Fishing Forum

Arrived at the North Marina at 0845 water temp was 58* temp on departure 63*. Great day of fish'n we're think'n. Started trolling south headed towards freeway bay. Trolling speed throughout was 1.5-2 MPH. .

Worked Shake-E-Blade (firetiger and fluorecent green/lime) bottom bouncers and natural shad color cranks (X-Raps, Wally Divers, Tail Dancers). Nothing seemed interested until we changed the cranks to hot colors.

Wally Diver Fluorescent Red/Black
X-Rap Shad Hot Head
Tail Dancer Blue Shad

Here we invest in Crappie jigs plus we're not fish'n for them and we end up catching 3 Crappie on 3-4" hot color cranks away from any brush or structure. Go figure...Finally caught my first fish on the planner board and it's a Crappie.

I like the tattle flag because a soon as the Crappie hit the flag went down...would of been a little more difficult to tell if I had the regular flag set-up that doesn't show a fish strike.

Pretty sure I had an Eye hit the bottom bouncer as you can tell it's an Eye as it's like pulling in a water soaked boot with a few tugs and maybe a head shake or two. But came unbuttoned halfway to the boat.

Then fish'n partner's rod drag goes screaming and immediately we knew it was a Wiper. Nice size little over 20". We ended up catching 5 Wipers sizes were 12"-a little over 20". I then got two Wipers on the planner boards. I really like the tattle flag setup...fish strike flag goes down.

All 5 Wipers hit hot bright colors natural colors they didn't seem interested. All fish were released as we still have fish in the ole freezer to finish off.

Had a problem with the main motor steering B-nut coming loose and leaked fluid all in the back of the boat transom area so didn't want to tempt the fate fairy headed in. Plus we're suppose to head out Monday for a camp'n with lots of fish'n trip all next week so now I have to haul the boat to Lee's Marine to get the steering system bled and reserviced.

Sure hope you all had a great weekend. [] []
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Sounds like a decent day out there. We hit it in the evening, and found the fish a little harder to catch. We ended up putting 2 Wipers in the boat, and missed a couple other hits. We could only get them to hit when we bumped the speed up to 3-3.2 MPH on deep diving cranks. I sure was hoping they would be in a more playful mood!
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Nice report and pictures.
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Nice report, and the fill flash made for nice photos.

You probably know all this, but here goes. When I troll with planer boards, I don't use the tattle flag set up. I put the clicker on, and back off the drag till it just holds against the drag of the boards plus crankbait. Any hit will trigger the clicker, especially a wiper. So, the clicker is one indication of a hit. Also, if trolling cranks, when you get a hit, your rod tip will generally stop vibrating, which is a second way to tell if you need to check your line. The third is reading your boards, which means a change in the relative position of the the boards on one side. If either one sags towards the middle, check your stuff.

Of course, with small fish, you can end up dragging them for a bit.[blush]
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