05-08-2018, 08:06 PM
[#0000FF]Had a loosely joined fishing session today with RockyRaab and r2U2 at the south marina. Loose? We all went our separate ways after launching.
Good news? The fish cleaning station is operational. The really good news? I got to fillet 8 fat cats for the smoker. The bad news? No wipers, walleyes or crappies were harmed on this trip.
Launched before 7 am. Air temp 49 and water temp 59 in the main lake...warming to almost 64 by noon. Also, the water is super clear.
Saw little on sonar to excite me going out the channel. Headed north up the dike after clearing the harbor. Stayed close to the rocks for a while. I was dragging a minnow on one rod and throwing plastics and cranks on the other. No love.
Brought in the lines and motored out into deeper water, watching for fishy evidence. Nada, zip, zilch. Moved down the dike some more and in closer to the rocks. Finally...in about 10-11 feet of water I got my first inquiry...a cookie cutter kitty on a fire tiger flig and minnow. Skunk repellent.
Wanted to try a variety of baits and lures today and try to hook something besides cats. I love those kitties, mind ya, but would really like to change up the game a little. Had a couple of non-cat type hits but no verifiable hookups on anything besides Mr. and Mrs. Whiskers.
Howsomever...in working through the lures and baits I did catch some cats on a variety of offerings. Some came on the old tried and true fire tiger fligs. But besides minnows, I also caught them on a piece of crawler and on Gulp Minnows. A couple of my largest cats came on the old standby...a LHBE minnow dragged on the bottom behind my tube. The most fun were a couple that smacked a blue and white plastic grub cast into the rocks. The hard hit and short run had me thinking wipers...but turned out to be whiskery wipers. Still fun.
Not sure how many cats I caught...maybe 10-12. I did keep 8 for the smoker. The first batch I did a week ago disappeared fast. I got too many smoke addicted friends and relatives. Hard to get any for my own self.
Rocky and Richard both caught cats too, so there was at least some measure of success all around. It was a lovely day...and we didn't have to mumble that as an excuse for not catching anything.
I really was pleasantly surprised to find the fish cleaning station open and operable. There had been a report that it was uncovered and set up but without water. I can verify that water and power are both ready for the successful angler. And the grinder works very well...if you turn it on and let it run before putting fish in it.
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[signature]
Good news? The fish cleaning station is operational. The really good news? I got to fillet 8 fat cats for the smoker. The bad news? No wipers, walleyes or crappies were harmed on this trip.
Launched before 7 am. Air temp 49 and water temp 59 in the main lake...warming to almost 64 by noon. Also, the water is super clear.
Saw little on sonar to excite me going out the channel. Headed north up the dike after clearing the harbor. Stayed close to the rocks for a while. I was dragging a minnow on one rod and throwing plastics and cranks on the other. No love.
Brought in the lines and motored out into deeper water, watching for fishy evidence. Nada, zip, zilch. Moved down the dike some more and in closer to the rocks. Finally...in about 10-11 feet of water I got my first inquiry...a cookie cutter kitty on a fire tiger flig and minnow. Skunk repellent.
Wanted to try a variety of baits and lures today and try to hook something besides cats. I love those kitties, mind ya, but would really like to change up the game a little. Had a couple of non-cat type hits but no verifiable hookups on anything besides Mr. and Mrs. Whiskers.
Howsomever...in working through the lures and baits I did catch some cats on a variety of offerings. Some came on the old tried and true fire tiger fligs. But besides minnows, I also caught them on a piece of crawler and on Gulp Minnows. A couple of my largest cats came on the old standby...a LHBE minnow dragged on the bottom behind my tube. The most fun were a couple that smacked a blue and white plastic grub cast into the rocks. The hard hit and short run had me thinking wipers...but turned out to be whiskery wipers. Still fun.
Not sure how many cats I caught...maybe 10-12. I did keep 8 for the smoker. The first batch I did a week ago disappeared fast. I got too many smoke addicted friends and relatives. Hard to get any for my own self.
Rocky and Richard both caught cats too, so there was at least some measure of success all around. It was a lovely day...and we didn't have to mumble that as an excuse for not catching anything.
I really was pleasantly surprised to find the fish cleaning station open and operable. There had been a report that it was uncovered and set up but without water. I can verify that water and power are both ready for the successful angler. And the grinder works very well...if you turn it on and let it run before putting fish in it.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]