11-07-2019, 10:53 PM
[#0000ff]I hit the north marina on Tuesday. Figured I might do better at the south marina...while the nice weather holds. Figured wrong.
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Launched about 7:30 am. Air temp a chilly 24. But it warmed up nicely when the sun topped the mountains. Gloves off by mid-morning. Water 43.5 at launch...warming to just under 45 at noon. Lots of new water coming in over the canal baffles and water levels are coming up.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Saw a few shad but not much else in the channel as I motored out to the main lake. Started dragging a couple of fligs and minnows out the channel from the mouth of the harbor...working back and forth from the deeper center to the shallower edges. Saw quite a few shad but nothing resembling anything predatory.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Missed my first couple of bites. Pretty tentative and/or inexperienced fish that didn't know how to gulp and go. Finally hooked a couple...and arranged an early release for bad behavior for both. Got a few more pop and drops and then brought in a small teen incher catfish. Poor thing. Begged me to take him home to get warm but I sent him back.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Went that way all morning. Worked shallow to deep and back again...looking for shad and anything that might be munching on them. No perch or any species besides cats were harmed on this trip.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] Finally, just as I was starting back inside the harbor another catfish volunteered for the TD reel ride. But it just came to the surface and rolled feebly...like a silly cutthroat. Catfish still feed in cold water but it sure takes the fight out of them.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I continued to try a succession of flig colors and different rigging as I worked for awhile in the channel and back into the marina area. Had one more "temporary" customer and got a long line release. Been a long time since I lost so many fish after hooking them.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Off the water and headed home about noonish. Water had warmed a degree or so. But my Blazer was still the only vehicle in the whole parking lot.
[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Launched about 7:30 am. Air temp a chilly 24. But it warmed up nicely when the sun topped the mountains. Gloves off by mid-morning. Water 43.5 at launch...warming to just under 45 at noon. Lots of new water coming in over the canal baffles and water levels are coming up.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Saw a few shad but not much else in the channel as I motored out to the main lake. Started dragging a couple of fligs and minnows out the channel from the mouth of the harbor...working back and forth from the deeper center to the shallower edges. Saw quite a few shad but nothing resembling anything predatory.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Missed my first couple of bites. Pretty tentative and/or inexperienced fish that didn't know how to gulp and go. Finally hooked a couple...and arranged an early release for bad behavior for both. Got a few more pop and drops and then brought in a small teen incher catfish. Poor thing. Begged me to take him home to get warm but I sent him back.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Went that way all morning. Worked shallow to deep and back again...looking for shad and anything that might be munching on them. No perch or any species besides cats were harmed on this trip.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] Finally, just as I was starting back inside the harbor another catfish volunteered for the TD reel ride. But it just came to the surface and rolled feebly...like a silly cutthroat. Catfish still feed in cold water but it sure takes the fight out of them.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I continued to try a succession of flig colors and different rigging as I worked for awhile in the channel and back into the marina area. Had one more "temporary" customer and got a long line release. Been a long time since I lost so many fish after hooking them.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Off the water and headed home about noonish. Water had warmed a degree or so. But my Blazer was still the only vehicle in the whole parking lot.
[/#0000ff]
[signature]