ES: Fished out of Lincoln beach Saturday May 22, 2021 with my friend Jon. Air temp at the 6:30 launch (see I took my own advice and slept in) was around 40 and the water about 10 degrees warmer. We fished water from 1.2 to 5 feet deep and for the day we ended up with 30 something white bass and about 2 dozen cats. The cats were a little better grade than last week. I got one at 28 and Jon got 2 at 28.5 and one at 29”. When we left about noon the water had warmed to about 57. All the cats took fresh cut WB and the whites hit multiple lures, but seemed to prefer everything tipped with a bit of crawler.
FS: With the winds Friday night and the cool air temps we were expecting a significant slowdown in the catch rate from last week. It is always fun to be wrong in the right direction! We stopped on the way to our intended destination to pick up some fresh bait. I gave Jon an ultralight set-up that had worked for me last week and I focused on some tackle prep and “technology issues.” Jon was dropping whites in the boat so fast I could hardly focus on my work. Before I knew it we had spent an hour on that spot, there were just north of 30 whites in the basket and I had caught maybe half a dozen.
I had told him that I would keep 20 or so for a meal if they came fast and they did.
After the white out, we headed south and west and started fishing in 3 to 4 FOW several hundred yards from the reeds. The first cat hit in about 10 minutes. It was tentative and finally latched on to the bait enough to load the rod and then spit the bait. The next hour brought half a dozen similar hits and yielded only a couple of cats that briefly visited the boat.
It was looking like we were going to be plagued by the drop in water temp and clarity all morning, but things turned around. By 9 or so they seemed to wake up and we were landing about 2/3 of those that hit. Most were 24-26 inches, but I did get one @ 28.
Jon was having a good time, well both of us were. We gradually worked our way closer to the reed edge as it seemed the fish were moving back that way after the cold snap had moved them out.
By about 10 A.M. we were dragging our baits within casting distance of the plant perimeter. We apparently got closer than the fish as we hit a stretch where five in a row came on the outside rods. Those happened to be on my side of the boat and Jon was starting to feel like the fish were neglecting him. In an effort to be a better host I worked the boat a little father out. Jon started catching more.
We joked about it a little and then the tables turned. He ended up getting the first laugh with all those whites he caught and then the last one as 3 of his last five fish were 28. 5, 28.5 and 29 inches. Bigger than anything I got the whole morning.
It was a good morning for fishing and for company. I love those kinds of mornings
Sorry about the lack of pictures....The site won't let me insert them right now
FS: With the winds Friday night and the cool air temps we were expecting a significant slowdown in the catch rate from last week. It is always fun to be wrong in the right direction! We stopped on the way to our intended destination to pick up some fresh bait. I gave Jon an ultralight set-up that had worked for me last week and I focused on some tackle prep and “technology issues.” Jon was dropping whites in the boat so fast I could hardly focus on my work. Before I knew it we had spent an hour on that spot, there were just north of 30 whites in the basket and I had caught maybe half a dozen.
I had told him that I would keep 20 or so for a meal if they came fast and they did.
After the white out, we headed south and west and started fishing in 3 to 4 FOW several hundred yards from the reeds. The first cat hit in about 10 minutes. It was tentative and finally latched on to the bait enough to load the rod and then spit the bait. The next hour brought half a dozen similar hits and yielded only a couple of cats that briefly visited the boat.
It was looking like we were going to be plagued by the drop in water temp and clarity all morning, but things turned around. By 9 or so they seemed to wake up and we were landing about 2/3 of those that hit. Most were 24-26 inches, but I did get one @ 28.
Jon was having a good time, well both of us were. We gradually worked our way closer to the reed edge as it seemed the fish were moving back that way after the cold snap had moved them out.
By about 10 A.M. we were dragging our baits within casting distance of the plant perimeter. We apparently got closer than the fish as we hit a stretch where five in a row came on the outside rods. Those happened to be on my side of the boat and Jon was starting to feel like the fish were neglecting him. In an effort to be a better host I worked the boat a little father out. Jon started catching more.
We joked about it a little and then the tables turned. He ended up getting the first laugh with all those whites he caught and then the last one as 3 of his last five fish were 28. 5, 28.5 and 29 inches. Bigger than anything I got the whole morning.
It was a good morning for fishing and for company. I love those kinds of mornings
Sorry about the lack of pictures....The site won't let me insert them right now
