11-18-2017, 10:00 AM
Put in at CFP around 9:00. Yes I was a little lazy this morning. Saw some gulls for the first time this fall and spent about an hour checking them out. Some bait deep but not much in the way of fish feeding. Decided to try some bays and sloughs to find larger concentrations of bait. My theory is if I find a lot of bait there will be some fish there. ??<br /><br />This time of year I am mainly looking for striped bass. I will reel in white bass, or LM or SM, but stripers are my wintertime thing. Was throwing swimbaits, mostly Zoom super flukes and swimming super fluke jr. Thought I had a deep snag till he started a little run. Was fishing creek channel in about 30 ft. of water and huge bait balls everywhere. Ended up with a nice little striper of 12# &#43; for my first striper of fall,winter season this year. Would post pic, but the size restriction has me baffled. Few gulls half heartedly working the bait, and a lot of loons around.<br /><br />Same area marking some fish and had a solid hit on the rig that came right to the boat, I never could catch up and when he turned the jig fell out.Was another striper, maybe a little larger. Then picked up a couple nice white bass also on rig. Kinda lost the school of both and after trying several different baits headed back to the ramp about 2:00. Water temp was 59 when I put in and got up to 62. Loved hooking up with a striper as my last was when Eric took me to Hiwassee River back in the summer. I am really not a purist, I will chase anything that will bend my rod. I try to concentrate on marking larger schools of fish when I can find them.<br /><br />Worked around Dallas Bay for awhile and managed a couple of 3#&#43; LM on blade bait worked off the bottom. Threw a bucktail to no avail. Has been a good bait in the past. I have to resort to trolling the rig after a few casts, my shoulder gets really tired.<br /><br />Regards, Norman