04-30-2020, 06:53 PM
When I arrived around 7 there were no trailers at all at Lincoln Beach. Hmmm, that was a problem. My wife doesn't like me to go out without someone else to watch out for me. I backed down the ramp anyway and started getting ready to launch. I had expected to run into BLK and was surpised he wasn't already there (he came later in his kayak and I never spotted him). Before I was ready to launch CDBRC1 showed up with a couple of buddies, all wearing masks. They went to the mouth of BS and anchored up. I went out to 10 fow and started strolling north so I didn't have to look into the sun or its reflection on the water; later I went as far as the first part of the orchards. To make a long story short, the cats hit early and often. I ended up with 17 for the day. However, they ran small. The biggest I got was 26" and the majority were in the low 20's and a couple were even in the teens. That brought my average up to 4 even for my trips this year: 56 cats in 14 outings. My idea is that if I catch enough fish the law of averages would give me some big ones to even out those littleuns. According to my records from last year and this the average (median) channel cat (at least for the ones I catch) is 23.5". There is a split mode, 22" and 24" with seven each. If I were after eating-size cats I would be very happy. One of these days I'm going to keep a mess and have a big fish fry. But that's another story.
The water was 57° when I started and rose to 63 or 64 when I quit at 3:30. The air temperature was 80 when I was driving away. The water was very calm and there was never enough wind to just drift. I don't have a speedometer or gps but I think I was moving at .7 to 1 mph. On Monday I had boated five but at least that many had struck but not stuck, even though I was using small chunks of wb to try to make sure they got the whole bait and hook in their mouths. Yesterday I used some larger but not large pieces and I they caught fish just fine. I also learned to shut off my motor and wait for my rod to buck and jerk strongly before I started reeling in. With my circle hooks I don't have to worry about setting them. If they didn't hook up soon I just let the bait sit there and sometimes they came back and picked it up. I also got a number of doubles. Most of those came while I was sitting while reeling in the first ones. So far this year I have only used two actual rigs--a Santee and one of Pisco's FLAITS.
Monday I found that shrimpnworm worked about as well as the wb, so I baited one rod with each and they caught equally. Same with the two different rigs; I couldn't say that either did better than the other. They've worked so well, and I only have the one FLAIT, that I've worked hard to make sure I didn't lose them to hang-ups. TD sent me some of his large fligs for "field testing" and I feel guilty that I haven't tried them yet. I find it hard to go away from what is working, but if I keep having days like yesterday I'll feel more inclined to try different things, both with lures and bait.
I'm taking a break from fishing to work on the yard and garden and go horseback riding with my wife. But I plan to be out there again on Saturday. Please let me know if you'll be there. Here's a big thank you to all who have kept an eye on me as I've learned the ropes with my "new" boat. You know who you are. I've gained a lot of knowledge and confidence by going out so often and hardly ever feel embarrassed when docking and loading anymore
.
The water was 57° when I started and rose to 63 or 64 when I quit at 3:30. The air temperature was 80 when I was driving away. The water was very calm and there was never enough wind to just drift. I don't have a speedometer or gps but I think I was moving at .7 to 1 mph. On Monday I had boated five but at least that many had struck but not stuck, even though I was using small chunks of wb to try to make sure they got the whole bait and hook in their mouths. Yesterday I used some larger but not large pieces and I they caught fish just fine. I also learned to shut off my motor and wait for my rod to buck and jerk strongly before I started reeling in. With my circle hooks I don't have to worry about setting them. If they didn't hook up soon I just let the bait sit there and sometimes they came back and picked it up. I also got a number of doubles. Most of those came while I was sitting while reeling in the first ones. So far this year I have only used two actual rigs--a Santee and one of Pisco's FLAITS.
Monday I found that shrimpnworm worked about as well as the wb, so I baited one rod with each and they caught equally. Same with the two different rigs; I couldn't say that either did better than the other. They've worked so well, and I only have the one FLAIT, that I've worked hard to make sure I didn't lose them to hang-ups. TD sent me some of his large fligs for "field testing" and I feel guilty that I haven't tried them yet. I find it hard to go away from what is working, but if I keep having days like yesterday I'll feel more inclined to try different things, both with lures and bait.
I'm taking a break from fishing to work on the yard and garden and go horseback riding with my wife. But I plan to be out there again on Saturday. Please let me know if you'll be there. Here's a big thank you to all who have kept an eye on me as I've learned the ropes with my "new" boat. You know who you are. I've gained a lot of knowledge and confidence by going out so often and hardly ever feel embarrassed when docking and loading anymore
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The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
