11-10-2013, 05:22 PM
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff][size 4]Well, since I may not be able to get back out to the Berry again this year, I decided to go yesterday. The weather was great, it was payday, and I had the proverbial “kitchen pass” so off I went.
Met my buddies at 3:30 for the long drive down and to be one of the first on the lake. My fishing buddies for this trip were Dave Offret (a co-worker and long-time fishing friend) and Howard Reed (a neighbor of mine that has been 100% blind for the last 5 or so years).
When we arrived at the marina at the crack of dawn, it was a comfortable 25 degrees. We headed straight for a spot where we like to throw crank baits and where Dave got an “over-the-slot” keeper last time. After many casts and no love, we moved to a point out in the meadows (very near GPS location #59 on the Strawberry Fish-n-Map). BINGO … it was non-stop catching for rest of the morning till the bite shut off around 1:30. And, we weren’t alone … lots of boats for company.
We used 2.5 inch pearl white tube jigs tipped with chub and we also used 4 inch motor oil tubes tipped with a worm. For the first hour, the best technique was casting and slowly retrieving the tubes. Then when the sonar screen was packed full of marks below us, we switched over to vertical jigging. We had MANY doubles and several triples.
Dave’s tubes were torn up real bad with no tentacles left at all and he was still catching fish every drop. I truly believe that he could have dropped a hook with just chub and no tube and he would have caught just as many.
A big pontoon boat with a family of about 6 pulled up to us and asked what we were using. We told them “tubes (like the ones they were using) tipped with chub”. They asked “what is chub and where does one get chub?”. I told them that frozen chub can be found at Sportsman’s and then I gave them a baggie of my frozen cut chub and they immediately started catching too. That was great to watch.
It was amazing just how competitive the cuts were. We were able to watch the fish right under the boat. When one was hooked and being reeled in, two or three would be following it trying to take the bait from the already hooked fish! Man they were competitive yesterday.
Another thing that was really interesting to watch right below the boat was how those cuts would seldom just go up and bite down on the lure. They were SUPPER cautious. They would swim up and barely touch it and quickly turn away then come back, touch it, and turn away again. Hence the “tick – tick – tick” we often feel but can’t get a hook set on.
I completely forgot to charge my i-Pilot batteries before leaving so I was very surprised and very pleased to see my i-Pilot’s spot-lock (virtual anchor) work all day long without a single hitch! Amazing!
We caught 79 fish total. Towards the end of the day when we had counted 78 fish, we kept saying we just need two more for 80. We finally got one more for 79 but just couldn’t get that 80th fish. Oh well.
Howard (the 76 year old blind guy) only caught about 10 fish. He just never got the hook set down. Not being able to see your rod tip really puts one at a di
vantage. But that didn’t keep him from having a good time fishing with good friends. I only caught about 30 fish. But Dave, with the hot stick of the day, boated about 40. We only caught one rainbow which we kept along with this nice cutt keeper:[/size][/#0000ff][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff][size 4][/size][/#0000ff][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff][size 4][inline "Dave's-Keeper.gif"]
It was a fantastic way to end my Strawberry fishing season “on a good note”.
[/size][/#0000ff][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#008000]Edit Update: Looks like this wasn't my last Berry trip after all. I and Mama Coot are going to spend Veteran's day down there. I hope we have another good day.[/#008000][/font]
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Met my buddies at 3:30 for the long drive down and to be one of the first on the lake. My fishing buddies for this trip were Dave Offret (a co-worker and long-time fishing friend) and Howard Reed (a neighbor of mine that has been 100% blind for the last 5 or so years).
When we arrived at the marina at the crack of dawn, it was a comfortable 25 degrees. We headed straight for a spot where we like to throw crank baits and where Dave got an “over-the-slot” keeper last time. After many casts and no love, we moved to a point out in the meadows (very near GPS location #59 on the Strawberry Fish-n-Map). BINGO … it was non-stop catching for rest of the morning till the bite shut off around 1:30. And, we weren’t alone … lots of boats for company.
We used 2.5 inch pearl white tube jigs tipped with chub and we also used 4 inch motor oil tubes tipped with a worm. For the first hour, the best technique was casting and slowly retrieving the tubes. Then when the sonar screen was packed full of marks below us, we switched over to vertical jigging. We had MANY doubles and several triples.
Dave’s tubes were torn up real bad with no tentacles left at all and he was still catching fish every drop. I truly believe that he could have dropped a hook with just chub and no tube and he would have caught just as many.
A big pontoon boat with a family of about 6 pulled up to us and asked what we were using. We told them “tubes (like the ones they were using) tipped with chub”. They asked “what is chub and where does one get chub?”. I told them that frozen chub can be found at Sportsman’s and then I gave them a baggie of my frozen cut chub and they immediately started catching too. That was great to watch.
It was amazing just how competitive the cuts were. We were able to watch the fish right under the boat. When one was hooked and being reeled in, two or three would be following it trying to take the bait from the already hooked fish! Man they were competitive yesterday.
Another thing that was really interesting to watch right below the boat was how those cuts would seldom just go up and bite down on the lure. They were SUPPER cautious. They would swim up and barely touch it and quickly turn away then come back, touch it, and turn away again. Hence the “tick – tick – tick” we often feel but can’t get a hook set on.
I completely forgot to charge my i-Pilot batteries before leaving so I was very surprised and very pleased to see my i-Pilot’s spot-lock (virtual anchor) work all day long without a single hitch! Amazing!
We caught 79 fish total. Towards the end of the day when we had counted 78 fish, we kept saying we just need two more for 80. We finally got one more for 79 but just couldn’t get that 80th fish. Oh well.
Howard (the 76 year old blind guy) only caught about 10 fish. He just never got the hook set down. Not being able to see your rod tip really puts one at a di
vantage. But that didn’t keep him from having a good time fishing with good friends. I only caught about 30 fish. But Dave, with the hot stick of the day, boated about 40. We only caught one rainbow which we kept along with this nice cutt keeper:[/size][/#0000ff][/font] [font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff][size 4][/size][/#0000ff][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff][size 4][inline "Dave's-Keeper.gif"]
It was a fantastic way to end my Strawberry fishing season “on a good note”.
[/size][/#0000ff][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#008000]Edit Update: Looks like this wasn't my last Berry trip after all. I and Mama Coot are going to spend Veteran's day down there. I hope we have another good day.[/#008000][/font]
[signature]