that matter. Heck, I was just out there for fun.<span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv-gkPeN8XEG4MDDDJ6nhn8PcglMqFzGwsjpOxOK8xJbmEKExmBS2Wrzq-6kw96NtuEiDon-BaGVfqeSFxBTUOqmXT5uOqF3x070sBl8wHw02BfzFz6Lv2gF2-92_81jdbwv-QWFnEYNIt/s1600/IMG_20120330_132405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="538" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv-gkPeN8XEG4MDDDJ6nhn8PcglMqFzGwsjpOxOK8xJbmEKExmBS2Wrzq-6kw96NtuEiDon-BaGVfqeSFxBTUOqmXT5uOqF3x070sBl8wHw02BfzFz6Lv2gF2-92_81jdbwv-QWFnEYNIt/s640/IMG_20120330_132405.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>I used a white half ounce tandem spinnerbait with an oversized willowleaf blade to catch the bass mentioned in the story that was similar in size to this fat one.</b></span></td></tr>
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As you may suspect, the laughing and mocking ceased. At first, it was so quiet that you wouldn't know anyone was there. The trout guys observed, jaws agape, wondering what they had witnessed. My friends started giving me props, and it felt good. I felt vindicated. I was extremely thrilled by the experience, so much so, that my hands shook. The trout guys really gasped when I released her back into the lake and watched her swim off.<br />
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After that, wouldn't you know, that some of them scrambled through their tackle boxes in search of spinnerbaits! That was pretty funny. As it turns out, I had the last laugh that afternoon! But, the overall lesson for me was to confirm that, what I read about in my fishing magazines, that big lures catch big springtime bass, a lesson that I'd remember time and again throughout my angling years.<br />
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Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-18840951707718838402019-04-26T15:11:00.001-04:002019-04-26T15:12:33.964-04:00Steve's New Boat, a Maiden Voyage Big Bass StoryWhen I first considered writing about my big bass stories, I pretty much had a few of my bigger bass in mind. As I pondered my plans for blogging these stories in the future, it occurred to me that I need to include my fishing buddies big fish stories as well (for those trips that we shared). After all, it's our fishing world, not just mine. So, from now on, I'll tell their tales as I saw them, with pictures, if I have them. Not only can I share our experiences with you, but my fishing buds and I can look back and enjoy these memories. This particular story tells of two memorable bass caught on the same trip.<br />
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March 19th, 2012 marked a new day in the history of Captain Steve Kelley and his fishing career, the maiden voyage of his brand new Mako boat. His boat is similar to a bass boat, with a front deck and a strong trolling motor, but has a center console. It has a 200 horsepower outboard and is pretty fast for a bay style boat. He likes to fish saltwater as well as the tidal waters of our state.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7UzoeymgtgSD_jIPnVmkhnn_faYqwCSobuAwN_kd2JUrf-pylc6AXouqbKF0Ra4EweARCiwZg6rfQQ6kOtHltcLnZRHHVdsv32gwg7obSdTyoG85OdedvIZ1Kef5BWYnxFmGGAkbYeJT5/s1600/IMG_20120330_064657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="800" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7UzoeymgtgSD_jIPnVmkhnn_faYqwCSobuAwN_kd2JUrf-pylc6AXouqbKF0Ra4EweARCiwZg6rfQQ6kOtHltcLnZRHHVdsv32gwg7obSdTyoG85OdedvIZ1Kef5BWYnxFmGGAkbYeJT5/s640/IMG_20120330_064657.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Steve's boat is a perfect match for what he loves to do, fish the tidal rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. </b></span></td></tr>
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After launching his new rig, on our way out from the ramp, we debated whether to fish the main stem of the river, or fish a nearby tidal creek. Just a couple days earlier, I fished with another buddy of mine in the creek and did well, so I convinced Steve to give that spot a shot, and then try the main river later.<br />
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A chrome/blue back Rat-L-Trap was my lure of choice to start with. In my opinion, this lure somewhat resembles a blueback herring or other flashy shad like baitfish. The chrome coloration, tight but heavy vibration, and lots of flash on the retrieve are irresistible to hungry springtime bass. I felt it was a good choice for a sunny day. Actually, I did well on that lure a couple days prior, therefore, I had confidence in it, more importantly, it was already tied on, and I was too lazy to tie on anything else. Meanwhile, Steve had a Yo Zuri version of a lipless crankbait tied on in the same basic color scheme.<br />
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The tide was low, water visibility was about 2 feet or so. Water temps were in the upper fifties. It was a beautiful, seventy degree, sunny day with just a small amount of wind.<br />
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Our plan was to cast lipless crankbaits and focus on the vast emerging weed beds. The wind is our ally when fishing like this because if you position your boat correctly, you can use the wind to your advantage, drift, and cover quite a bit of water, saving juice on the trolling motor.<br />
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We started along a deeper channel where it met a large weed bed that was at least four or five acres in size. As I rearranged the weeds with my crankbait, Steve hooked up on his very first cast, and landed his biggest tidal river largemouth as of that date, a stout twenty one inch hawg that I’d say weighed about six pounds, although we didn’t have a scale. How's that for a start on the maiden voyage of your boat?<br />
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He worked the lure back, and made sure to just tick the top of the weeds with the lure. When the lure hung up slightly on the weeds, Steve ripped it off the weeds and the bass hammered his crankbait. Most of our bass that day bit when we jerked the lures off of the weeds. The trick was to not snag the weeds so much that you had a glob of weeds on the end. Rather, your lure had to barely touch the weeds and maybe grab one with a treble hook, and then you had to rip it off with a sharp jerk of the rod. The bites mostly happened when you ripped the lure off of the weeds.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfeK-vVe280MVQu5UVxDEjClSIXDXl3J-8bO4bXR7kVqBWz95g5khELVhhIM-GoAatVBfT_fjNJRFj3EfCB4fwZQB82_UdhkBPiTw-_CNoDMs8GBVWOoYH0Um4Ys4FT2nXeHn5YBeep1Dz/s1600/IMG_20120319_112720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="578" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfeK-vVe280MVQu5UVxDEjClSIXDXl3J-8bO4bXR7kVqBWz95g5khELVhhIM-GoAatVBfT_fjNJRFj3EfCB4fwZQB82_UdhkBPiTw-_CNoDMs8GBVWOoYH0Um4Ys4FT2nXeHn5YBeep1Dz/s640/IMG_20120319_112720.jpg" width="624" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>My friend Steve with his personal best (at the time) tidal river largemouth bass, caught on his maiden voyage of his new boat, on the first cast of the day.</b></span></td></tr>
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Just a few casts later, Steve tied into and landed a fat eighteen and a half inch chunk of a bass, using the same technique. Of course, we were pretty pumped to find that the bass were still attacking crankbaits.</div>
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Meanwhile, as Steve boated nine pounds of fish in just a few casts, I politely used my retrieving technique to clear a path through the weeds so he could work his lure more effectively. I had trouble with not snagging too many weeds. In other words, Steve was catching the protein, and I was collecting the salad. </div>
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He proceeded to catch another nice seventeen inch bass a few casts later. Not long after that, I was on the board hooking into a less than massive twelve inch skinny male largemouth. Hey, it was a dink, but, at least the skunk was broken.</div>
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Then, the tide stopped moving, and although we both had a few more hits, the water was lower and it was difficult to work that pattern. The tide was so low that the weed tops were nearly up to the surface. We tried different lures and worked the weedy surface and the channel edges without any luck. We knew that if we stayed in the creek, it would have eventually produced, but Steve was itching to play with his boat and run it a bit, so out of the creek and off to main stem of the river we went.</div>
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We stopped at the mouth of another creek to see if the weeds had emerged yet. If we found weeds, were were likely to find willing bass. This spot had always been good to us, but on this day, the weeds weren't there yet. Fishing was slow, but Steve managed to catch a white perch on his crankbait, but no bass bites.</div>
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Steve changed tactics and worked the woody shoreline with a Texas rigged plastic worm. He caught a couple chunky largemouth and a couple yellow perch with that rig. I continued to work the crankbait, but it didn't happen for me at that spot. </div>
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After a while, I decided to try something different, and do a bit of finessing. I pulled out my trusty spinning rod rigged with a 1/8 oz. jighead, a Mann’s Sting Ray grub dabbed in Smelly Jelly (that actually smells pretty good), and proceeded to snag on my first cast with it. I tried to straighten the hook with my strong braided line, but must have had a nick in it and broke it off…I could have waited for Steve to move the boat as he was willing to do so, but got impatient. So I tied on another jig and proceeded to catch a yellow perch and a couple fifteen inch fat largemouth.</div>
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As we moved toward the creek mouth, we noticed that the tide was coming in, so I switched back to my Rat-L-Trap, and hooked up with a nice chunky bass that would have been about three pounds. Would have been? Yes, would have been. I lost it while trying to yoke it in the boat, Bassmaster style! Dumb…fishing was tough, and I should have thought to be more careful to make every bite count. I had a couple more hits and misses, but at least the activity picked up. </div>
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We decided it was time for a spot change and to find some different weed beds. We pulled up to a spot that my friend, Mark, and I found a couple days earlier that held fish. I finally hooked up and landed a decent bass that crushed my Rat-L-Trap, that was just shy of nineteen inches. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgcq2tJnOiFbwiorIcPZrkhvr817TGljRZ3T9xiWogZ2S3WuSqmhKuTc3IjH6cae4kGe45FfE1zVKg7zMFYH_3S3csU5KoXrm6aswJ41tA0oxXYg99O_lugGI3vj4LP73By6q93bf0zC3/s1600/IMG_20120319_143338.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="624" height="566" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgcq2tJnOiFbwiorIcPZrkhvr817TGljRZ3T9xiWogZ2S3WuSqmhKuTc3IjH6cae4kGe45FfE1zVKg7zMFYH_3S3csU5KoXrm6aswJ41tA0oxXYg99O_lugGI3vj4LP73By6q93bf0zC3/s640/IMG_20120319_143338.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>I finally hooked into a decent bass after having a tough morning.</b></span></td></tr>
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I caught a couple more smaller keeper sized bass over the next half hour. After that, we moved to check out another large weed bed. I started to get some consistent action, and landed some more fat bass that were scattered among the weeds, but really had to work for them. </div>
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Steve decided to fish the bank and work the wood with a green pumpkin plastic worm. On his first cast, he landed a fat seventeen inch bass, followed by a yellow perch. A few casts later, he hooked into a fish that catapulted out of the water on the hook set. This fish almost performed a back flip. I yelled out, “snakehead”! Sure enough, Steve landed his first snakehead ever.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cuNahOWcX4E6LfSqWbnwwapZABDyawD2s_NxtEvyD21AOlLFApVBpW59TNJj4ZYRY9ubJXX803yFwFSqrSHq_6Bj-DUCX2Hi4BJQCFgk5L_YPQOJEglT7UsHRL3wRaSxRRyyC3bbQIx1/s1600/IMG_20120319_161955.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="679" height="588" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cuNahOWcX4E6LfSqWbnwwapZABDyawD2s_NxtEvyD21AOlLFApVBpW59TNJj4ZYRY9ubJXX803yFwFSqrSHq_6Bj-DUCX2Hi4BJQCFgk5L_YPQOJEglT7UsHRL3wRaSxRRyyC3bbQIx1/s640/IMG_20120319_161955.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Steve hooked into an extremely acrobatic northern snakehead. Man, did that fish ever fight!</b></span></td></tr>
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I’m not sure if it was the next cast or not, but he hooked into another one shortly after, not quite as big. We wondered if they were pairing up to spawn, and, perhaps he caught the mated pair. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIKQUj6pbWStpCfydcR-5UlnI1YL_2upnFgc8TGEu_5lHVicpLQJDPvfjCCi_KUX9SG_xkTnE2nFP5yr11OfLGgUJR3wbPk9u_vccN0tIMqOQ7q1pOHg7Qd9c5vELRUgfkbagcoyHRCgwH/s1600/IMG_20120319_162014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="653" height="592" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIKQUj6pbWStpCfydcR-5UlnI1YL_2upnFgc8TGEu_5lHVicpLQJDPvfjCCi_KUX9SG_xkTnE2nFP5yr11OfLGgUJR3wbPk9u_vccN0tIMqOQ7q1pOHg7Qd9c5vELRUgfkbagcoyHRCgwH/s640/IMG_20120319_162014.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Steve's second snakehead of the day. What a thrill these are to catch!</b></span></td></tr>
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I also really wanted to catch a snakehead. At that point in time in my life, I hadn't caught one. I tried to fish a plastic worm and caught a couple yellow perch. But, really wanted to catch a snakehead. I had a bite and the fish bit me off, so unless chain pickerel are in there, my guess is that may have been a snakehead. I guess it just wasn't meant to be on that day. I was still snakehead challenged by the end of the day.</div>
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By then, it was late afternoon, and we wanted to get back and finish where we started the day. We knew that the fish were there. So, we went back to the spot where Steve caught his big bass, and worked it thoroughly. The tide was up, so it was much easier to work our crankbaits over the tops of the weeds. We had a couple hits, but no fish landed, then decided to let the wind drift us toward the Northern shoreline. </div>
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We noticed a bass, definitely a bass, in shallow water, doing some sort of evasive maneuver, leaping out of the water several times like baitfish fleeing a big bass. It didn’t look like it was feeding. Rather, it appeared as if it was leaping for its life. We thought it might have been chased by a snakehead, gar, or perhaps a large blue catfish. I'd never seen a bass behave like that before.</div>
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Both Steve and I managed to catch a few more fat bass on the trap while probing a different weedy area, a place that we vowed to keep in mind for next time. We drifted to a point that dropped into deep water and after a few casts, I hooked into another big bass. I landed it, and noticed that the beast was barely hooked by the back treble of my crankbait! She measured twenty one and a half inches long, my biggest bass in the past few years. Man, she was fat and heavy.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7tlQTiwja5tB9ytpiP_LJr7SzrAfrl9jrP_WYGhfLPuoLFMl__xbic_7yctanfrsyImh-FhRfvLePI1ERpCDrvZ2x_mDKgyctRAn8n0KVwNWkMEcKxxW2oUgas09hUWTzdwul7TARWp76/s1600/IMG_20120319_184019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="606" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7tlQTiwja5tB9ytpiP_LJr7SzrAfrl9jrP_WYGhfLPuoLFMl__xbic_7yctanfrsyImh-FhRfvLePI1ERpCDrvZ2x_mDKgyctRAn8n0KVwNWkMEcKxxW2oUgas09hUWTzdwul7TARWp76/s640/IMG_20120319_184019.jpg" width="628" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>This bass was twenty one and a half inches long. Although it wasn't my personal best, she was my biggest bass caught in quite a few years.</b></span></td></tr>
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To sum things up, Steve started out with the hot hand, and landed his personal best tidal river bass. He also landed his first two snakeheads, ever. Despite my tough start, I also caught my biggest bass in several years. We each had a blast. We caught several big bass as well as decent numbers of fish, and a mixed bag of species as well. Not bad for the maiden voyage of his boat! What an epic day it was!</div>
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Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-38872481712806351702019-04-24T12:18:00.000-04:002019-04-24T13:15:51.351-04:00Another Big Bass Fishing StoryLast week, I posted a couple stories of a couple of my biggest bass caught in my local area. I hope you all enjoyed them. I have more stories to share, and will post more over the next few posts. Later, I will mix in some other funny or adventurous stories that I have experienced over the years. The way that I will try and tell these stories is as if we are sharing our experiences over a campfire. I plan on posting more adventures and less tutorials in the future. I won't stop posting tips and stuff, rather, I just plan on posting more fun experiences that I've had in the outdoors. Please let me know in the comments if you like these types of posts.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Five Five Pounders and a Lunker</u></b></span><br />
It's funny, but I keep mentioning stories shared with my fishing buddy, Howard. The last two stories, he was there, and this next one, he's in it too. Why? I don't know, maybe he's good luck for me, but we've caught a ton of big bass together over the years. This story happened between my boat owning years, where all we did is wade or bank fish. We found some of these spots while fishing out of our boats, and then found ways to reach them from shore. Some spots required tough hikes or wades to get to them effectively, but it was worth it.<br />
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We arrived at the parking lot of a public park, and hiked along a boardwalk style nature trail as far as we could go. Then, we hopped off the boardwalk and into the water to wade the rest of the way. We fished our way forward until we reached our destination, an old wharf along the tidal river. We'd done well over the years at this spot while boat fishing, and figured it would be worth the wade.<br />
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It was about this time of year, a beautiful warm spring day. Just about every tree was flowering and the woods was greening up fast. It was time for big female bass to make their ways to the spawning areas. The tide was falling, and that usually means that fish are active.<br />
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Both Howard and I were lobbing large, double willowleaf, tandem spinnerbaits. Our color of choice in the spring was chartreuse with chartreuse blades. This was a hot bait for us over the years at this location. A local fishing guide once told me a saying, "If it ain't chartreuse, it ain't no use!" That was a great lesson, and it applies to almost any water in my state.<br />
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About ten casts into the day, Howard hooked up and yelled, "Fish on!" After a brief battle, he landed the fat largemouth bass that measured twenty inches. The bass, at that time, hadn't spawned yet, so this female was fat with eggs. I estimated her to be about five pounds or so.<br />
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On the very next cast, Howard again yells out, "Another one"! I'm a bit perplexed, because he cast exactly to the spot where I placed my previous cast, where I ran my spinnerbait along and parallel to a log, and did not hook up. Usually, that is a money cast. He showed me how it was done, and landed the fat female bucketmouth. He measured her at twenty one inches, another probably five pounder, and we weren't even anywhere near our hot spot!<br />
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We both waded and cast our way for the next quarter mile without a bite, and reached the point of our destination, and area with much flooded timber, and tougher wading, that stretched for about three hundred yards, culminating at a very old, abandoned, flooded wharf. This particular spot also has four small points sandwiching three coves. The depths varied with the tides, but low tide ranged from two to five feet deep, with flooded logs and debris just about everywhere, with pea gravel banks, perfect for bass searching for good spawning locations.<br />
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When we reached the first point, Howard hooked up again. "Fish on!" I still hadn't had a bite. Again, he landed another very nice bass, and it measured nineteen inches. Two casts later, Howard had another fat bass hammer his spinnerbait. This one measured twenty inches. Man, did he have the hot hand! Meanwhile, I wondered if my wife had put a curse on my spinnerbait, or perhaps poison!<br />
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As we waded around that cove, I hear, "Holy hand grenades, I'm into another one!" Howard landed that fish, and it measured, you guessed it, twenty inches! This fish was the fattest one of the day and had to weigh a good six pounds.<br />
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I still hadn't had a bite, and I'm wondering what in the world I did to have the good Lord punish me this way. Don't get me wrong, I was very happy for him. Any time your fishing buddy is catching fish, big fish, one after another, you have to feel good for him. Seeing that still gives you hope that the next bite will be on your lure. Still, I felt it would be nice if I could just get that first bite.<br />
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We worked our way around all of the coves, and, although the total numbers weren't that high, Howard still landed a bag limit of five big bass that would have made the Bassmaster Classic guys envious. Of course, all of these bass were released. Meanwhile, I forgot what a bite felt like. I was just going through casting practice.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO0AjlVf-qslmTPUcVwBrt2TiP7qtLBe-hsliMNBdJu2ed-xriFiYE2l1-lCvSkEMe29v1Ktw4yNQ-P0RJAQpYw3SbBC-zWQWgqsusazSMfAWMYibEtaefEbbnbsxNu52nGzY9LF2kQzc_/s1600/IMG_20120331_132028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="606" height="558" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO0AjlVf-qslmTPUcVwBrt2TiP7qtLBe-hsliMNBdJu2ed-xriFiYE2l1-lCvSkEMe29v1Ktw4yNQ-P0RJAQpYw3SbBC-zWQWgqsusazSMfAWMYibEtaefEbbnbsxNu52nGzY9LF2kQzc_/s640/IMG_20120331_132028.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Howard shown here with an eighteen inch fat tidal largemouth bass. He caught five nineteen to twenty one inch bass on our trip that day! Unfortunately, neither of us brought a camera.</b></span></td></tr>
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At that point, the old reliable chartreuse spinnerbait wasn't working for me, so I switched to a tandem white spinnerbait with gold blades. The larger blade was a huge size 7 willow leaf that really provided a ton of flash, but had much water resistance on the retrieve. I added an all white ringworm as a trailer to give the bait a larger profile. I figured that I had to try something different. Howard's pattern worked for Howard, but not for me.<br />
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On our way back, I stopped at a point that was a huge gravel bar. It was now almost low tide. I heaved a cast as far as I could, not aiming for any cover or anything. I'd made some great casts throughout the day along flooded timber without a so much as a sniff, so why not try something different? The channel edge wasn't far away in the direction of that cast, and the bottom was littered with debris and sunken logs that you couldn't see.<br />
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I reeled immediately as the lure hit the water. About four cranks of line back, my lure just stopped cold, and then yanked back. I set the hook as if it was going to be the last fish of my life, and hooked it solidly. I felt a few head shakes, and then she came to the surface. She rolled on the water with a tail splash. Howard turned around after the splash and watched me fight the fish.<br />
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This fish turned and bulldogged, not letting me gain any line for about fifteen seconds. It was the biggest bass, if it was a bass, that I'd hooked so far all year. I wondered if it was a big catfish that sometimes fool bass anglers like me into thinking that we've caught the mother of all bass. Either way, this was a good fish.<br />
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The water had some color to it, a slight brownish stain, with about two feet of visibility. Until she reached the shallows close to me, I still didn't know that type of fish that I was dealing with. Then, her head popped up, and this huge bucket of a mouth shook at me, tossing water droplets on my face and sunglasses. I waded out and grabbed her huge lower jaw, and hoisted her out of the water.<br />
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I pulled out my measuring tape and Howard measured her for me, and she was twenty four inches long. This was the first big largemouth bass that I was able to measure. In previous years, I didn't worry about carrying a measuring tape, but, for some reason, it was important to know these things, especially since I started keeping fishing logs. We did not have a scale. And, neither of us had a camera. This was prior to the waterproof digital camera years, and my budget at the time did not include an expensive, waterproof camera. I released the fish as both Howard and I admired her.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvfQQl4aGyeIj3eaxLROBuUgrS8C_tBAaHcQGCD2Fn450aaVoskdz6XUrX4hdMmRETCEENN0DQqc3fpzA-sX6FXIdn3LM_tTop2QTQOTodmRWPSnCdjZx_uOrH7QHIMHt2JlwrochZVFd7/s1600/IMG_20120319_183933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="592" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvfQQl4aGyeIj3eaxLROBuUgrS8C_tBAaHcQGCD2Fn450aaVoskdz6XUrX4hdMmRETCEENN0DQqc3fpzA-sX6FXIdn3LM_tTop2QTQOTodmRWPSnCdjZx_uOrH7QHIMHt2JlwrochZVFd7/s640/IMG_20120319_183933.JPG" width="638" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;">I've caught a bunch of fish like this in our tidal river, but the fish described in this story was another class of fish. The fish pictured was twenty two inches, while the one caught years ago was a whopping twenty four inches long! What a fish that was, but it was my only bite of the day!</span></b></td></tr>
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We both worked the entire way back to our parking area without a single bite the rest of the day. When it was over, Howard had the thrill of catching five big bass, all weighing at least five pounds. That's a heck of a day for anyone. At that point, my only bass caught might have been the biggest largemouth of my life at that point in time. It was the only bite that I had that day, and what a bite it was! It's funny how one bite, and one fish, can make your day, or perhaps wind up being your personal best!<br />
<br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-48813300121580064782019-04-18T11:28:00.000-04:002019-04-18T11:28:00.639-04:00Remembering Some of My Biggest BassLast night, I was reflecting on some of the biggest bass that I've caught in my home state over the years, and thought that maybe it would be a good time to share some of these stories with you. Since some of the stories may be long winded, so I'll do this over the course of several blog posts. Some of the stories might not have been my biggest fish, but, they were big fish, and the stories are worth telling. I hope that you enjoy them and, even better, learn something that may help you catch your personal best bass.<div>
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Unfortunately, some of these stories happened prior to the digital age, and I have no idea what I did with the pictures that I had, so you'll have to take it on good faith that the stories are true. Yeah, I know what they say about fishing stories. I do have witnesses though!!! So, if I don't have a pic to share of that actual fish, I'll post a substitute picture of a nice fish, or pics related to how I caught the big one.</div>
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One day, if I'm lucky enough to find any of those prints, I'll make a copy of them and share them with you. I had a major septic flood in my basement in 2012, and lost a bunch of stuff, so it's possible that many of the pics are gone forever. I also have rolls of film that I've never developed, so maybe there are some pics on those rolls. Some of you may ask, what is "film"? Ha ha. Some of these big bass were caught prior to the invention of affordable waterproof or digital cameras. What can I say, I'm an old fart!</div>
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<b><u><span style="font-size: x-large;">How do I...???</span></u></b></div>
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One hot summer evening, I was bank fishing with my buddy, Howard, his girlfriend at the time, and his black Labrador, Max, along a body of water next to a local river, and decided to drop down to fish the river. The bank was steep and it was a struggle to climb down there. </div>
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The river was deep, and the water was, what some of my friends today call, "big fish green". "Big fish green" means that there is a slight amount of color in the water, enough sediment to make fish feel comfortable to be active, yet not too much that they can't see your lures, leaving the river with a greenish tint. </div>
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There was a huge log that ran parallel to the river bank right in front of me. In fact, I had to fish over this log, and, it sat at about waist high to me, so it wasn't easy. There wasn't a lot of room to stand along the bank there, and just barely enough room to effectively cast. Just a bit upriver from me, about twenty feet or so, was a rock ledge that stuck out from the river bank about twenty five yards and created a nice eddy where I figured that fish would lay in ambush of their prey.</div>
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Just a few days prior, I purchased my first baitcasting outfit. I'm not really sure, but it may have been my first time fishing with it. Back them, stores pretty much only sold affordable baitcasting reels that cranked on the left side, and being right handed, and growing up fishing with spinning tackle, I was used to cranking with my right hand. So, I had to learn to switch hands after each cast, and learn to crank with my left hand. Learning to cast and not backlash was difficult enough back then, prior to the invention of fancy magnets in reels that prevent the spool from spinning too fast, but, switching hands too? Still, I started to get the hang of it.</div>
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I remember that I had a large chartreuse buzzbait tied on, a perfect choice for targeting big, aggressive largemouth bass in the slower waters during the hot summer, but not really a lure meant for tempting smallmouth bass the fast river water. Also, most people generally pursued river smallies with smaller morsel sized baits over the bigger lures commonly used to chase largemouth bass. But, being lazy, I didn't want to tie on a new lure. And, I only intended to toss a couple casts. Honestly, I didn't really think that I'd catch anything on it in the river, but, what the heck?</div>
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My buddy, Howard, and his girlfriend, happened to walk by and watch me cast from the path above me. I think that Howard, already a baitcasting veteran, enjoyed watching me struggle to learn the ropes. It must have been somewhat amusing and entertaining throughout the day, watching me learn the hard way, as I cursed while I picked out the many birds nests. I forced myself to learn the hard way by leaving my spinning rigs at home. So, even if I wanted to toss smaller smallmouth sized lures, I wouldn't for fear of getting more backlashes.</div>
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On the first cast, I lobbed the buzzbait upstream and across, and retrieved it past the tip of the rocks and through the eddy. Just as the lure reached the bank right in front of me and the tree, the water erupted. Water went everywhere, on my sunglasses, on my face, and on my shirt as the fish thrashed about in front of me. It suprised the heck out of me!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEPlcYmmKD9pRILqyiA0CcYEeGt0s0gnhQW9xWy0m9qBzQSHbC6lv13kcH1i0u4qGfQ7_RNVBKYOPyp9OuEhoUhdzfbuTo9fvBsMCg65vG4thgAXuinyNdqdqKEkuC473M1PIYM5JAfwvy/s1600/060114+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="524" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEPlcYmmKD9pRILqyiA0CcYEeGt0s0gnhQW9xWy0m9qBzQSHbC6lv13kcH1i0u4qGfQ7_RNVBKYOPyp9OuEhoUhdzfbuTo9fvBsMCg65vG4thgAXuinyNdqdqKEkuC473M1PIYM5JAfwvy/s640/060114+1.jpg" width="588" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>I don't have any pictorial examples of big buzzbait smallmouth, but, this picture shows that big smallmouth will hit big baits, and big baits don't get much bigger than this musky sized bucktail.</b></span></td></tr>
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Of course, I was extremely surprised and excited, and nearly forgot what I was supposed to do. In situations like that, sometimes people say the silliest things. I fought this fish as it went ballistic on me just over the stupid log, I yelled out a couple expletives that are too vulgar for this blog, followed by "How do I fight this thing?" Howard, his girlfriend, and probably the dog too, were laughing hysterically at me. I really did get confused, not used to reeling with my left hand, and fighting a fish with the rod in my right hand.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxWK49mErieJ1s8sgoyct8dMfyeWmfTdnS_lVrZSfOUqauv2iu2t2BZY4Vs9E0kBtuFpyFZ7oL2yYKMCk9CyiGr571oO9FBwL1UMeW0u1nFrTFs7wRU7v9Sb9iF-EhmAGo3bkFabSgTGIs/s1600/IMG_5022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxWK49mErieJ1s8sgoyct8dMfyeWmfTdnS_lVrZSfOUqauv2iu2t2BZY4Vs9E0kBtuFpyFZ7oL2yYKMCk9CyiGr571oO9FBwL1UMeW0u1nFrTFs7wRU7v9Sb9iF-EhmAGo3bkFabSgTGIs/s640/IMG_5022.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>These days, I routinely toss small 1/8 oz. buzzbaits while targeting smallmouth bass like this decent fish. The truth is that you definitely will get better summer time numbers of fish on these smaller buzzbaits. But, big baits catch big fish, as the story told explains. </b></span></td></tr>
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To this day, Howard teases me about that fish. Eventually, I figured it out, got the fish in, and hoisted it over the log. It wasn't the biggest smallmouth bass that I've ever caught, but it was a nice one for our area, and was my biggest to date at that time. I didn't have a tape measure or scale with me, but I'd guess that fish was a fat twenty inch smallie. And, it was the first fish that I ever caught using a baitcasting outfit! </div>
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<b><u><span style="font-size: x-large;">The hanging down to my ankles fish...</span></u></b></div>
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It was a hot, muggy, dog day of a summer evening as Howard and I met each other in the parking lot after work. Typically, back then, we'd scurry to our fishing spot after work and get as much time as possible in to fish. But, on these hot, steamy nights, there was no hurry. We arrived at our spot about an hour before dark so that we could fish the magic hour, and then fish well into the dark. Usually, our timing was about right, and we'd catch fish right away. During the dog days of a hot summer, the best bite is often at night as bass are mostly inactive during the heat of the day.</div>
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Frogs sang and chirped loudly. They'd jump from our footsteps and into the water as we walked along the path along the bank. Bugs were everywhere, and mosquitos constantly buzzed us as they searched for a chink in our bug spray armor. To me, all these things meant is that it was buzzer time. </div>
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Using baitcasting outfits were so productive for me throughout the years, whether they were specialized rigs for flipping, pitching or just plain chunkin' and windin'. I found them to be very effective for using larger lures, the spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, for example, that produced so many big bass for me. These lures are perfect for fishing around sunken timber, weeds, lily pads and logs. </div>
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We bank fished most often at one of our favorite bodies of water. Baitcasting rods teamed with heavier line not only allowed us to toss larger lures, but also improved our chances of retrieving lures that we snagged in the timber. After all, if your not snagging now and then, you're not fishing in the right places. But, we were young and lived on a tight budget, so, every lure that we could get back was a bonus.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT6Osb4C9D4Zltrj1_QPOj6iuFL2-4AHPFmaaXMV_Lbkn02OWrfhyphenhyphenM9SJfVGJGo4a4z_11MZowFSyCSfrggXRLeW0_1CYINpkE25yVAQSd96hhZN33fBW9a3htzrni5wE3WfWx8M9Ei8fN/s1600/howard+072511.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="568" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT6Osb4C9D4Zltrj1_QPOj6iuFL2-4AHPFmaaXMV_Lbkn02OWrfhyphenhyphenM9SJfVGJGo4a4z_11MZowFSyCSfrggXRLeW0_1CYINpkE25yVAQSd96hhZN33fBW9a3htzrni5wE3WfWx8M9Ei8fN/s640/howard+072511.jpg" width="532" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>As Howard shows you, summer night fishing with buzzbaits can be the ticket for big largemouth bass.</b></span></td></tr>
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Both Howard and I worked our way down the bank, and picked up some nice fish here and there. On this particular night, the fish were bigger on average than what we normally caught. Howard already caught a pair of twenty inch largemouth that probably weighed about four pounds at their summer weight. I had a pretty good evening as well, landing a few eighteen inch fish and several fifteen inchers. Howard and I eventually drifted away from each other, out of sight in the dark, as we each tried to figure out where the next big bass lurked. I lagged behind as he moved on, because I knew that I was at a really good spot. </div>
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I had a good feeling about this one particular spot, so I worked it thoroughly. There were several blowdowns, and I wanted to make sure that I covered every angle fishing them. I just knew that there had to be a lunker there. This spot was about forty yards long, so I worked each tree from many angles to optimize my chances that a big fish would find my lure. I picked up a couple smaller fish, and it was late, about midnight, so I figured that I'd work my way back toward Howard, meet up with him, and we'd head home. After all, we had to work the next day.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://oimg.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/canal08261102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="778" height="476" src="https://oimg.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/canal08261102.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Oh, how I love fishing buzzers at night during the dog days of summer!</b></span></td></tr>
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On the way back over that same forty yard stretch, I fished the one spot that I hadn't really covered, where there weren't any trees, but, rather, had tons of frogs. That spot was simply casting parallel to the bank. On my second cast, I worked the lure all the way to me, covering as much water as I could. I couldn't see anything except for where the weeds and water met, because it was so dark. I couldn't even see my lure from the end of the cast to but to only about ten feet away. But, I could hear the buzzbait, making a squeaky sounding plopping sound as it chugged along. I worked the lure as slow as possible, just fast enough to keep the lure at the surface.</div>
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As I fished with the rod tip low to the water, and about four feet of line left from the tip of my rod, the water exploded just feet away. Honestly, it scared the poop out of me! I literally jumped when it hit. I could tell immediately that this was a special fish. On my baitcasting rigs, I set the drag pretty tight so as to get the maximum hook set, and typically, I'd horse the fish in. There was no horsing this one in. It took line, even with my drag set as to not allow that to happen. Finally, I got it near shore, and I climbed down the bank and grabbed the behemoth by the lower jaw.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhasDs7g6_FEqVL6QzlnyH_EEpMsxZO1DQIzJjkWjRelRWDcAEwJlM0A0kZMLZ5AXYX6Ni3iG3jr-zTf3nRajUYBg3fHIcyYzZLJQAuGWzt1qJfoRkcMPHfysG0lncxchBXJHiUGqtcXQtA/s1600/09141402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhasDs7g6_FEqVL6QzlnyH_EEpMsxZO1DQIzJjkWjRelRWDcAEwJlM0A0kZMLZ5AXYX6Ni3iG3jr-zTf3nRajUYBg3fHIcyYzZLJQAuGWzt1qJfoRkcMPHfysG0lncxchBXJHiUGqtcXQtA/s640/09141402.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>In the evening and at night during the dog days of summer, large buzzbaits, like this one, call in the hawgs.</b></span></td></tr>
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As of that day, it was my biggest largemouth that I'd ever caught, for sure, and prior to that fish, I had caught dozens of five pound fish in my life. This fish was bigger...unforgettable. I was about two hundred yards away from Howard, and I wanted to show him this fish. If this fish was so much bigger than most of the big fish that we catch there, that it was worth walking two hundred yards away to show my friend, <u>and stop fishing</u>, then you know it had to be a special fish! And that's what I did. I walked down the path along the bank directly to him, carrying the fish at my side by the lower jaw.</div>
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When I reached Howard, he couldn't believe what he saw. He said that, as I walked toward him, that he could see me holding the fish at my side, and the tail of the fish reached my ankle. I'm 5'11" tall, as a reference for you, so it was a long bass. He marveled at the fish as he proceeded to fit both of his fists into its massive mouth. That amazed me! The belly bulged on this fish, similar to the way my belly does now. I was still shaking from the experience. Neither of us had a camera, so, after a couple minutes of admiring the fish, I released it.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://oimg.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/inlinebuzzer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="110" data-original-width="287" height="245" src="https://oimg.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/inlinebuzzer.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>This was the buzzbait that I used to catch that huge fish, and many others since then. I made this in-line buzzer by taking parts from other buzzbaits, bending my own wire shafts using a wire bending tool, and assembling the three components together with split rings. This bait has caught me so many big fish. The whole thing is about eight inches long.</b></span></td></tr>
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Howard estimated that this bass would have been about twenty four inches long and weighed about seven pounds, give or take an inch or a few ounces. It was truly one of the biggest largemouth bass that I've ever caught. It would be a few years before I was able to equal that fish, but those are different stories for future blog posts.</div>
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OK, so that's all for today. I'll post a few more on my next post. Until then, I wish your all good fishing!</div>
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Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-32892845072050604052019-03-28T13:04:00.001-04:002019-03-28T13:49:31.939-04:00Spring is Here: Time to Break Out the Lipless CrankbaitsAh, spring is here in the D.C. area. The cherry blossoms are about to bloom, the forcythias are in bloom, the buds on our trees are about to pop, the robins returned, blue birds are flirting with each other, fish of all species are on the feed, and my lipless crankbaits are screaming out to me. Not too many fishing patterns get my blood pumping more than when big fish munch on lipless crankbaits.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30u8DyDqf4eBQK6qJ0uIk6fKZCK7r0zugWlvKGb1FaEcvkkAxWx20s1EKTpmq5HrB6MmyRHgR6RCcx0MAtF94i6yQa7EExHNM-6YJNsome-romLDxnB-REWh-cL_Yylo-L7qaTmm0itDm/s1600/IMG_20120319_184019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="606" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30u8DyDqf4eBQK6qJ0uIk6fKZCK7r0zugWlvKGb1FaEcvkkAxWx20s1EKTpmq5HrB6MmyRHgR6RCcx0MAtF94i6yQa7EExHNM-6YJNsome-romLDxnB-REWh-cL_Yylo-L7qaTmm0itDm/s640/IMG_20120319_184019.jpg" width="628" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Not only can you catch good numbers of fish on lipless crankbaits, but big ones too. This one fell for a Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap in the Chrome Blue Back color.</b></span></td></tr>
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In our tidal rivers, blueback herring run into the skinny waters while largemouth bass, chain pickerel, and striped bass wait in ambush. Upriver, our smallmouth bass are on the feed. And, in local lakes and ponds, golden shiners swarm in the shallows, with predatory bass and pickerel ready to attack them for a tasty meal.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4vpNIXNtwHgmsqWtQqdIFOjQKYKUdx9YRBNEIaolqBoEubdPOg7mnQ6rHJYS6_e8WM1KC723kHBEOLVmK4YzVyybstx864yOv6ScOz4RVD41XcQS2HyGHj-k5WycPcB0EL_OsWTeWT1O_/s1600/042113+03.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="535" height="618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4vpNIXNtwHgmsqWtQqdIFOjQKYKUdx9YRBNEIaolqBoEubdPOg7mnQ6rHJYS6_e8WM1KC723kHBEOLVmK4YzVyybstx864yOv6ScOz4RVD41XcQS2HyGHj-k5WycPcB0EL_OsWTeWT1O_/s640/042113+03.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>My friend Brad with a nice tidal largemouth bass that fell for a lipless crankbait.</b></span></td></tr>
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One of the best types of lure to offer these predatory fish are lipless crankbaits. I don't know if it's the vibration, rattling sound, or flash that drive these fish nuts enough to attack, or if it appeals to their extreme urge to feed prior to a rigorous spawn. I've heard arguments about both. But, seriously, when they're attacking these crankbaits, it doesn't matter why, just that they're hitting.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_20120317_1430461.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="689" height="556" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_20120317_1430461.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Largemouth bass love lipless crankbaits, or hate them, depending on your view of why they attack them so violently.</b></span></td></tr>
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It's true, that I've seen fish come from a long way to hit these lures. Stripers are notorious for chasing down baitfish at high speeds. Largemouth bass are known to have extremely quick ambush attack speeds, but can also chase down a quickly retrieved lipless crank. Why? Like I said, who cares? Just that they do it, but honestly, it could be a combination of reasons.<br />
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Lipless crankbaits provide plenty of vibration that can be detected by an extremely sensitive organ in fish called the lateral line. When predatory fish sense these vibrations, the vibrations could provoke them into striking whatever is making them. Also, this extra sensitive organ allows fish to hone in on these lures from long distances away. The rattles in these lures could appeal to a feeding response, or just tick them off. At any rate, most of these lures have a loud rattling sound, teamed with their tight vibration, designed to trigger strikes. And, they most certainly do that well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18buXIuxkKQZo8UJjw6fbc6A4yb_Z491yYjH6tnNvK-XgIjzc3KBHTIBv2lEQF6oN6eQkH9sZPl9TGH4UpFon8IRq-F8qom_EEpMa3nEsR1C1ebHhU2n8SNiKc35MHVORSSJTZ4KFJPQ7/s1600/IMG_20120317_151414%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="476" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18buXIuxkKQZo8UJjw6fbc6A4yb_Z491yYjH6tnNvK-XgIjzc3KBHTIBv2lEQF6oN6eQkH9sZPl9TGH4UpFon8IRq-F8qom_EEpMa3nEsR1C1ebHhU2n8SNiKc35MHVORSSJTZ4KFJPQ7/s640/IMG_20120317_151414%255B1%255D.JPG" width="514" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Gotta love what I call "trappin'" bass. Mark fooled this nice bass on a lipless crankbait.</b></span></td></tr>
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Whether you're fishing various colors or metallic finishes, most of these lures provide a measure of flash that could trigger strikes. I love the metallic finishes when skies are bright or if I'm fishing clearer water. Bright colors, like chartreuse, are great for fishing dingy water or dark days. In fact, dark colors also work well in those conditions. The action of the crankbait is key though, as the tight vibrating wiggle provides a flash that mimics their prey. This feature could also trigger reaction strikes or appeal to their feeding urges.</div>
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For anglers, these baits are attractive because you can fish them so many ways. You can just toss them out and crank them in. You can cast them out and jig them back, or fish directly below the boat in deep water and vertical jig. You can cast them out, let them sink, count them down, and fish them at any depth you desire. Or you can fish them slowly across the tops of weed beds and rip them off the weeds (more on that later). How much more versatile of a lure is there than that?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/smbass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="301" height="640" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/smbass.jpg" width="396" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>There are many ways to fish these crankbaits. This pre-spawn Great Lakes smallmouth bass slammed a deep, slowly cranked lipless crankbait.</b></span></td></tr>
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One huge advantage to fishing this type of lure is that they cover a lot of water quickly. They're great search lures, especially when fishing new lakes. They're perfectly designed for finding for schooling predatory fish, or perhaps fish ambushing baitfish on a windy point. When the fish are on, you can catch good numbers of them on these lures for this reason, and not only that, potentially big fish. They're <u>big fish baits</u>!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_20120409_151555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="558" height="618" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_20120409_151555.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>You cover water with lipless crankbaits to find chunky largemouth bass like this.</b></span></td></tr>
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So, for those out there who don't know what a lipless crankbait is, they're basically a type of plug that is about a half inch or less in width, laterally compressed (almost flat), that sink on the fall, and don't have a lip like other crankbaits do. Most of them have some sort of rattling system inside them. The line tie is at the top of the "head" of the lure. All of these features make them unique.<br />
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There are many brands out there, most of them produce well. We all have our favorites. I fish several different brands, because each one has a slightly different presentation, but they all have similar traits mentioned above. I like the Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap, Rapala Rattlin' Rap, Strike King Red Eyed Shad, and Yo-Zuri Rattl'n Vibe. Each has their place in my box. I carry four different sizes, depending on what I'm fishing for, being 1 oz., 3/4 oz., 1/2 oz. and 1/4 oz. There are other brands that probably work just as well, but it's up to you to find your favorites.<br />
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If I had to say that I have a favorite or "go to" version, the first one that I tie on, one that catches just about any predatory fish, it's a 1/2 ounce Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap. I love the Chrome Blue Back color when fishing our tidal waters, as I feel it resembles the blue back herring. Maybe it does, or maybe it doesn't, but that thought gives me confidence that this will work, and it usually does.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_20120319_143338.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="624" height="566" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_20120319_143338.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Shad and blueback herring run up river to spawn in the spring. Lipless crankbaits are great imitators of these baitfish. I like the Chrome Blue Back Rat-L-Trap for this purpose. Nice largemouth, like this one, stripers and other predatory fish feast on them, and will do the same on your lipless crankbait.</b></span></td></tr>
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For lakes and ponds, I love the Gold Black Back color this time of year. I think that they resemble golden shiners, and in tannic acid stained waters, maybe resemble shad as well. That said, there are other colors that could be effective in other situations or water conditions. The colors mentioned above work best for me if there is about two feet or more visibility. Truthfully, I think that color is the least important feature, except perhaps the metallic finishes, because they provide a lot of flash, as do baitfish.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/SV19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="778" height="476" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/SV19.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>This chunky largemouth fell for a Gold Black Back 1/2 ounce Rat-L-Trap. There are plenty of golden shiners in our lakes, so if your lakes have a good population of them, try the gold "trap".</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/SV24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="648" height="478" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/SV24.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Chain pickerel love the golden shiner imitation as well.</b></span></td></tr>
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So, how do you fish them? Like I said above, there are many ways to fish lipless cranks. But, in spring time, which is the focus of this article, I'll mention my favorite pattern for largemouth. During spring, some weeds are beginning to grow, while others have already been growing and are now filling in, and these weeds attract baitfish. Equally important, is that weeds provide ambush cover and break up the silhouette of predatory fish on the bottom. Most predatory fish, like bass, are dark on the top, and light underneath. So, when they sit on the bottom in wait, they blend in with the weeds very well. When cover like this attracts both predators and prey, it's a fishing hot spot.<br />
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In this situation, I try to fish just over the top of the weeds and let the treble hooks tick the tops of the weeds. When the lure gets to the edge of the weed bed, I let it drop and flutter down, then rip it up and crank it back. Often, when bass fishing, ripping a lure like this off the bottom will trigger strikes. Also, lures that flutter down over weed bed edges could provoke a predatory fish hiding below. As the crank flutters down, the fish think it is an easy meal, and attack it on the fall.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKhEDobtN8TfRf94kfw45hTAQfu0NIn-F-DrO0LH0plSBnvoDE9KJtrCCa_nLV4ZciCVNC9TFkvBHoHyXPatOlBLE_qc5Rr6HFP_5suH8jdUC4xqhYGsrDz1ep7ioZV99edfznFHJwwjyh/s1600/IMG_20120330_104517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="579" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKhEDobtN8TfRf94kfw45hTAQfu0NIn-F-DrO0LH0plSBnvoDE9KJtrCCa_nLV4ZciCVNC9TFkvBHoHyXPatOlBLE_qc5Rr6HFP_5suH8jdUC4xqhYGsrDz1ep7ioZV99edfznFHJwwjyh/s640/IMG_20120330_104517.jpg" width="592" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Steve will tell you that fishing over the top of weed beds with lipless crankbaits will catch big bass, and here's the proof!</b></span></td></tr>
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When fishing over top of the weeds, your lure will hang up on weeds occasionally. Don't just reel your lure in and clean it off. When that happens, as long as it isn't a thick mat, rip the lure from the weeds with the rod tip and continue fishing the lure. As with ripping a lure off the bottom, ripping one off weeds may also provoke vicious strikes from largemouth. Again, the flash, vibration, and darting action of the lure when ripped off the weed is key, I believe, to provoking bass into striking. This is the pattern, really.<br />
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How do I keep a sinking lure above the weeds? I keep my rod tip up when reeling, and if the weeds are a foot under the surface, keep it higher. This also allows you to reel in the lure a little slower, and I feel, making the lure more attractive to bass. If you do this while keeping your rod tip down, you will have to fish the lure much faster to keep the lure up enough, or you will bury your lure in the weeds, leading to frustration and less productive casts.<br />
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I prefer using a long, fast action baitcasting bass rig for this, with braided line. I used to use fluorocarbon line, and that worked well too. The low stretch lines and long, fast action rods enable you to keep the lure above the weeds, and to rip the lure off of the weeds and clear it, while also provoking fish to strike. My pitching rod and reel work great for this technique.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_20120401_132822.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="718" height="540" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_20120401_132822.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>This largemouth, and countless others like this, were caught on the weed pattern described above.</b></span></td></tr>
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Striped bass, or stripers or rockfish, as they call them in my neck of the woods, love lipless cranks too. You can fish them any number of ways, but if I had to say one thing about them for stripers is that they like them fast, and they like erratic. So, crank it in, let it stop, rip it, then crank as fast as you can, then rinse, repeat. Stripers can out swim your lure no matter how fast you reel, if they want it. That said, if they're deep, you have to let it sink down there so they can see it first. That's the beauty of these lures, really, their versatility, and that they simply catch fish.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/1striper2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="480" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/1striper2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>My buddy Bob with a nice striper that he caught on a 1 ounce Rat-L-Trap.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/PB180114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="605" height="640" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/PB180114.jpg" width="612" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Carson (left) and his Dad, Bob, with a nice chainside caught on a lipless crankbait. This time, the fish fell for a 1/4 oz. Rat-L-Trap in the Chrome Blue Back color.</b></span></td></tr>
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The lure shape resembles a shad remarkably well. When you think about it, they could resemble just about any form of baitfish as long as the predators don't have much time to examine the lure. Perhaps that is why these lures are so effective?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="594" height="600" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/shad.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Shad, like this one, are abundant in our rivers, and in some of our lakes and ponds. Lipless crankbaits are great lures that mimic these baitfish. Lipless crankbaits match them in size, shape, flash, and even action.</b></span></td></tr>
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I fish the larger sizes for larger predators, like stripers, pike, and even musky. I prefer the half once size for bass, but there are times when the 1/4 ounce size is necessary. The 1/4 ounce size will also catch perch, crappie, trout and other panfish.<br />
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The coolest thing about lipless crankbaits is that they can catch just about any predatory fish out there. I caught my biggest king salmon on a black Cotton Cordell Hot Spot, and another huge one on a chartreuse Rat-L-Trap. I've caught northern pike, walleye, lake trout, steelhead, large brown trout, and even catfish on them. These lures work well on many saltwater species as well, especially bluefish and sea trout. Talk about a versatile lure, eh?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/04111413_zpscf2a38a9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="653" height="480" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/04111413_zpscf2a38a9.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Oh yeah, a warning, as with any treble hooked lure, when unhooking fish, be careful. I reached to unhook a chain pickerel, and the slimy fish slid down and the hooks both lodged into my hand, still attached to the fish while it thrashed about. Talk about painful! Luckily, this time, I was able to grab the fish while my buddy got the hooks out of it. The hook that went into the middle of my palm popped right out, but the hook mark on the left took some handy plier work. Fortunately, it came out quickly. After all, I'm not a surgeon, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn a few times!</b></span></td></tr>
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So, when the early signs of spring reach your area, if you haven't already, give lipless crankbaits a try. By the way, they work well all year. However, they're my "go to" lure during spring and early fall. So get out there and give them a try! If this helps you catch a big fish, please leave me a comment and tell me the story!<br />
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<br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-10633373360963773292019-03-18T11:25:00.000-04:002019-03-18T12:06:20.745-04:00How to Catch Crappie, Bluegill, Perch and Other Panfish<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>In this post, I'll describe some easy techniques, tackle, and lures to use to catch crappie, bluegills, perch and other panfish. This crappie inhaled a leadhead jig tipped with a plastic twister tail grub while casting for crappie.</b></span></td></tr>
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Catching panfish is a fun, easy, and inexpensive way to enjoy fishing. In this post, I'll describe the basics of how we catch panfish on a regular basis using artificial lures. We'll cover what rods, reels, and tackle that I like to use, as well as a few easy techniques and strategies that will help you catch more panfish.<br />
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Later in life, I learned to fish artificial lures, mainly because I accidentally kept leaving my worms and other bait in the trunk of my Dad's car. When the bait died, it stunk up his car, and I had no ride to fish in. My choices to adapt were to either improve my memory or change techniques. So, I decided to change techniques. I forget why...<br />
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...Oh yeah, mainly because using artificial lures to catch panfish is relatively cheap, and it doesn't leave a mess. Not only that, using lures rather than bait keeps me relatively mobile, generally speaking. The more mobile that I am, the more fish that I will find to catch. That said, sometimes I'll carry some live bait to tip my jigs with to tempt finicky fish during colder months, but we'll discuss that later in the post.<br />
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First, lets discuss the tackle that you'll need. Personally, I have rods dedicated to this type of fishing. If I fish for multiple species, I'll have rods rigged for those species with me too, but if there is a chance that I may target panfish, I'll always bring my panfish rig. My basic panfish rig is a simple one, an ultralight six foot, six inch ultralight rod, with a small reel (2000 series), matched with light line, usually 4 pound test. For tackle, I carry an assortment of bobbers, or floats, a box of with an assortment of jigs and jigheads, and a box loaded with my favorite small soft plastic lures.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishtHfbBbJr33rd-MJu1_tM9hLJ8ZKYTDiF3dPuzDzQBqTF1pBG8R4SNEyD_C5yWECNxpkN6XknVUHYVCrwtv8nixvlt1xjEAW5_QvtMgnLy5tZKyJOmy6lHO-Dnt9NAYjZKWzNHcyWlCQ/s1600/crappie+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="647" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishtHfbBbJr33rd-MJu1_tM9hLJ8ZKYTDiF3dPuzDzQBqTF1pBG8R4SNEyD_C5yWECNxpkN6XknVUHYVCrwtv8nixvlt1xjEAW5_QvtMgnLy5tZKyJOmy6lHO-Dnt9NAYjZKWzNHcyWlCQ/s640/crappie+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>You can see my rig in this picture, an ultralight rod with a Shimano 2000 series reel, teamed with light 4 pound test line, and a small jig. You can't see the bobber in this picture, but I was using one. The jig is a chartreuse panfish tube in chartrueuse.</b></span></td></tr>
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Now, let's talk about a couple easy techniques, and we'll start off with one of my favorites, the "Bobber and Jig" technique. Many of us started out catching fish with our Dad or other adult as a kid, usually tossing out a live worm under a red and white plastic bobber. When fishing like that, we learned the basics of catching fish under a float. We'd cast the rig out, sit and wait for fish to bite, then, when the float moved or went under water due to actions other than our own, we'd set the hook. So, let's delve a bit deeper into this technique and adapt it to using artificial lures rather than live bait.<br />
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The Bobber and Jig rig can be simple or complicated, depending on how seriously you take this kind of fishing. I'd say I'm semi-serious about it, because I like to keep things simple. I usually use a simple red or chartreuse round styrofoam weighted bobber that is about an inch in diameter that clips to my line. Under that, at whatever distance I think the fish will be, I'll attach one or two small jigs. I make sure that my jigs are tied so that they sit horizontally in the water, as much as possible. I believe that I get more bites because a horizontally presented jigs best resemble panfish prey better than jigs that dangle vertically. You may have to adjust the jigs throughout the day to keep them in a horizontal position.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimzZKt7rrTTE5fI3IO5xVNt9NAg5f-URg2FfXvFlbq6fVQaJldTzTyN7vVnC2RkufR5yCs252rRQPgV6qT8y6gsQhTCq36HELmhaRZw9oDlxmpuXiFoRWj2tWocNYQWMzJ9R8lh8T6xXCU/s1600/Bobnjig1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="581" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimzZKt7rrTTE5fI3IO5xVNt9NAg5f-URg2FfXvFlbq6fVQaJldTzTyN7vVnC2RkufR5yCs252rRQPgV6qT8y6gsQhTCq36HELmhaRZw9oDlxmpuXiFoRWj2tWocNYQWMzJ9R8lh8T6xXCU/s640/Bobnjig1.jpg" width="640" /></b></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: cyan;">This is the basic "Bobber and Jig" rig that I use. The amount of line below the float can be as much as five feet under the float at times, but most of the time, when fish are active, I'll keep the jigs about a foot to three feet down. I cinch the jig up tight so that it stays horizontal, as pictured above.</span></b></span></td></tr>
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Now that we understand the basic rig, let's discuss how to fish it. You have many options. One way is just to cast it out to a likely fish holding spot, and let it sit until a fish hits. Another way is to do that, but if you don't get a bite right away, give a the rod a twitch or two to "pop" the bobber a little bit. How much to move the bobber depends on how active the fish are. If the fish are active, a few sharp pops may do the trick. If they aren't active and want a more subtle presentation, I've even gently pulled the bobber over just a tiny bit. That little action will bounce the jig underwater a half inch or so and maybe move the jig a few inches in a certain direction. That may be enough to induce a strike. This technique is effective if you know specifically where the fish are, especially in colder weather.<br />
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If there is a little chop on the water due to wind, you can just let the wind do the work, allowing the ripple waves to bounce the bobber while the wind pushes your rig along the drift that you wish. Using the wind to cover water is a great way to locate where the fish are. Once fish start biting, remember where you had your bite so that you can make sure to achieve the same drift on your next cast. Chances are good that, once you have bites at a certain spot, more fish are there than just one.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk7mQ-I3zUNS2awcq46cR1nKrm8Ths6anJZFzQOxA4FaFdZx6rwY9xnabvQfezK8ATItlzB-N2Yw1PdDTp4YWgDHEoFYyG2lWeq0U7IDRXUCe48EQPz19bz0tfIt1zTJVx6avf47QHbXV-/s640/DSCF0020.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>My buddy Bill, with a slab crappie caught while bobber and jig fishing. I don't know if I took this picture or not, but this is not how to take a good picture. I don't think Bill would like to see the top of his head missing. But, it's a nice fish anyway.</b></span></td></tr>
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If it isn't windy, and the fish don't like the lure just sitting there, and popping it in place doesn't seem to draw strikes, or your not covering water, you can try a very slow retrieve, maybe mixing in a few rod twitch pops along the way. This and the wind drift techniques are effective when searching for fish. And, of course, depending on conditions, you can try a mix of all of the techniques above to try and draw strikes...and you should! But, the basic thing to remember is that, no matter which method you choose, if you see your bobber stop, go under water, bounce, or move in a way that neither you or the wind made it do, set the hook, because it's likely a fish. Anything different, set the hook.<br />
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When fishing a bobber and jig, for open water, I may try tying on two jigs. Sometimes, when fish are aggressive, you may catch two at a time! If I'm fishing cover, I will only go with one. I always start by fishing my jigs about two or three feed down at first, then adjust either deeper or shallower if I don't get bites. If I see fish dimpling the surface or cruising around, I fish shallower. It it's cold or I don't see activity, I may try fishing deeper. Let the fish tell you what to do.<br />
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I usually also fish small jigs when bobber and jig fishing. I'll start with one or two 1/80 or 1/64 ounce jigs tipped with my favorite soft plastics. I also try changing up colors until I find one that the fish like. But, if I had to state a general rule, I'd say bright colors in darker water or darker skies, and natural colors during sunny skies and clear water. However, I also think that white and chartreuse are tough to beat. A former Potomac River fishing guide once told me, that when fishing that river, "If it ain't chartreuse, it ain't no use"! Try different things until you get the results that you want. You'll find your favorites once you start catching fish.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYnE14Z7Mt4vHjxDqMfihzzwoERuap9yofPC16g56dHq0IzftB5xq9DaKDN3zhljX4hOpa_EQeI9OdABbBnsjSXrsvCcHTAJVXNu0QU_CThDAEqYFoh_46D_j-8ukeh7OIEHgvUyEM_wrX/s1600/soft+plastics.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="906" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYnE14Z7Mt4vHjxDqMfihzzwoERuap9yofPC16g56dHq0IzftB5xq9DaKDN3zhljX4hOpa_EQeI9OdABbBnsjSXrsvCcHTAJVXNu0QU_CThDAEqYFoh_46D_j-8ukeh7OIEHgvUyEM_wrX/s640/soft+plastics.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>These are some of my favorite jigs for panfish. On the left, you can see the small 1/64 oz. tube jighead that I use, and a selection of tubes. On the right you can see an assortment of jighead sizes and colors that I use, from 1/32 oz. down to 1/64 oz. Not picture here are similar colors in the 1/80 oz. size. In the center, the top two larger "grubs", or twister tails, can be fished with or without a bobber. The two jig/plastic combos below that are from Custom Jigs n Spins tackle company, called Ratsos, in 1/64 and 1/80 oz. sizes. Below that are Bass Pro Shops one inch Squirmin' Grubs in pumpkinseed and watermelon colors. I find BPS tubes and grubs to be very effective. They're inexpensive and have a good color selection as well.</b></span></td></tr>
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Here's the deal though, it's a cheap way to get into fishing, but, expect to lose some tackle. Bobber and jig rigs are not the easiest, most accurate rig to toss, and you might end up casting your rig into trouble. Even when experienced at this, people will still find a tree to hang their lures in, or cast too far into cover, or, just snag on a log while casting and jigging. It happens. If you can't retrieve it, break it off and tie on another one. If you're shore fishing, maybe you'll get lucky and the wind will blow your float back to you. That's why I carry a good assortment of lures and floats. It's a good thing that this stuff isn't expensive.<br />
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Oh, another thing to remember, is that someone else's misfortune could help you find a good place to fish. Good spots always seem to have bobbers hanging from them, or from trees just overhead. We had a spot that was so good that we found, it has so many bobbers in it that it looked like a Christmas tree! Just a good tip that may help you find a good spot on a new lake.<br />
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Now, a quick word about floats...there are many types out there. You don't have to be stuck on my favorites. Try different ones out and see what works for you. I like the weighed round styrofoam ones because they're cheap and easy to cast a long way, and they work great for me.<br />
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For fishing really deep water, you can try using slip bobbers. Basically, the way that they work is that you have a piece of rubber, called bobber stop, on the line, say, 15 feet from the jig, that is wound into you reel. When you cast, it slips through the guides easily. Then, when the rig hits the water, the line feeds through the float until the float stops at the bobber stop, and your jig reaches the depth that you want, in this example, 15 feet. You may need to add split shot above the jig so that the line feeds through and gets to the right depth. Anyway, you can cast these deep water rigs much easier than trying to use a snap on float when fishing deeper than four feet. I usually use the snap on ones when fishing five feet or shallower.<br />
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Also, there are more expensive floats that are very sensitive, if you want to refine your techniques. Here, I'm just giving you basics. Now, as far as float shapes go, in general, the more resistance a float has to the water, the more fish can feel it and the more difficult it is to sink under the water. You have to match the amount of weight of your lures to the right float. Thinner, cigar or pencil shaped floats are very sensitive and go under easily without fish feeling them. Fat, round, large floats are best used for heavier baits, as they provide a bunch of resistance. You may never see a panfish biting a lure using large floats like these. That's why I like the one inch size.<br />
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Where are the fish? They can be hiding in weeds, in deep water near a dam, hiding in a log jam, or on the back side of a windy point or current break. Panfish are predators and will find places to ambush their prey. They can be found in tidal or non-tidal rivers, lakes or creeks. Most likely, you can find them in a body of water close to home. Just think to yourself, if I were a panfish, where would I hide so that the wind or current might bring me a nice minnow snack? These places may vary depending on the time of year. During colder months, you might find them around deeper water. During warm spells during that time, or when it warms up, try areas where shallows next to deep water warm up from the sun quickly.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIzdlOHAlHluZKMuvz_plpf_qmRtThphY1au8OJ62DPcOil8cegDkQ0rdG_j7Sc7AOHQJr-L93TTlg7DixTKlZ44pr0ZLxXuZmd-qnmoo9GcCF6mM0BLPJJQr4RnsayRFCIKd9Zyes4y62/s1600/IMG_20120303_144221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="778" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIzdlOHAlHluZKMuvz_plpf_qmRtThphY1au8OJ62DPcOil8cegDkQ0rdG_j7Sc7AOHQJr-L93TTlg7DixTKlZ44pr0ZLxXuZmd-qnmoo9GcCF6mM0BLPJJQr4RnsayRFCIKd9Zyes4y62/s640/IMG_20120303_144221.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: cyan;">Slab perch like these may be mixed in with crappie, bluegills and other fish. We found a bunch of fish on this day fishing behind a point that provided a wind break. The fish were stacked up on the backside of the island, as the wind created current that pushed baitfish to the predators in wait.</span></b></span></td></tr>
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A nice location would be on a northern shoreline, where the southern sun shines and warms the shallows. If you find some nice cover there, like a tree or brush, that is a great place to try and cast to find fish, especially if that cover provides a current break. Sometimes, when fishing a northern shoreline, if a south wind piles up along the bank, it will bring warmer temperatures to that area and along with it, active fish. So, during colder months, try and find the warmest spot on a body of water, the best cover that will hold fish, and try your luck casting there. Most likely, you'll get into some panfish.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09-b9Y5GjnemRywDP8fHqlSIfrcyNFndACnVO4u8xE-p779VKdQZNTdIYew31bDE0eKK2rUB4AID5Z2zTr23odew3ILsJC2Xy-3Ynexhn8_IEis4fcCY7MJCO7KcifpRb2KhtD-YMsztj/s1600/PC030174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="633" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09-b9Y5GjnemRywDP8fHqlSIfrcyNFndACnVO4u8xE-p779VKdQZNTdIYew31bDE0eKK2rUB4AID5Z2zTr23odew3ILsJC2Xy-3Ynexhn8_IEis4fcCY7MJCO7KcifpRb2KhtD-YMsztj/s640/PC030174.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>When my buddy Bob, and his son, Carson tried some winter panfishing with me, they had a blast catching slabs like this all day long while casting jigs with soft plastic twister tails.</b></span></td></tr>
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Once you find some cover, like a bush or tree in the water, you don't have to always cast into the thick of it. In fact, unless you become an expert at casting a bobber and jig, just try to get close. These rigs are not as easy to cast as only having a lure on the end. If you're close to the cover, most of the time, active fish will come out of the cover to check it out. Only during tough cold fronts, when fish may not be active, you may need to fish tighter to the cover. But try out a foot or two, if you can, first.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRO6pZgu2mxE1CV4G6ttlOkddo0EqKS5JYD9X9dWilwDqMkTpXNY7E2ocaA4hWdJLxd5mfpDR9FkJ4d2H7-GX1U7DlYMTdZ7cCQiLlYdCu7OVih6ZGgvMvz-xr1Q8Frg6XXEjY8PPJYlYO/s1600/Img_1565.Jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRO6pZgu2mxE1CV4G6ttlOkddo0EqKS5JYD9X9dWilwDqMkTpXNY7E2ocaA4hWdJLxd5mfpDR9FkJ4d2H7-GX1U7DlYMTdZ7cCQiLlYdCu7OVih6ZGgvMvz-xr1Q8Frg6XXEjY8PPJYlYO/s640/Img_1565.Jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Large bluegills are extremely fun to catch using these techniques. Just look at the colors on this fish! What a blast you can have when you catch dozens of these guys.</b></span></td></tr>
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Once you get the hang of finding and catching fish, if the fish you're catching are small, then you can start the process over on other bodies of water until you find some bigger fish. When you find actively feeding panfish, you will start catching good numbers of these fish. You may have hundred fish days or certainly enough action to keep you entertained. Once you find your favorite "honey holes", you may have days when fishing is tough. This is where tipping your lure with live bait, like spikes (or maggots), waxworms, or just about any bait may trigger some bites. If they're not biting after that, you can try changing locations on the body of water to find a new spot, or change lakes. Don't sit and wait for fish or you may get skunked. Move, that is the key, and it may save your day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAlFQkbq3AL_KZL0iEk0Koa3RGR22GZ5mVC_n7OpXdN5jYVZ576NDfpw2Lj1du-Q1_yMmSRfNxA7zmHQZfhs7ETj8CF_MgJ-r-YoWRCDTYodveehAvWhvQTI1LPw1-d2outRnlp9miLcH/s1600/PC080181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="771" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAlFQkbq3AL_KZL0iEk0Koa3RGR22GZ5mVC_n7OpXdN5jYVZ576NDfpw2Lj1du-Q1_yMmSRfNxA7zmHQZfhs7ETj8CF_MgJ-r-YoWRCDTYodveehAvWhvQTI1LPw1-d2outRnlp9miLcH/s640/PC080181.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Rodger will tell you that catching panfish like these can really be a blast. The techniques and suggestions described in this post will help you find fish like these too.</b></span></td></tr>
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Another technique is to just tie the jig directly on your line without the float. This is very effective if you're fishing an area with less snags, it's not that windy out, and the fish are aggressive. I usually fish 1/32 or 1/16 ounce jigs when casting, depending on how much wind there is. Wind will put a bow in your line, so more weight counteracts the wind. If it's too windy, you may find it best to add the float and let the wind do the work. When not using a float, if you're boat fishing, you can vertical jig or cast to spots. Most of the time, if you shore fish, you may have to cast, but sometimes if you have access to boat docks, piers, or bridges to fish, you can try vertical jigging. Just drop the jig down into the water, and twitch your rod tip to make the jig dance. Dancing jigs attract fish.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYHhdtr6HXLIDrogMHBUXFP8lDYzLJIh3UgRvowUHtj7JZYu9RM3bf-w-2wXr4VEJ8-jxuw45o0LMTuwtIcHUieLu54dXxpRSoboc219SRDAncQw5yUQKF8uMhbeU3QLNhZhuMh_pqI5hn/s1600/PB240147+cleaned.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="828" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYHhdtr6HXLIDrogMHBUXFP8lDYzLJIh3UgRvowUHtj7JZYu9RM3bf-w-2wXr4VEJ8-jxuw45o0LMTuwtIcHUieLu54dXxpRSoboc219SRDAncQw5yUQKF8uMhbeU3QLNhZhuMh_pqI5hn/s640/PB240147+cleaned.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>My buddy Howard loves catching slab crappie using these techniques! We were fishing deeper water winter condtions on this day, using both techniques. The fish weren't deep, but they were over deeper water.</b></span></td></tr>
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When casting, you can try jigging it, but sometimes the fish will hit the lure on a slow fall. If they do this, you will see the line twitch or move at the water line or maybe even feel the bite. For this reason, it's very important to watch your line where it enters the water. Often, you may not feel it, so, if you see anything different, set the hook. And, of course, if you feel a "doink", set the hook. Sometimes, after letting your lure sink a slow retrieve might work. Like bobber and jig fishing, try different things to get them to bite.<br />
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When to use the bobber and jig vs. casting a small jig for panfish? It depends on how active the fish are, how big the fish are, and the conditions that you're fishing. For me, if I'm fishing when the fish are active and it's not windy, I probably would start casting a larger jig, say, 1/32 with a two inch twister tail. If it's windy, I may try vertical jigging if possible. If the fish are finicky, or it's too windy to cast, then I'll go with the bobber and jig and downsize to smaller lures. If the fish are really finicky, then I may go as small as a 1/80 oz. jig.<br />
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One thing that I love about fishing small jigs like this is, that you never know what you're going to catch when you get a bite. You can catch almost anything. In addition to the panfish that I've targeted, I've caught everything from golden shiners, trout, largemouth and smallmouth bass, chain pickerel to even catfish and carp! It's a lot of fun. Give it a try!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia9YV1Ater07tR-vYlA9ws1n4bXkCjcqobQUMR4GhRvGbWDSutnX0Yej4f2rtMBshnq_C27-tf-ru-ecnuRzufWncF0kiT6p1xh3LYk2uOaEjTG_UrI-kR2hY8u5vlRle_Q4JVQ-Kbd4C6/s1600/IMG_20111017_180736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia9YV1Ater07tR-vYlA9ws1n4bXkCjcqobQUMR4GhRvGbWDSutnX0Yej4f2rtMBshnq_C27-tf-ru-ecnuRzufWncF0kiT6p1xh3LYk2uOaEjTG_UrI-kR2hY8u5vlRle_Q4JVQ-Kbd4C6/s640/IMG_20111017_180736.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Large golden shiners will hit these small jigs too. Usually, on some lakes that we fish, we will find them mixed in with the panfish that we target. I like catching just about anything that swims, and bobber and jig fishing can do that for you.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNo9YmJ8Amzfu4T0S90YCmzGxmrD5FCOLmDJZ3CXMazr1D1f22MGWJZOQU-_iZgzeh2C9zy6FapsofBNs6HqXb6LdUzNt4vKg5oY4GiV6TtY22J_iou3ujKKsdAYRi11fVAAygAXQdA3t/s1600/IMG_20120317_101644%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="778" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNo9YmJ8Amzfu4T0S90YCmzGxmrD5FCOLmDJZ3CXMazr1D1f22MGWJZOQU-_iZgzeh2C9zy6FapsofBNs6HqXb6LdUzNt4vKg5oY4GiV6TtY22J_iou3ujKKsdAYRi11fVAAygAXQdA3t/s640/IMG_20120317_101644%255B1%255D.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>You never know what you're going to catch using small jigs while targeting panfish. While targeting yellow perch, I caught this nice largemouth bass on a 1/32 oz. jighead tipped with a two inch chartreuse plastic twister tail grub. What fun, huh?</b></span></td></tr>
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If you aren't catching fish now, doing what you're doing, then maybe try the techniques above. If you do, you're sure to succeed. Good luck, and give me a comment back and let me know how you do, if this post helped you.<br />
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<br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-46891777618941062542019-03-07T09:24:00.002-05:002019-03-11T08:53:29.041-04:00My Introduction to North American Native Fishkeeping<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxLqlXflP_EhPgk0Bz3RTMH9sA8vKq_QpraXhQY6Mc8jHEsVTFL_qiIC1O-7zoQ-0W_lMoBtkd7je8dUQk6iaijI-bMmmbTYvYAPQF1-hXgS7-k1L05r3K0J-jTnvN1R_udpHzuXNReb4c/s1600/IMG_9525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxLqlXflP_EhPgk0Bz3RTMH9sA8vKq_QpraXhQY6Mc8jHEsVTFL_qiIC1O-7zoQ-0W_lMoBtkd7je8dUQk6iaijI-bMmmbTYvYAPQF1-hXgS7-k1L05r3K0J-jTnvN1R_udpHzuXNReb4c/s640/IMG_9525.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Striped Blenny (<i>Chasmodes bosquianus</i>)</b></span></td></tr>
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Part of my obsession with the outdoors includes creating a replica of it indoors. And my largest obsession with the outdoors is with fish of all kinds. I love to catch them, watch them, learn about them, and collect them. So, this is where I bring them indoors, by collecting my fish locally and building aquariums for them that match their environment. I've had various aquariums throughout my child and adult life, starting with freshwater guppies, tetras, angelfish and modern world cichlids, and during my transition from later high school years and into college, a move to saltwater fishkeeping.<br />
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After college, I moved away from saltwater fishkeeping to keeping native freshwater fish and set up my first native stream tank. Why did I do this? Simple. Money. Or, rather, lack of discretionary money, because just about everything I made at that time went to rent, food, bills, other hobbies and sports. Native fish were free, and I already had all of the equipment that I needed.<br />
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I've never been a "reefer". No, I'm not talking pot here, although I was never one of those either LOL, I'm speaking of keeping coral reef aquariums. It's not that I wouldn't keep one, rather, I just haven't gone that route yet. Maybe someday I will. In fact, my move away from saltwater (or "Fish Only") aquariums was a financial decision that I had to make as a young adult when my saltwater fish tank had a massive fish kill after a power outage while I was away from home.<br />
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For those aquarists out there, how many times have we heard that horror story before? It seems to happen to everyone. It happened to me when I could least afford it. I lost a medium sized blue angelfish, a flame angelfish, a potters angelfish, a heralds angelfish, a bluehead wrasse, a molly miller blenny, a red spotted hawkfish, and a yellow dottyback. That's a lot of money for someone right out of college with an entry level type job!<br />
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So, what did I do? I took all of the high flow equipment from my saltwater tank and converted the tank to freshwater. I used stream gravel and rocks to set up a native stream tank. After cycling the tank, I collected local minnows, dace, shiners, darters, and sculpins and had my high flow stream tank. I absolutely loved that tank, and, I discovered that our local species are as colorful, and sometimes more colorful, than those that we pay money for at our local fish stores!<br />
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After that, I got engaged, then married, moved into a small condo, had a beautiful daughter, and stopped fishkeeping. I didn't have money or time, for many reasons, mostly too many hobbies, to keep it going. Instead, I kept salamanders and frogs, and set up a primitive paludarium. I didn't get back into fishkeeping until recently.<br />
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One of my all time dreams was to keep local saltwater or brackish blennies. A student teacher at my University was studying them, and got me hooked and fascinated with them. I had kept a local blenny while in college in my fish only tank until another fish killed it. I caught that fish during a class field trip out on a research vessel in a trawl net and they let me keep it. That blenny was one of the coolest fish that I ever had in an aquarium. After that, I had experience keeping various blenny species that I purchased at my local fish stores (like the molly miller mentioned above).<br />
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I became hooked on blennies! I was obsessed with them. But hey, why spend money at stores on them when I can collect them locally for free? And, our local ones are just as interesting and as colorful as most of the store bought ones!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisaUBfI6B_tW-8dfWFOa5rvEJKoebKzQVfvoaB6g5GOpugJr69-8rrDbvc-YdUTQRtz5o9YgO134KSAJPb3AHtCfdF5oEm7YmUjerrvQx2N6Nsik97enQ-mIqp6OKpPS9j0sDrHf20AC-0/s1600/IMG_9642.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisaUBfI6B_tW-8dfWFOa5rvEJKoebKzQVfvoaB6g5GOpugJr69-8rrDbvc-YdUTQRtz5o9YgO134KSAJPb3AHtCfdF5oEm7YmUjerrvQx2N6Nsik97enQ-mIqp6OKpPS9j0sDrHf20AC-0/s640/IMG_9642.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Local blennies, like this adult male striped blenny (<i>Chasmodes bosquianus</i>) captured my heart many years ago while in college. Now, I can observe them in a close replica of their natural habitat right in my home.</b></span></td></tr>
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So, when I moved to my house and had enough space to really get back into fishkeeping, that was my first goal, to set up a local blenny tank. Only, I took it a step further. I set up a Chesapeake Bay Oyster Reef Biotope Aquarium, to not only house my blennies, but to give them a home that feels like home to them. My goal was to replicate their environment in every way possible, with hopes that they might breed. I basically wanted a slice of a Bay oyster reef in my home. I'll go into more detail on those projects soon in future posts. But, for now, please note that everything that I hoped would happen, happened successfully (knock on wood) over the past couple years. My blennies and other fish are breeding regularly.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Dn6IsamjN35rZZ0FEzIeYLanpIRpfkN_KkJ5ordrjrNzJpVGzmU6ntb87sPQvTTmfFMRxb-jpleY0-hkm4H5y5YhE-89TFP1VgPaF6cyLwQPgutMrp7XM2mDer3D5Op64mr42dkUmYWO/s1600/IMG_9610.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Dn6IsamjN35rZZ0FEzIeYLanpIRpfkN_KkJ5ordrjrNzJpVGzmU6ntb87sPQvTTmfFMRxb-jpleY0-hkm4H5y5YhE-89TFP1VgPaF6cyLwQPgutMrp7XM2mDer3D5Op64mr42dkUmYWO/s640/IMG_9610.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>This is a full tank shot of my current Chesapeake Bay Oyster Reef Biotope Aquarium. This tank is a 20 gallon long. My final build will be a 100 gallon cubish shaped aquarium. It's my dream tank!</b></span></td></tr>
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But, as if one major project wasn't enough, I started another one. I am working on a local North American Native stream tank inspired by my past stream tank as well as tanks from my friends at the <a href="http://forum.nanfa.org/" target="_blank">North American Native Fishes Association</a>. I'll post more on this build later as I make progress, so stay tuned.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xtIjd6gAGkggwVUz1jkB3vrvwGimL7G4RsreYFi3gTWvqz_uQbBhBMKfutYCa0tC0D8GyrkGWQp41UG7mgLZ97JY-gb1-4Pka_PUkj8lWgVOEH7UsVSFaVDC9rXmwNRWwuvjiighb7ib/s1600/IMG_0051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xtIjd6gAGkggwVUz1jkB3vrvwGimL7G4RsreYFi3gTWvqz_uQbBhBMKfutYCa0tC0D8GyrkGWQp41UG7mgLZ97JY-gb1-4Pka_PUkj8lWgVOEH7UsVSFaVDC9rXmwNRWwuvjiighb7ib/s640/IMG_0051.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>This is the current state, almost, of my stream build. It's a 75 gallon tank that I'll stock with local stream species. I carved and painted the tank background out of pink polystyrene foam insulation board to look like a local shale cliff formation. I'm currently working on faux sycamore tree roots as well.</b></span></td></tr>
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So, that's where I am today with my North American Native Fish aquariums. I'll document many topics about this journey detailing my builds, so stay tuned. For now, here's a video of my oyster reef aquarium. Hope you enjoy it!<br />
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<br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-14214685229201535942019-03-06T14:51:00.000-05:002019-03-26T15:28:31.206-04:00Fossil Collecting in Florida - a Trip Report<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaN1S8t6ad7pWPrH0bwaP_MFrq_j035mQJDLg56O_WpI19yLkCX9542bcLVBnI1W4SKUFOiyTxBfpsVnaQ5XpRfvN1GpdrUDHnc-S6lXKQgbICNJmSbWluyMRzVnmL9_sM3ume5b44V6Cd/s1600/IMG_0713.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="827" height="542" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaN1S8t6ad7pWPrH0bwaP_MFrq_j035mQJDLg56O_WpI19yLkCX9542bcLVBnI1W4SKUFOiyTxBfpsVnaQ5XpRfvN1GpdrUDHnc-S6lXKQgbICNJmSbWluyMRzVnmL9_sM3ume5b44V6Cd/s640/IMG_0713.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>Our nice mako and juvenile meg two teeth on the right, along side Cris' meg (left)</b></span></td></tr>
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When my wife and her friend planned a get together trip in Central Florida earlier this year, she asked if we wanted to turn it into a mini vacation. Always with fossil collecting in mind, and knowing the rich bounty of fossils that Florida has to offer, my daughter, Riley, and I convinced her to give us a day to go fossil collecting. This post depicts the planning and actual events of our fossiling experience.<br />
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But, where to start? We know that there are tons of fossils in Florida, but, it's a big state, and all of it was submerged throughout various periods of geologic history. Our interest this time focused shark teeth, with a chance at finding the prized megatooth, of the largest predatory sharks in recorded history, <i>Carcharocles megalodon</i>. If you do some research, you can find the popular public place to collect, where you can beachcomb or sift for shark teeth. But, it would involve a lot of driving and testing to locate spots, and that takes time, and we didn't have the luxury of time.<br />
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So, we figured that the best thing to do was to do what anglers do when they want to find a trophy fish, hire a guide. So, we researched and found some guides that really interested us. It didn't hurt that we also discovered that someone we "knew" (virtually) from our past experiences on The Fossil Forum and their once heralded chat room that turned out to be a guide. We booked a trip with Fossil Voyages' PaleoCris and WILDKYLE (their YouTube and Instagram names). Of course, we had some questions about what to bring, etc. and they answered all of our questions, making it easier to prepare.<br />
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Still, this was a February trip, and the trip that we booked called for wading in creeks while shoveling and sifting for fossils. Our main concern was weather or not to bring waders or hip boots, or if we could we wet wade or not. In February, we wondered if the water temps in Central Florida were too chilly to wade in. As it turned out, not at all, this time. The weather was in the mid-80s all week while we were there, and nighttime lows weren't low enough to chill the water, so wet wading was fine. After all, why bring heavy waders and pay for another checked bag on the plane? We were trying to keep our vacation as cheap as possible. As for other needed equipment, really, all that we needed was ourselves, dressed to get dirty and wet, a change of clothing, sunscreen, bug spray, some snacks and water. Cris and Kyle supplied all of the collecting equipment.<br />
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First, we met them at a public shopping area, and then followed them to one of their favorite spots to take their clients. From our vehicles, it was a short hike to the creek, and not a long wade to the area to start our fossil search.<br />
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So, we started sifting and...well...did they put us on fossils? You tell me. On our first and third sifts of the day, we found a nice juvenile meg (short for megalodon) in near perfect condition, and a monster giant mako shark (<i>Carcharodon plicatilis</i>). This shark is considered by most experts in the field as a direct ancestor to our modern great white shark, <i>Carcharodon carcharias.</i> The only difference in their teeth are the lack of serrations on the extinct shark. Other than that, the teeth in each position of the jaw are nearly identical in shape and form. The colors on this tooth were striking. In the pic at the top of this article, these two teeth are the smaller of the three teeth pictured.<br />
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So, the shoveling and sifting adventure started with a couple huge finds. Man, I thought then that this would be easy and we'd be wading in meg teeth in no time! Of course, it's never easy. You have to work for it, and yes, even here. Just like catching a monster bass on your first cast, many times you have to work your butt off to find good fish the rest of the day. That was the case here too. Now listen, I'm not complaining at all, because at the end of the day, our combined finds were quite amazing for such a short time collecting. Just a note, we collected until I couldn't take it any more. Our guide friends would have accommodated us longer and they certainly worked hard for us all day.<br />
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About our guides, let me say here that they are first class, nice, friendly and certainly fun, and both Riley and I really enjoyed their company. But, they were also very knowledgeable, helping Riley and I identify our finds as needed. We knew about the teeth IDs, but some of the other vertebrate fossils and artifacts required their assistance, and that was much appreciated. Not only that, my aching back slowed my shoveling pace later in the day, and both Cris and Kyle helped us fill both our sifters. We couldn't have asked for better guides.<br />
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I won't chronicle the rest of the events while collecting, because you can see pretty much what happened for yourself in the two videos that I'll link later in this post. I highly recommend that you watch and "like" them both, and subscribe to both channels. But the bottom line is that it was a productive day, and we had an absolute blast, and a pleasure meeting these two avid paleontologists.<br />
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In the following pics, I'll explain some of the finds. Riley and I found most of these finds, but about 1/4 of them were thrown in that Cris and Kyle found, maybe more. I couldn't remember exactly who found what for the most part. Riley and I were a team, so anything that I say that I found, or Riley found, we actually found together.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/Blog/IMG_0725_zpstayipdqq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="800" height="394" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/Blog/IMG_0725_zpstayipdqq.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>These are the shark teeth, stingray dental plate fragments, and fish fossils found on the day. The largest complete tooth in the middle is the large giant mako that we found on the third sift, and the small meg to the left was found on the first sift of the day. Above those teeth are the fish fossils, including three sections of a sawfish rostrum, a catfish spine, a barracuda tooth and some other fish teeth. Below the mako tooth are various smaller shark teeth found during the day, including a smaller mako tooth found by Cris, some snaggletooth shark teeth (<i>Hemipristis serra</i>), tiger shark teeth, and below them lots of lemon and requiem shark teeth.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/Blog/IMG_0730_zpshgpgm6m3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="800" height="470" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/Blog/IMG_0730_zpshgpgm6m3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Most of these bones and vertebrae are dugong (<i>Metaxytherium floridanum</i>) bones. The two bones below are dolphin, and the one above that may be a fragment of a Gomphothere tooth. A Gomphothere is an extinct elephant like mammal.</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/Blog/IMG_E0730%20-%20Copy%202_zps7athdguz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="691" height="546" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/Blog/IMG_E0730%20-%20Copy%202_zps7athdguz.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>The bone in the center of the pic above is enlarged here. It's a dugong ear bone, and apparently not very common. Riley found this beauty in her sifter.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/Blog/IMG_E0730%20-%20Copy_zpsrwnq0hqk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/Blog/IMG_E0730%20-%20Copy_zpsrwnq0hqk.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>The two bones on the left are partial dolphin jaw bone fragments. In person, you can easily see the slots that the teeth were placed. This picture is not very clear. The fossil to the right is the Gomphothere tooth fragment.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/Blog/IMG_0726_zpsnfyjp0jh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="800" height="508" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/Blog/IMG_0726_zpsnfyjp0jh.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan; font-size: small;"><b>The fossils in the upper left quarter of this picture are turtle shell fragments, and below that, some shells and internal molds of snails and clams. The fossils in the upper right include the crocodile (<i>Thecachampsa americana</i>) scute that Cris found, and some croc teeth that Riley, Kyle and I found. To the right of that is the meg tooth that Cris found. The bottom half of the picture are the Native American artifacts that we found collectively, with the hammer stone to the left, some chert reject pieces (likely split when trying to manufacture points), and three pieces of pottery. The bottom piece of pottery is old, but modern. As both Cris and Kyle pointed out in the videos below, we were able to collect these artifacts because they were found on private property. Incidentally, the hammer stone is a tool made from a chunk of dense limestone that is also packed with fossilized bivalves and other critters, so it's an artifact and fossil one one!</b></span></td></tr>
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These fossils are from the late Miocene, about 8-9 million years old, and are from the Coosawhatchie Formation.<br />
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At the end of the day, I was exhausted from shoveling and sifting. My back was in a ton of pain, and really reminded me of how out of shape I was. We still had an hour and a half drive back to where we were staying, so, I was in a bit of a hurry to get out of there.<br />
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Cris and Kyle had some more work to do to close out their videos, so they did that while I cleaned up the fossils. I accidentally scooped up Cris' meg into my container, not paying attention. I didn't realize it until we returned from where we were staying. I immediately texted Cris and apologized, and offered to ship it back to him, but he declined and told me to add it to our collection in our Florida riker mount. I couldn't believe his generosity and humbly accepted his forgiveness. I felt awful about the whole thing. What the heck was I thinking? Our entire collection is of stuff that <u>we</u> found, except for some stuff that we traded at the request of others that really wanted some of what we had. Now, that isn't the case, and it troubles me. I just hope it doesn't jeopardize our chances to book future trips.<br />
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Anyway, on to more good stuff for you guys to follow, the videos and YouTube Channels of both Cris and Kyle. I hope you like them as much as I do. They're fun, informative, and keep you hooked to the next one. Please subscribe to their channels, and if you get a chance, contact them and book them. I highly recommend it. Please watch <u>both</u> videos, they each have some different stuff about our finds. Also, please find and follow them on Facebook and Instagram. You can contact them via Instagram to book a trip.<br />
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Cris' video:<br />
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Kyle's video:<br />
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<br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-35157747475178296502018-08-15T16:45:00.000-04:002018-08-15T16:45:45.477-04:00Happy Birthday Kyle!Another year has passed and I miss my brother, Kyle, just as much as when he left us in 2007. I can't believe it has been that long. Kyle's birthday was yesterday, and he would be 47 years old this year. I don't have much to say today, other than I get choked up on his birthday. I guess you never get used to something like this.<br />
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To find out what happened to him, please visit my tribute page to him <a href="https://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/p/tribute-to-my-brother-kyle.html">here:</a><br />
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Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are a few to share:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/perchjerkerandgenzman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="480" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/perchjerkerandgenzman.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red;">Once I introduced Kyle to icefishing, he was hooked. I was delighted because it was another way that we could share the outdoors together.</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/hungry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: red;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="480" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/hungry.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Kyle released this crappie that he caught through the ice, but not before faking a crappie sushi meal! He always had a sense of humor. He was a Monty Python fan. Need I say more?</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/perchjerkerdink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="480" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/perchjerkerdink.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><b>He loved catching big fish, but it was this perch that gave him the idea for his <a href="http://www.iceshanty.com/">Iceshanty</a> user name, Perch Jerker.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IFFandPJ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="480" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IFFandPJ.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Kyle (right) and my friend Mark goofing around during a windy day on the ice.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/PJandFB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="480" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/PJandFB.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Kyle (left) and I posing over some of the fish that we kept after a productive ice fishing evening bite.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/kyle2005buck6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/kyle2005buck6.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Kyle posing with a big archery season buck. He was a very skilled archer and hunter. I think it was his true passion, other than coaching swimming.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/0331walleye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="640" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/0331walleye.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="color: red;">Kyle loved fishing for walleye. Here he poses with a nice marble eye.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span></b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/scan0054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="800" height="512" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/scan0054.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Even when Kyle was a youngster, he had a knack for catching fish. Here he poses with a smallmouth bass, sporting his favorite Bengals hat.</b></span></td></tr>
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Anyway, thanks for checking back in and I'm sorry that I haven't posted more often than I have. I plan to remedy that situation though.<br />
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And to my Brother in Heaven, Happy Birthday Bro!<br />
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<br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-88813417738897450562018-02-06T11:20:00.003-05:002018-02-06T11:22:02.417-05:00Introducing A Bud to the Hardwater<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One thing that I've always enjoyed in any of my activities is to introduce someone that activity who has never done it before. Even more rewarding is that if they have fun and want to go again. Last weekend, I took a fishing buddy, Rodger, who swore a couple years ago that he'd never do it, out on the ice for an icefishing trip. Well, never say never because I convinced him to give it a try, and I think we hooked him. Now we have to reel him in...<br />
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When taking someone out for the first time on any outdoor activity, the best way to get them to go again is to make sure that they have fun the first time. With icefishing, the first thing is to make sure that you pick a lake that has a bunch of willing fish, because catching is more fun than working hard to catch them. The lake we picked has a reputation of that, with a mix of average sized panfish along with some jumbos, and they're usually very willing. You can't beat jigging for panfish when the action is hot, a perfect recipe for a newbie to have fun at icefishing.<br />
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The next thing is to make sure that you teach them what you know, including how to use your electronics, what to look for, how to read the moods of the fish, and most importantly, to improve the odds that your newbie friend will have a better chance at icing some fish. That means that you may have to sacrifice your fishing time to do the teaching, as well as the use of your electronics and other equipment. The purpose of this trip wan't for my icefishing fulfillment, but for the fulfillment of doing something rewarding, putting my buddy on fish and introducing him to the sport. Fortunately, I had a spare sonar unit so I wasn't fishing blind either.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_9136_zps4ompfh9g.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_9136_zps4ompfh9g.jpg" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Rodger watching the fish react to his jig on my sonar unit while we were searching for active fish. Eventually, we found active fish and Rodger caught a bunch, and had a good time.</span></b></td></tr>
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Rodger is a little sensitive to the cold anyway, so picking a good day for comfort helps. I was worried a bit that he'd be too cold to enjoy it, but as the day went along, everything worked out. He dressed for the occasion, perhaps overdressed a bit, but at least he was pretty warm. He also brought a bunch of hand warmers and used them as well to help. I also let him use my Fish Trap pullover shanty for most of the afternoon once we found fish. Again, that meant that I had to bear the elements like the good old days prior to me owning a Fish Trap. But, that was OK, except that the wind was a bit annoying, and was a constant reminder of how much I love using my Fish Trap! Remember about picking the right day? It's about as much as for you as for your buddy.<br />
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My other friend Glenn and I used our sonar to search for active fish. We both took different directions and cut a bunch of holes and checked them with our sonar. We were hoping to mark fish, and hopefully, a bunch of them suspended off the bottom. To me, those are active catchable fish. I don't mind finding fish on the bottom either, and they're worth checking out for sure. A faint flicker of the bottom on the sonar could indicate fish holding tight to the bottom. Those fish are usually a bit more finicky, but not always. Definetly, they are worth dropping a lure down to.<br />
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And that is what we did. We marked fish, dropped lures down to see how active they were, then either fished them a bit or moved on. If you want to catch a bunch of fish, you need to be mobile. It took a while to find fish, and we were looking for biters, not lookers. There were a lot of lookers early on though. But eventually, Glenn found a bunch of active fish on a point and gathered us up to join him.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_9054_zps0lhcjyit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_9054_zps0lhcjyit.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><b>Glenn was the first to find active suspended fish off a point at the channel edge. After locating fish, he called us over to join him. Thanks to Glenn, Rodger caught a bunch of fish shortly afterwards. That may have been the difference if Rodger icefishes again or not. It works to team up to find fish for everyone, and is a common practice among friends.</b></span></td></tr>
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I had been cutting all of the holes up to this point (between Rodger and me), so as to teach, I had Rodger cut a few holes so he could learn how to use the hand auger. He cut two holes and that was all he needed. We marked a bunch of fish in the very first hole, suspended as much as five feet off the bottom to the bottom.<br />
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He used a jigging rod with a spring bobber that I set up with two jigs in tandem about nine inches apart, the top jig being a red glow Fat Boy (namesake of this blog) and the bottom a gold Fiskas jig, both tipped with a few maggots (aka spikes). On the first drop, the fish hammered one of the jigs and Rodger had his first fish on the ice.<br />
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I quickly cut another hole set up my Aqua-vu camera in the same hole as my sonar transducer, so he could fish out of the second hole and reduce fish tangling in the camera and sonar. Once we had the camera set up, I set up the pullover shanty and had him snug as a bug indoors and catching fish. I could hear him giggling and laughing a few times, so he definitely had fun.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_9051_zpscihg8kua.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_9051_zpscihg8kua.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">This is a pic from a prior trip of me holding a bluegill, but shows my setup inside my shanty with the sonar and camera in one hole, as I fish out of the other. This is what I wanted Rodger to experience, catching a bunch of fish, seeing them on the camera and using the sonar.</span></b></td></tr>
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Meanwhile, as I ran back and forth to check on him, I cut a few more holes and found some fish, but not as thick as the spot that he and Glenn were on. At this point in time, they were caught fish about two to my one. At my spot, the fish would show up suspended, and I could get them to bite, but then they'd leave. The fish never left at Glenn and Rodger's holes.<br />
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At my spot, I caught some medium sized crappie and some yellow perch, and then hooked into a big fish that went ballistic on me at the hole and popped off. My initial thought was bass or walleye because it was a bronze color, but the fight didn't match, and the fish looked to be about 15-16 inches long or so. I later found out that there are brown trout in there, so that is probably what I had on. It was exciting, but it would have been nice to land that fish and get a picture.<br />
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As darkness approached, we set up for the night bite, hoping for crappie or anything else. By that time, I'm sure that Glenn and Rodger caught twice as many fish as I did, and that made me happy, knowing that this trip was a success. Now it was time to teach Rodger how to catch crappie at night.<br />
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I put the camera away, although it is fun and useful, it's not as helpful at night fishing for the suspended fish, at least in my opinion. The model that I have tends to attract a ton of daphnia and other tiny aquatic life, making it difficult to see your jig or the fish after dark. Plus, removing the camera reduces the risk of fish tangling on the camera cable. Plus, fish can suspend at any depth, especially at night, sometimes right under the ice.<br />
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I cut a hole just North of Glenn, closer to where the point meets the channel and wow, when I checked it with my sonar, that hole was stacked from the bottom to about ten feet full of fish. I couldn't fish there earlier because some other guys were close to that spot, and I didn't want to encroach on them. I explained those ethics to Rodger as well, to not encroach on another angler's spot, whether it be jigging or a set of tip ups (which they also used).<br />
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After cutting that hole, I tore up the medium sized crappie until we had to leave. At one point, I caught crappie on 16 consecutive drops as they were very aggressive.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_9138_zpsbmspncre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_9138_zpsbmspncre.jpg" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><b>This crappie was a bit on the small side, but I caught several dozen crappie that averaged about 9 inches or so all night long. The fish were stacked on a point near the creek channel.</b></span></td></tr>
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Glenn and Rodger stayed at their holes and continued to catch fish. Glenn eventually hooked into something huge, and fought it for twenty minutes before the two pound line finally gave out and broke off as the fish made a last charge before coming to the hole. We never saw the fish.<br />
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About an hour and a half after dark, Rodger and Glenn were still catching a fish here and there, but I was slaying them, so I called them over. I gave up my hot hole and gave it to Rodger, while Glenn fished an old hole that was nearby, and they both marked and caught fish right away.<br />
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I cut another hole about ten feet closer to the point and still marked a bunch of fish, and continued to catch crappie one after another. At one point, about an hour before we stopped fishing, I counted thirty five crappie iced since dark, and then lost count. I guess I landed a dozen more after that plus one bullhead. On the day, I caught about 50-60 fish, so it started very slow for me but turned out to be a good numbers day for me.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_9142_zpspxmfomob.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_9142_zpspxmfomob.jpg" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><b>This bullhead was suspended at ten feet off the bottom and slammed my soft plastic jigs.</b></span></td></tr>
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Glenn and Rodger probably caught about the same number of fish that I did. Between the three of us, we caught a total of six species, crappie, yellow perch, bluegills, pumpkinseeds, a creek chub, and a brown bullhead.<br />
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Of course, when you bring someone on the ice that is new to the experience, there is an element of fear. I found it important to talk about ice safety several times, and I have more to teach him on future trips. One thing that he discovered was that while ice forms, pressure builds up and forms cracks and makes booming noises. I explained to him that was a good thing, but a couple times, pressure cracks shot past him at a very close range and prompted him to yell out some words that I can't type here! I told him that was music to my ears, that the ice was building, and is always a good thing.<br />
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The fishing was still hot when we decided to leave, but I had a long drive home, and I was very tired. I considered fishing all night, but was just too exhausted, and I wasn't sure if the other guys could do that or not, so we left the ice at 10 PM. The fish were still biting. It is tough to leave fish that are active.<br />
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The downside to this trip was that it was a good 3 hour plus of a drive one way for us. We arrived late, so it was important to us that we caught an active bite, and we did. But, I'd rather have had an earlier start, several events happened that delayed our fishing start time. I won't get into that here though. It was a good thing that we ended the day on a good strong evening bite, because it made that ride home a bit easier. That is a problem every year for me though, finding good ice close enough to home. I love icefishing so much that I'd drive further away to do it than I would otherwise to fish during open water.<br />
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The bigger story, however, is that I think that despite the long drive home and getting home late, that Rodger had a fun day on the ice, caught fish, and learned why we like icefishing so much. Both Glenn and I taught him many things that day, and Rodger caught on, and joined the fun. That's what it's all about. That's how Glenn and my good friend and icefishing mentor, Jeff Redinger, got me hooked. I was merely passing that on. At this point, Rodger is now an ice angler! Now that he's hooked, let's see if we can reel him in for another trip!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/jeffredinger3_zpsf9f462a4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/jeffredinger3_zpsf9f462a4.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>My ice fishing mentor and good friend, Jeff Redinger, posing with a huge sunfish that he caught through the ice. Jeff introduced me to sonar, and taught me the importance of being mobile to catch fish through the ice on my first ice fishing trip 27 years ago. </b></span></td></tr>
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<br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-16922084616758746632017-08-14T18:25:00.000-04:002017-08-14T18:25:50.930-04:00Happy Birthday Kyle!For those of you that don't know, my brother, Kyle, passed away in 2007 but it seems like only yesterday. I miss him dearly, and I miss the great times we had outdoors and those that we shared with our family. We all miss him. <br />
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The pictures below remind me of those good times. Some were serious, some were fun, some were funny, but all were great memories. I hope that you all enjoy them as I still do.<br />
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Thanks for the wonderful times, brother, and I hope that in heaven you're having a blast on your birthday!<br />
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You can read about his passing and the tribute that I wrote <a href="https://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/p/tribute-to-my-brother-kyle.html">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-38740658474009906652017-06-26T11:14:00.001-04:002017-06-26T17:16:43.168-04:00CBBT Part 4 - Chum Bucket Action<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Of course, our last day out, a half day really, turned out to be the best day weather wise. We decided not to get an early start so we could rest up for the long afternoon ride home. Yet, we still got on the water for a few hours and gave the big fish one more shot. Light winds resulted a calm Bay, like a sheet of glass, making for a pleasant ride to the spot where we had some action the day before prior to the thunderstorm chasing us off.</div>
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When we arrived, it was slack tide again, similar conditions to the day before, but with much less wind. After anchoring, Steve and I prepared the bait, set up the chum bucket, baited all of the rods, and cast them out out. This time, I set up my extra heavy baitcasting rod and reel with a bottom rig. Basically, the set up was simple, a large egg sinker, a bead, a swivel, leader material and a large enough hook to bait up almost an entire bunker minus the head and tail.<br />
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We set up rods with cut bunker, live eels, crabs and clams with the hopes of landing a big drum or cobia. The previous year, Steve and Rodger only caught one fish on their last day right before wrapping it up, and it was a huge bull red. So maybe today was our day.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>My buddy Rodger with a bull redfish caught a year earlier on the last day of their trip. We hoped for similar results.</b></span></td></tr>
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I really liked the casting distance that my set up provided, not that you really needed it, but maybe it worked out in my favor. Regardless, it didn't take long for my first bite. I had the baitcasting reel in free spool and the clicker on. The line stripped off the reel for a few seconds as the clicker notified me of the action. I immediately grabbed the fishing rod out of the rod holder, turned off the clicker, engaged the reel, reeled in the slack, felt the fish as it chomped on the bait, and set the hook hard a couple times.<br />
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The fish took off on a nice run, but I turned it after about twenty seconds and gained back the line that it took. It had to be a shark or a ray based on how it fought. The fish bull dogged back and forth as I brought it to the boat. After I gained enough line and brought it to the surface, we saw that it was a small shark. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAihGJYfTkjTGxp4QkIPp8me7hK8-JczdsrKioTNerz6KP0A9avGZAeXDQ0dOtyDSvbuDTWfJjiROlKGEbS-ufRg3FNt2djICBbG5rLt0sw2PQQ_RCCznCpExlqc3lz0niPubcHuBQ2y5/s1600/IMG_7386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="605" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAihGJYfTkjTGxp4QkIPp8me7hK8-JczdsrKioTNerz6KP0A9avGZAeXDQ0dOtyDSvbuDTWfJjiROlKGEbS-ufRg3FNt2djICBbG5rLt0sw2PQQ_RCCznCpExlqc3lz0niPubcHuBQ2y5/s640/IMG_7386.JPG" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>This toothy critter was my first fish of the day.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7384_zps7tzfzqy9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7384_zps7tzfzqy9.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>These sharks aren't the prize that a cobia or drum would be, but it's always fun to catch bigger fish.</b></span></td></tr>
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Steve netted the shark, then we took a few pics and released it carefully. I baited my fishing rod with a live eel to see if I could coax a cobia to bite, and tossed it out to the same spot. <br />
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After my cast, I grabbed Steve's light tackle bottom rig, tipped the hooks with a couple strips of FishBites, and dropped it over the side to catch more live bait. Sure enough, I got bites instantly when the rig hit the bottom. I quickly caught two fish that were perfect bull redfish snacks and added them to the live well.<br />
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No sooner than that, the clicker sang off my reel and I scrambled to tend to the bite. I reeled up the slack and felt the fish, set the hook and fish on! The fish ran a bit, then I pumped the rod to gain line, got it near the boat and, without seeing what it was, the fish made a run and came off the hook. We had no idea what it was, but because of the way it fought, it was most likely another shark. I baited the hook with another eel and tossed it back out.<br />
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I tried to catch more bait fish, but before I could try for more bait, I had another bite. There simply was too much action to try to get bait fish. I scrambled again to tend to my fishing rod, felt the fish and set the hook. This time, I had him. After a nice fight, Steve netted another shark for me. I thought to myself, I could enjoy this all day!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7388_zps5voestyq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7388_zps5voestyq.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>I could catch sharks like this all day and have a blast. It's not the type of fishing that I do often, so I thought that I'd make the most of it.</b></span></td></tr>
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Before I could add another eel to my rig, Steve hooked up and fought another big fish. It was my turn to net a big fish for him. We saw that it was another shark as he guided it to the bag and I lifted it into the boat. He unhooked it carefully and posed for a picture.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7406_zpser6fivow.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Steve's first shark of the day. Notice how nice and calm the water is in the background? Of course it was like this, it was our day to leave early! But, we'd take it!</b></span></td></tr>
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We managed to boat a dozen sharks before deciding to pack it up and head home. We didn't catch any drum or cobia the entire trip. Of course, Steve was disappointed in the fishing. This was actually the earliest in the year that he'd fished the CBBT area, and he wasn't keen on returning to fish here again before the opening of cobia season. We did have a great time, however. I caught several new species to add to my list in addition to catching some big fish, albeit small sharks.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7395_zpsnpcthkt5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7395_zpsnpcthkt5.jpg" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="800" height="488" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Another small shark, perfect size for taking a picture. You still have to be careful with these small ones and watch that they don't bite you on the release.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7391_zps9wugshow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7391_zps9wugshow.jpg" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="672" height="640" width="630" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Steve with a nice size shark, one of a dozen that we caught that day.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7413_zps93izdhvt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7413_zps93izdhvt.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>I think that we could have caught these all day. This was the last shark that we caught before we wrapped things up and headed home.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7415_zpsabklj6vo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7415_zpsabklj6vo.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: red; font-size: medium;">We're gonna need a bigger boat. Sorry, I couldn't resist. </b></td></tr>
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As we rode back to the ramp, we had another pretty close encounter with a large pod of dolphins. Steve cut the motor and drifted toward them. We tried calling them close to the boat, but this time, they had no interest. They didn't seem to be in the playful mood like they were a few days ago. On that day, they were jumping out of the water repeatedly. We think that this time, they were feeding, because it seemed like they were moving in different directions, not heading from one spot to another. Still, it is always a treat to see them, in my opinion.<br />
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To wrap up our trip, we managed to catch a couple hundred sea trout, about fifty kingfish, some croaker, a few toad fish and small sea bass, a few pigfish, one flounder, one sheepshead, and perhaps a couple species of small sharks. Although we didn't get any redfish or cobia, we still had a good time. We caught eighteen sharks. How often do I get a chance to do that? Almost never. This was a new experience for me. Although I've caught small sharks in the surf before, I've never caught them like that with this much regularity. <br />
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I really appreciate Steve's hospitality and expertise. He made sure that I had a good time and caught fish. He's not only heck-uv-a good Captain, but also a good friend.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2017/06/cbbt-part-3-fish-or-cut-bait.html" target="_blank">To view CBBT Part 3, click here</a><br />
<a href="http://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2017/06/cbbt-part-2-day-for-jigging-and-drifting.html" target="_blank">To view CBBT Part 2, click here</a><br />
<a href="http://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2017/06/cbbt-part-one.html" target="_blank">To view CBBT Part One, click here</a><br />
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<br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-17776709283177231252017-06-23T12:07:00.000-04:002017-06-26T11:16:58.244-04:00CBBT Part 3 - Fish or Cut Bait?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Or rather, Fish or <strike>Cut</strike> <b><span style="color: yellow;">Get</span></b> Bait?</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNACEvLEH5-TsUm-TWrQLB-rOfEHYnCNnLPQTa74SzVTw0CTH054D1LlhZL104OOmsnvc4BhXePk1luN03psgYmkg_36w32Id2h2AUwCqviycmDPq9dfDzsdTj0U2nQN-ukvaTIx7EduBQ/s1600/IMG_7368.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="807" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNACEvLEH5-TsUm-TWrQLB-rOfEHYnCNnLPQTa74SzVTw0CTH054D1LlhZL104OOmsnvc4BhXePk1luN03psgYmkg_36w32Id2h2AUwCqviycmDPq9dfDzsdTj0U2nQN-ukvaTIx7EduBQ/s640/IMG_7368.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Several ships made of concrete were sunk to form a break water for the ramp at Kiptopeke State Park. I'll touch on the history later. These pelicans were all lined up waiting for me to take a picture, but I was too slow. Actually, I caught them flying off and I think that the picture turned out even better!</b></span></td></tr>
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The third day of our trip was slated to be a full day of fishing. We woke up early, were well rested, and stoked to get out on the water. The wind forecast was also good for the start of the day, while predictions for afternoon thunderstorms loomed.<br />
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We headed North into the Bay to set up baits for bull red drum and cobia, stopping at another spot where Captain Steve had success in prior years. This spot was cool because it was where a shoal meets a channel edge. Surely, big drum or cobia would prowl there. In addition to the baits that I mentioned in my last post (cut bait, live eels, and blue crabs), we added clams to the mix in hopes of picking up a big black drum. We heard reports that some folks had been successful taking bull red drum and black drum on clams the day before.<br />
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When we arrived at the spot, it was slack tide. And, the current seemed to be moving in a direction that we weren't anticipating. We weren't sure if it was the effect of wind or what was causing it. But, we set up anyway.<br />
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The first bite came on the live eel rig. The line was slack, but we forgot to put it in free spool. An apparent rather large shark grabbed the eel and bit the leader off on the first run, causing the reel to double over and then slap back like a huge spring. If someone was standing there, they might have had a black eye!<br />
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It didn't take long for another bite, this time on one of the spinning rods that dangled cut frozen bunker. The rod doubled over while in the rod holder while line peeled off the reel. Steve set the hook hard and the fight was on. After a couple runs, Steve had a shark subdued at boat side and I netted it. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7358_zpsxii5esee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7358_zpsxii5esee.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Steve with a small but feisty shark. I think that this might be a small dusky shark based on the smaller dorsal fin and the position of it being further back. If anyone knows for sure, please comment and let me know and I'll edit accordingly. Thanks.</b></span></td></tr>
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Within minutes of him releasing his shark, line peeled off of the the baitcasting rod and reel with the live eel. This time, the reel was in free spool with the clicker on. I engaged the reel and set the hook a couple times, and fought a small shark to the boat. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7360_zpsecylhxhr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7360_zpsecylhxhr.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>I suspect this may be a dusky shark too because the dorsal fin is pretty far back behind the pectoral fins. I'd know if I could pull out a tooth, but I'd like to keep my fingers, thank you. Anyone that knows, please feel free to comment and I'll edit accordingly. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7364_zps2epgaxpa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7364_zps2epgaxpa.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Here's the business end of that last shark. </b></span></td></tr>
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After the first two sharks, Steve wished that we had some live bait for our live bait rod. I heard about a product called "Fishbites" while researching fishing reports for this trip, so I picked up a pack at the local tackle shop. The reports were saying that the bloodworm flavor worked well on spot and croaker, which are ideal bait fish for both cobia and red fish. I was a bit skeptical, I admit, but, anything is better than dealing with bloodworms, in my opinion.<br />
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So, I took Steve's light tackle bottom rig, pulled out a strip and cut two small pieces about an inch and a half long off of one of the strips, then threaded them on the hooks. I dropped the rig over the side of the boat, not expecting much, and no sooner than the sinker hit the bottom did I have a bite. <br />
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I set the hook and brought in a couple baitfish, two at a time. On the next drop, two more. It was clear that Fishbites work well and can catch multiple fish. To me, they seem like the perfect substitute if you don't like using blood worms. I'll continue to test them out to see what species I can catch with them and follow up with a report in the future. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>I was very happy to confirm the positive things that I read about Fishbites. I've had success with Gulp in the past, but this works very well. I look forward to using it in the future. Be careful that you don't mistake them for bubble gum!</b></span></td></tr>
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After a while, the Fishbites pieces turned gooey and all that was on the hook was the mesh that the Fishbites material were molded on to. I just left it on the hook after I added more Fishbite chunks, and it had no negative effects on catching fish. I simply cut them off once we were off the water and disposed of the mesh pieces properly. <br />
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So, the problem we ran into after that, and it was a good problem to have, was that just as I'd try to add live bait to the livewell to catch monster fish, a monster fish bit on one of the big game rods. I had to scramble to reel up the baitfish rod and get it out of the way. Sharks, bull reds and even more so, cobia, cause a ton of mayhem around the boat. It's important to keep the boat deck clear of gear so you can fight the fish and clear lines quickly without getting hooked in the leg or something. I guess the theme here is not really "Fish or Cut Bait", but rather, "Fish or Get Bait"?<br />
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These smaller sharks put up a good fight and will make a run or two, but nothing like the fight from that first night. Still, it was fun catching three foot sharks. They weren't our targeted species though. We wanted big reds or cobia, and so far, no action from them. <br />
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We both caught several sharks and thought that this new spot was a good one. Steve said that we have to go through the sharks and rays to get to the drum and cobia, that our arms and shoulders would get a good workout. If your baits are attracting sharks, sooner or later, cobia and drum will show up.<br />
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Looking off to the West, we noticed a thunderstorm heading our way. After checking the weather radar, it was a small but fierce looking storm, one that we could run away from and fish somewhere else. Of course, it was the only storm at that time in the state of Virginia, and it was heading right toward us. We had to give up this spot and outrun the storm en route to another fishing spot.<br />
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We successfully outran the storm and headed back toward the boat ramp to fish around the sunken cement ships. As we looked back to the North afterwards, the storm pounded our previous spot. Even as far away as we were, the lightning made me nervous even from that far away.<br />
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We decided to drift around the sunken cement ships that act as a breakwater for Kiptopeke State Park for flounder and anything else that would bite. Both Steve and I put out our flounder rigs and I caught a nice keeper summer flounder on the first drift. I rigged mine with a chartreuse Gulp mullet while Steve's tandem rig hooks were tipped with squid and the other with Gulp.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>This was a nice keeper flounder, caught on our first drift, but turned out to be the only flounder of the day.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7375_zpsz6vi6ilm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7375_zpsz6vi6ilm.jpg" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="800" height="420" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Nine cement ships were sunk a few years after World War II to serve as a breakwater for a long since gone ferry. They once served as cargo or training vessels for the military, but now protect Kiptopeke State Park and the boat ramp from bad weather. These ships provide fish holding cover for flounder, tautog, sea bass, and many other species. You can feel the history in an eerie sort of way as you drift by them.</b></span></td></tr>
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After four or five drifts with no further action, we concluded that the flounder fishing really hadn't turned on yet, so we headed to the bridge to fish the pilings again. We fished those areas hard and caught all three species of kingfish as well as a bunch of undersized sea trout. This time, I used two jigheads with Gulp mullet in tandem. Eventually, like the day before, the sea trout bit the tails off of the Gulp baits, and they worked even better without the tails.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Small weakfish, or sea trout, like these dominated the jigging catch around the bridge pilings.</b></span></td></tr>
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While we jigged, a school of snapper bluefish broke water, and birds dove all around us. Of course, who can resist tossing a jig into a school of breaking fish? We caught several bluefish until the baitfish school moved away along with the predators. Several boats followed them, but we opted to jig the pilings. <br />
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After a while, we noticed other boats anchored up along he West side of the bridge. One of them landed a small cobia and a couple stingrays. We tried bottom fishing near the bridge but after an hour with no luck, we moved off again to fish other pilings.<br />
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Meanwhile, the area became very cloudy, temperatures dropped significantly, and the winds picked up. We were both dressed for 80 degree temperatures and were both chilled to the bone. Even though the fish still cooperated, we were shivered uncontrollably with no spare clothing on the boat. I guess that shivering also puts more action on your lure while jigging, so maybe that kept them biting!<br />
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We both considered a move to another spot, but noticed the clouds out to the West looked ominous. I checked the radar, and sure enough, a strong line of thunderstorms were moving fast to our area, with no place to run this time except off the water. We didn't mind that we had to head back because we we felt cold anyway. <br />
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We arrived at the ramp and pulled the boat out just in time before the heavens opened up while lightning flashed in the distance West of us. I don't mind fishing in rain, but no way do I want to be on the water with lightning around. The weather service called for thunderstorms all evening, so we were done for the day. We decided to work on a plan for the next and last day, grab a bite to eat, and get some rest so we could get an early start the next morning.<br />
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Stay tuned because in the next article, I'll disclose the events of the next and final day.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2017/06/cbbt-part-one.html" target="_blank">If you missed CBBT Part 1, please click here</a><br />
<a href="http://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2017/06/cbbt-part-2-day-for-jigging-and-drifting.html" target="_blank">If you missed CBBT Part 2, please click here</a><br />
<a href="http://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2017/06/cbbt-part-4-chum-bucket-action.html" target="_blank">To read CBBT Part 4, click here</a><br />
<br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-54690445330415805822017-06-21T15:32:00.000-04:002017-06-23T12:09:18.671-04:00CBBT Part 2 - A Day for Jigging and Drifting<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
The second day of our trip started out much better from the weather standpoint. The morning started off with bluebird skies even though the wind and waves were much more tolerable. We decided to start off by drift fishing for flounder around the bridge islands and jig the pilings for whatever fish were willing to bite. The goal was to catch a variety of species but still have a shot at a big drum or cobia, because they hang around the bridge structure too.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLtGkNADhybT4PnPMlc456pgnzN1Mr9fdUfL7THMP9kXMyzP9m_FG40xOQ0YVxtplpJx6sm1OgtFbYqR-Un5SbQ52aTg-xS7ldnM45DVODLYQu0fuRCLKNXFNfVNCsgb8vdwFFlvLvtQdY/s1600/IMG_7351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="807" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLtGkNADhybT4PnPMlc456pgnzN1Mr9fdUfL7THMP9kXMyzP9m_FG40xOQ0YVxtplpJx6sm1OgtFbYqR-Un5SbQ52aTg-xS7ldnM45DVODLYQu0fuRCLKNXFNfVNCsgb8vdwFFlvLvtQdY/s640/IMG_7351.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>The North end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel where it connects to Fisherman's Island.</b></span></td></tr>
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Captain Steve hooked me up with a flounder rig and I tipped it with a chartreuse Berkeley Gulp mullet. Steve had a dual rig, one of the tails was tipped with a Gulp mullet and the other with a strip of squid. We did several drifts around the fourth island without any luck. We decided to cast and jig around the island for anything that was willing to bite. <br />
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Steve had a bottom spreader rig ready to go and loaded it up with strips of squid, while I tied on a jig and Gulp mullet combo. I had a few bites but the fish bit the tail off my lure, then I hung up on the rip rap. He started off with a bang, catching four species of fish right off the bat. His first four fish were an oyster toadfish, black sea bass, a pigfish, and a northern kingfish (not necessarily in that order). Toadfish are ugly, nasty creatures, but his was the biggest one that I've seen in a long time. Almost all of those fish were caught while I was tying on a new jig.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7332_zpssi01vptk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7332_zpssi01vptk.jpg" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="746" height="534" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Steve with a big fat ugly nasty oyster toadfish!</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7327_zpslx8l0ng9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7327_zpslx8l0ng9.jpg" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>His next catch was a small black sea bass. These guys can get up to about nine pounds.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7328_zps5x6yydqu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7328_zps5x6yydqu.jpg" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>And a pigfish, pretty enough to put in an aquarium.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7334_zpsoxrrikbq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7334_zpsoxrrikbq.jpg" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="464" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Then I finally hook into a monster sea bass, all of about four inches. Another fish worthy of an aquarium! We needed big fish.</b></span></td></tr>
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We jigged around the island and caught some small sea bass. My jig and Gulp combo was drawing attention, but from small fish that ripped the tail off. So, I tipped the jig with squid and began hooking up on these bites. But, this wasn't what we were after. <br />
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We moved on to other pilings. I threw a Savage Gear Real Eel in hopes of a cobia bite at the pilings with no luck. At each piling, after a few casts with the Real Eel, I jigged a Gulp mullet at anything that would bite. I was hoping to catch a tautog, but no luck with them. Meanwhile, Steve tossed a bottom rig with peeler crab as bait. He scored a nice sheepshead that was about nine pounds or so on the peeler crab.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7339_zpsxr7cpcaj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7339_zpsxr7cpcaj.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Steve caught this nice sheepshead on a peeler crab and saved it for the table.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7401_zpskckzym1q.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7401_zpskckzym1q.jpg" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="751" height="466" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Sheepshead teeth are almost human like. This guy could use a little brushing and flossing! Notice the pharyngeal teeth on the roof of their mouth. They're on the bottom jaw too, perfectly designed for crushing crabs, shrimp and shellfish. </b></span></td></tr>
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Meanwhile, I caught a bunch of undersized weakfish, or sea trout, one after another on my jig/Gulp mullet combo. They'd bite off the tail, so I'd add a squid strip and kept on catching them. They were pretty good at ripping the squid from the hooks, so I got lazy and decided to just toss in the jig/Gulp without the tail. Guess what? They hit it just as well, if not better! I think that the tailless jig got to the bottom quicker to more fish. Steve switched to his light tackle bottom rig and was catching them two at a time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7349_zpsh8svhfbr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7349_zpsh8svhfbr.jpg" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Steve caught weakfish and speckled trout on his bottom rig two at a time while I caught them just about every cast tossing a tailless Gulp mullet.</b></span></td></tr>
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I caught a few new species for me on this trip, speckled trout (aka spotted sea trout), northern kingfish and southern kingfish. I've caught weakfish (or sea trout) before, but never the speckle trout ones. Unfortunately, I failed to get a picture of the speckled trout. All of these fish bit all afternoon, giving me easily 100 fish for the day in the count. It was quite fun.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7329_zpsgsg8z97c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7329_zpsgsg8z97c.jpg" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="557" height="454" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>The northern kingfish was a new species for me in addition to the speckled sea trout. You can distinguish these from southern kingfish by the black bars along the body, while the southern kingfish are bronze on the back, faint bars with a white belly. To further confuse things, the gulf kingfish, pictured below, look like southern kingfish but lack the bars. All three have a single barbel on their chin.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7347_zpsl7jid1h5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7347_zpsl7jid1h5.jpg" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>I think that this is the gulf kingfish. I'm pretty sure that we also caught southern kingfish too, but I don't have pictures of them, but they look very similar to this fish. Both species are new catches for me. I advise against not lipping them as they have pretty small but sharp teeth that cut my thumb. The cut wasn't bad, but enough sting to remind me not to do it again. I learned the hard way.</b></span></td></tr>
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I've since been reading up on how to catch "togs" because I didn't have any luck with them on this trip. I wasn't far off by jigging for them, but live bait is probably going to be a necessity, using sand fleas, peeler crabs, Asian crabs, or green crabs (fiddler crabs). Maybe next time. <br />
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Although we didn't catch any flounder while drifting, we still had a lot of fun jigging with bites almost every cast at one point. We wound up both catching a ton of sea trout mixed with all three species of kingfish, and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening trying for cobia and redfish. <br />
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We set up at Steve's first spot, where we'd caught the shark the night before. Everything seemed right for that spot. The tides were moving the right direction but not too strong. The wind was finally not a factor. We had fresh baits out there, including some of the fish that we caught jigging that can be used for bait. However, the fish had other ideas. We fished almost two hours without a bite and were going to make a spot change when thunderstorms started to move in.<br />
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We decided to head back to the ramp, take out, go get a nice dinner at a restaurant and perhaps a drink, and get a good night's sleep. The plan was to get up early the next day and target the big fish early, then drift for flounder in the afternoon.<br />
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We caught a lot of fish, but the only keeper size fish all day was the sheepshead. Steve couldn't believe that we didn't even pick up a shark or ray. Maybe if the weather would have let us fish to the evening bite things would be different. But not this time.<br />
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<a href="http://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2017/06/cbbt-part-one.html" target="_blank">If you missed CBBT Part 1, please click here</a><br />
<a href="http://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2017/06/cbbt-part-3-fish-or-cut-bait.html" target="_blank">To read CBBT Part 3, please click here</a><br />
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<br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7537130968357852401.post-44066602913802242642017-06-19T09:41:00.001-04:002017-06-21T16:47:53.031-04:00CBBT Part One - Night of the SharkCBBT, aka the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. The acronym is quite well known around the salt water angler community because of the fantastic fishing to be had there. Not only does it have a variety of species that are willing to bite, the CBBT is also known as a world class striped bass, red drum, black drum and cobia fishery. My friend Steve Kelley showed me the ropes at the CBBT in hopes of putting me onto one of the giant bull reds that were showing up a couple weekends ago.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfReF8MW-03jeSQ7uEHN6TQY0P4BZVYQWrXQp9UYRs13mG7iCO4ixmJ8GpoDBekl6VVqA5MrOzFmnE595h938HE0CDVy6xEJmAJvD6a8UBtOqE7jEwE0Yblkp6Z9pyQgUlyVL4zaGbupby/s1600/IMG_7296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="768" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfReF8MW-03jeSQ7uEHN6TQY0P4BZVYQWrXQp9UYRs13mG7iCO4ixmJ8GpoDBekl6VVqA5MrOzFmnE595h938HE0CDVy6xEJmAJvD6a8UBtOqE7jEwE0Yblkp6Z9pyQgUlyVL4zaGbupby/s640/IMG_7296.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT)</b></span></td></tr>
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The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, or CBBT, is a 20 mile long twin toll bridge and tunnel system that connects Virginia's Eastern Shore to Southern Hampton Roads, crossing the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay at the Atlantic Ocean. From an angler's standpoint, this is a massive fish holding structure. There are hundreds of pilings and four rip rap islands that hold fish and provide current breaks.<br />
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Also around the area, there are many well known shoals that provide habitat for bait as well as fish holding structure for the many large fish that inhabit the area. In addition to that, there are plenty of shallow backwaters, creeks and coves that provide productive fishing for sea trout, bluefish, puppy drum, flounder, and a whole host of other species. We only had a few days to fish, and to cover all of what we wanted to do proved to be a bit of a challenge. <br />
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You want to catch trophy fish, but at the same time, there are so many opportunities to catch a wide variety of species. Both concepts appeal to me. But do you jig for variety or target trophy fish? Drift for flounder or anchor for redfish? Lures or bait? Fish or cut bait? We had a limited amount of time but we still did a little of everything. We had a great time even though the weather struggled to cooperate with us early on.<br />
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Our first day was a travel day, with the plan of fishing the evening bite into dark exclusively targeting red drum and catch/photo/release cobia. The season for cobia hadn't opened yet and was a couple days away. But when we arrived, we found high winds that blew from the West, the wrong direction for the side of the bridge that we planning to launch, making the Bay and ocean too rough for Steve's boat. So, we decided to grab a bite to eat and relax at a local watering hole until things calmed down.<br />
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After a couple hours, the winds eased up somewhat, at least to the point where the white caps weren't so large and frequent. We scrambled to get the boat launched to get on the water because we were chomping at the bit for some fishing time. We headed out to one of Steve's favorite spots, actually one of those "spots within a spot" where he's had good success catching bull red drum in the past, anchored up, and set up in hopes of catching a trophy.<br />
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Although bait fishing wasn't new to me, this was a different game, on a larger scale. Captain Steve Kelley, a title well deserved after putting me and my other friends on trophy fish in the past, expertly and quickly had the lines rigged with several tempting offerings for these trophies. Just to be clear, Steve isn't a professional fishing guide by trade, although, with his experience fishing this area could result in such a career. The title Captain pertains only to his experience in fishing these waters along with being the boss on the boat.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_1445_zpsbhrzoau2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_1445_zpsbhrzoau2.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Captain Steve Kelley shows us a fish that he teamed up with my buddy Rodger to catch in June of 2016. This was the type of monster fish that he hoped to put me on this trip.</b></span></td></tr>
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First, he set out the chum bucket so that the tidal current would send scent and small chunks of bait away from the boat, attracting baitfish and predators alike, drawing them closer to our baits. Then, he set up the rods one by one, organizing them by the amount of line out and distance to the chum bucket that he preferred.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7306_zpsbkyubvoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7306_zpsbkyubvoe.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Steve setting up the chum bucket to attract baitfish and predators alike.</b></span></td></tr>
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One rod was rigged with a live eel to tempt a hungry monster cobia. Another two rods were rigged with half of a blue crab to attract monster red drum. Another rod was rigged with large chunks of frozen bunker, almost the entire fish minus the head and tail. Both cobia and bull reds will readily engulf cut fish. The last rod is usually rigged with live bait, preferably bunker, croaker or spot, all of which cobia and bull reds would devour. However, the bait shop was out of live bunker when we stopped by. We'd have to catch the type of live bait that we'd need. We hadn't caught any live bait yet, so Steve baited up another large chunk of frozen bunker on that rod. <br />
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After about twenty minutes or so, Steve caught a small sandbar shark, about two and a half feet long or so. While trying to release it at boat side, the shark shook his head a couple times and bit through the leader, saving Steve the trouble.<br />
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Shortly after that, a large pod of bottle nosed dolphins showed up. Of course, the kid in me called out to them and clapped, and they came to the boat. Steve inadvertently cast out one of the lines in their direction, not knowing that they had moved that close to the boat. A few dolphins porpoised nearby right as he sent off his cast. Just as he cast and saw them, he yelled out, "Ohhh no! I didn't mean to do that!" Bloozsh...the bait hit the water and the dolphins scattered. So, our close encounter with the dolphins ended just that quick.<br />
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It was just as well, because Steve thought that they may chase fish away. So, for the rest of the trip, I refrained from doing that again while we were fishing. Still, he thought it was pretty cool that we could call them in like that. I guess I was having visions of the old Flipper TV show from when I was a kid! I caught the whole thing on video. <br />
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Sorry about the poor video framing. It was tough to just stand up due to the wave action much less trying to film a video with an iPhone. It was all that I could do to keep from toppling overboard.<br />
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After an hour without a bite, the wind calmed slightly, although it was still pretty rough, we decided to haul everything in and try another spot. Since the tide was going out, perhaps the other side of the bridge would be more productive?<br />
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So, we set up on the Atlantic Ocean side of the bridge. However, the spot that Steve wanted to fish was very rough due to high winds and extreme tides, so during the tide change, the current was much too strong. This made for rough seas, but more importantly, made it difficult for our baits to hold bottom. So, after an hour of waves beating the heck out of us, we moved back to his original spot.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7293_zpsqfi9f7ox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7293_zpsqfi9f7ox.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>As you can see, it was quite a bit more rough on the other side of the bridge, and the current was ripping through there. We couldn't keep our baits on the bottom.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7298_zps71wwtsfg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7298_zps71wwtsfg.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>The tidal current was ripping on the ocean side of the bridge. Here you can see Virginia Beach in the Background. I guess Portugal was to our East.</b></span></td></tr>
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We set up our baits again at Steve's original spot and got the chum bucket going again. The sun set and the winds died down a little more. All we had to do was relax, enjoy the sunset, and wait for those monster fish to bite.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7303_zpspzcm8rsy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7303_zpspzcm8rsy.jpg" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="778" height="458" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>After we set up again on Steve's favorite spot, the wind and waves eased up a little bit, the sunset gave us a sense of calm where we could sit down, relax, and wait for that big fish bite.</b></span></td></tr>
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After a half hour, Captain Steve yelled out my new nick name, "Hey Chum Bucket, get that chum moving!" So, I crawled to the front of the boat and gave the chum bucket rope a good many yanks and shakes. Actually, on previous trips, he dubbed our friend Rodger that nick name, so I guess in my case, it was more of a Captain's order than a nick name. Either way, I'd been called worse and obeyed the Captain's order. Throughout the trip, when we were bait fishing for monster fish, that was my job...chum bucket man.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/cbbt1_zpsbln7hbyx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/cbbt1_zpsbln7hbyx.jpg" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="479" height="640" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Here's Chum Bucket aka my buddy Rodger trying to hoist up a monster bull red drum that he and Steve caught last August. Earning the nickname "Chum Bucket" may have helped lead them to this impressive catch.</b></span></td></tr>
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By now, darkness set in and it was a beautiful yet eerie night. Things were quiet as we relaxed and waited for action. The only thing we had to do was check our baits now and then and replace what the bait stealing crabs and smaller fish robbed from us.<br />
<br />
All of a sudden, the rod with the live eel doubled over, the drag screamed and line peeled off the reel at a high rate of speed. Steve was closest to that rod, so he picked it up and set the hook hard several times while reeling at the same time, and then he handed the rod off to me for the fight.<br />
<br />
This type of fishing is a team effort anyway, so no matter who sets the hook or fights and lands the fish, it's our fish. Technically, it was his spot, his rigs, he set up the baits, he did everything, so really, they're all his fish (at least from the point of view of me giving someone the most credit to catch one). I'm just happy and lucky to participate in the experience. That said, Steve's goal was to provide me the experience of landing a big bull redfish or cobia. This time, was it a monster cobia?<br />
<br />
So, I fought the fish. And, I fought it some more...and more...and more, all the time without knowing what was on the other end of the line. It seemed like forever, but after about fifteen minutes, and bull dogging a few times under the boat and toward me around the motor, it finally surfaced. It wasn't a big cobia, rather, it was a shark. It was a nice size shark, but still not a cobia. Still, it was a good fight. <br />
<br />
But, it was a fight that wasn't quite over. Once the shark took a gander at the net near its nose, off it went on another run, peeling line off the reel again. I fought the fish for the next ten to fifteen minutes. I pumped the fishing rod up, then reeled down to gain line, over and over. Near the end of the fight, my fingers, hands and forearms cramped in pain. But, I was determined to boat this shark, and a few minutes later, the shark made it to the surface again where Steve successfully applied the net and put it in the boat.<br />
<br />
It was just small enough that we could bring it on board the boat, but a little too big for me to hold for a photo, so we left it in the net for the picture. After all, I'd like to keep both hands attached and avoid a trip to the hospital. These sharks can bend around and reach their tail with their mouths. So, you have to secure both the head and the tail while holding them or you risk being bitten. If you can't do that, find another way to get a picture. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7316_zps85gvbf3p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7316_zps85gvbf3p.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Based on the size and the position of the dorsal fin, we think it was a sandbar shark. Later, after seeing this picture, I noticed that the shark's position was kind of precarious. I'm glad it didn't lurch forward for a bite.</b></span></td></tr>
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Steve knew it wasn't a cobia by the way it fought. According to him, usually, cobia go crazy, jumping and taking you around the boat, fouling any lines or anchor rope that haven't been cleared. The key when you hook a giant cobia or red is to clear all of the lines and release the anchor. The anchor is tied to a buoy so you don't lose it. If you hook a giant fish, you can release the anchor and chase the fish rather than have a fish like that strip all of the line off of your reel. After a fight is over, you can always motor back to retrieve your anchor line and set it again. This shark basically kept to one side of the boat, even though it bull dogged directly under the boat a few times. It's amazing how strong a shark this size is. I can't imagine fighting an eight footer.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7320_zpsvsbmicuv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/fatboykevin/IMG_7320_zpsvsbmicuv.jpg" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Steve posing with the same shark. He did pretty much everything to catch this fish except for the fight to the boat.</b></span></td></tr>
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Not long after we caught that shark, the tide ripped past us along the shoal, making it tough to keep the baits down and, as a result, the bite slowed. <br />
<br />
We had a long day due to the long travel, had to deal with rough water, it was past midnight, and we were dead tired so we decided to call it quits. We sped back to the ramp, pulled the boat out, and went back to the motel. Despite the late hour, Captain Steve became master chef, as he cooked up a delicious steak and grilled veggies dinner on his portable grill for the both of us. This was quite the midnight treat after treating me to a day of fishing. How many fishing guides or fishing buddies would do that for ya?<br />
<br />
We would rest up and look forward to hitting it hard the next day at the crack of dawn. We were stoked, having much anticipation for big fish to come for our first full day of fishing on the trip. Because of that, getting to sleep wasn't as easy as I thought it would be even though I was exhausted. The weather forecast looked a little more promising.<br />
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More of this story to come...please stay tuned!<br />
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<a href="http://fatboysoutdoors.blogspot.com/2017/06/cbbt-part-2-day-for-jigging-and-drifting.html" target="_blank">To read CBBT Part 2, please click here</a><br />
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<br />Fat Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860086127587157059noreply@blogger.com0