fishinone
02-03-2014, 10:41 AM
Bassfan allowed me to fish with him on Saturday since my boat is leaking oil from the water intakes.
Thank you Jim for picking up on my "suttle hint"!
We tried trolling the big swimbaits first thing. We saw lots of marks in many places but didn't get any takers. After that we went from place to place in the lake looking for schools of larger models. We found active schools of striper on points too numerous to list. They were almost all schools of small to medium fish. There were a couple spots that had just a few bigger models but this wasn't what we were looking for.
We wound up going to the spot that's been producing for him lately. When we got there, there were nice marks of active fish and plenty of them.
We started fishing and could see them responding to our baits on the fishfinder but they would touch it and drop it that fast.
The only fish we got for quite a while were dinks that would come through in separate schools once in awhile. Even then they were seriously picky. Hooking one required a very soft tipped pole and a second drag set as loose as it could be, with long 4lb leader and very light sliding sinkers. We didn't realize that I was fishing with 4 lb. flouro and Jim was using 6 lb. but from talking later, I think, that it was a factor.
I had a slow pick on dinks while Jim had them touch and drop his baits over and over. I wound up catching 7 dinks, one was released before I realized that it would be a slow day. Halfway through, me slowly catching dinks while we watched bigger fish swim up to our baits and reject them on the fishfinder, Jim switched to fishing sardines exclusively. It was a good call because it wasn't long before the dinks stopped coming through.
Before the dinks stopped completely, Jim got a good pickup on a sardine and landed a real fish.
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/2-1-2014%20Fishing%20on%20Jims%20Boat/20140201_154459_zps7bb12d54.jpg (http://s454.photobucket.com/user/fishinone/media/2-1-2014%20Fishing%20on%20Jims%20Boat/20140201_154459_zps7bb12d54.jpg.html)
It's the one on Jim's right.
After that we had the same tentative touches for quite a while. Jim was holding one of his poles and would feel a slight bite reasonably often but they just wouldn't hold on.
I was on the high side of the boat, just up slope from Jim and not getting bit. I was telling him that he needed to combine his soft tipped pole with his second drag reel to get the fish to quit dropping the baits before they started moving the second drag. Finally I moved my sardine laced pole to the front of the boat on the deeper side to get my bait to the level where they were picking the baits up. In just a couple minutes I heard the second drag start moving. It kept right on going and I had time to get to it.
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/2-1-2014%20Fishing%20on%20Jims%20Boat/20140201_154643_zps3cd7ada7.jpg (http://s454.photobucket.com/user/fishinone/media/2-1-2014%20Fishing%20on%20Jims%20Boat/20140201_154643_zps3cd7ada7.jpg.html)
This was big fish so far! 5.09 lb.
After a few more touches on his baits, Jim decided to try my recipe. He took apart 2 of his rigs and and put the second drag reel on the soft tipped pole. Well, the next pickup on the new rig resulted in the fish swimming off with the bait, the second drag sang that song that we've come to love., Jim had time to to get to the rig before the fish dropped the bait. Only to swing hard and long without tripping the second drag first. My heart sank as I saw him swing!
As it turned out, the reel combined with the wind shot lots of line out the tip before the huge knot formed. I watched it land in the water. Jim started trying to untangle the knot on his reels while I yelled "Grab the line!, Grab the line!". I wasn't communicating clearly and there was no time! I yelled "Let me get through here.", Jim stepped aside and I grabbed the 6 lb test line at the gunnel and started throwing as much as I could up in the air so that I could get enough line to play the fish, before it got all of the slack.
Somehow, this actually worked! The conditions were right. The line that I threw up in the air landed in the water, tangle free. The fish came toward us right after I set the hook and allowed me to have enough line to work with when it made it's long runs. I held the line in the finger tips of both hands and let it slide through them as the fish ran. The line coming out of the water had just enough water on it to keep it from burning me. The fish made several good runs but I was able to get 4 or 5 feet of line on each swing of my arms and keep up. Jim grabbed the net and landed the fish beautifully the first time that it slid across the surface towards the net.
I love it when a plan comes together! Although, this wasn't actually the plan!
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/2-1-2014%20Fishing%20on%20Jims%20Boat/20140201_154459_zps7bb12d54.jpg (http://s454.photobucket.com/user/fishinone/media/2-1-2014%20Fishing%20on%20Jims%20Boat/20140201_154459_zps7bb12d54.jpg.html)
It's the one on Jim's left. 5.02 lb. We thought it was heavier than mine but adrenalin seems to affect perception.
I can't believe that it's not, the one that got away!
Jim, don't worry about setting the hook with the second drag still engaged. You'll get used to doing it! I still do it once every 4 or 5 trips.
Thank you Jim for a great day of fishing! I'm going to remember our fish for a long time!
Thank you Jim for picking up on my "suttle hint"!
We tried trolling the big swimbaits first thing. We saw lots of marks in many places but didn't get any takers. After that we went from place to place in the lake looking for schools of larger models. We found active schools of striper on points too numerous to list. They were almost all schools of small to medium fish. There were a couple spots that had just a few bigger models but this wasn't what we were looking for.
We wound up going to the spot that's been producing for him lately. When we got there, there were nice marks of active fish and plenty of them.
We started fishing and could see them responding to our baits on the fishfinder but they would touch it and drop it that fast.
The only fish we got for quite a while were dinks that would come through in separate schools once in awhile. Even then they were seriously picky. Hooking one required a very soft tipped pole and a second drag set as loose as it could be, with long 4lb leader and very light sliding sinkers. We didn't realize that I was fishing with 4 lb. flouro and Jim was using 6 lb. but from talking later, I think, that it was a factor.
I had a slow pick on dinks while Jim had them touch and drop his baits over and over. I wound up catching 7 dinks, one was released before I realized that it would be a slow day. Halfway through, me slowly catching dinks while we watched bigger fish swim up to our baits and reject them on the fishfinder, Jim switched to fishing sardines exclusively. It was a good call because it wasn't long before the dinks stopped coming through.
Before the dinks stopped completely, Jim got a good pickup on a sardine and landed a real fish.
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/2-1-2014%20Fishing%20on%20Jims%20Boat/20140201_154459_zps7bb12d54.jpg (http://s454.photobucket.com/user/fishinone/media/2-1-2014%20Fishing%20on%20Jims%20Boat/20140201_154459_zps7bb12d54.jpg.html)
It's the one on Jim's right.
After that we had the same tentative touches for quite a while. Jim was holding one of his poles and would feel a slight bite reasonably often but they just wouldn't hold on.
I was on the high side of the boat, just up slope from Jim and not getting bit. I was telling him that he needed to combine his soft tipped pole with his second drag reel to get the fish to quit dropping the baits before they started moving the second drag. Finally I moved my sardine laced pole to the front of the boat on the deeper side to get my bait to the level where they were picking the baits up. In just a couple minutes I heard the second drag start moving. It kept right on going and I had time to get to it.
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/2-1-2014%20Fishing%20on%20Jims%20Boat/20140201_154643_zps3cd7ada7.jpg (http://s454.photobucket.com/user/fishinone/media/2-1-2014%20Fishing%20on%20Jims%20Boat/20140201_154643_zps3cd7ada7.jpg.html)
This was big fish so far! 5.09 lb.
After a few more touches on his baits, Jim decided to try my recipe. He took apart 2 of his rigs and and put the second drag reel on the soft tipped pole. Well, the next pickup on the new rig resulted in the fish swimming off with the bait, the second drag sang that song that we've come to love., Jim had time to to get to the rig before the fish dropped the bait. Only to swing hard and long without tripping the second drag first. My heart sank as I saw him swing!
As it turned out, the reel combined with the wind shot lots of line out the tip before the huge knot formed. I watched it land in the water. Jim started trying to untangle the knot on his reels while I yelled "Grab the line!, Grab the line!". I wasn't communicating clearly and there was no time! I yelled "Let me get through here.", Jim stepped aside and I grabbed the 6 lb test line at the gunnel and started throwing as much as I could up in the air so that I could get enough line to play the fish, before it got all of the slack.
Somehow, this actually worked! The conditions were right. The line that I threw up in the air landed in the water, tangle free. The fish came toward us right after I set the hook and allowed me to have enough line to work with when it made it's long runs. I held the line in the finger tips of both hands and let it slide through them as the fish ran. The line coming out of the water had just enough water on it to keep it from burning me. The fish made several good runs but I was able to get 4 or 5 feet of line on each swing of my arms and keep up. Jim grabbed the net and landed the fish beautifully the first time that it slid across the surface towards the net.
I love it when a plan comes together! Although, this wasn't actually the plan!
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/2-1-2014%20Fishing%20on%20Jims%20Boat/20140201_154459_zps7bb12d54.jpg (http://s454.photobucket.com/user/fishinone/media/2-1-2014%20Fishing%20on%20Jims%20Boat/20140201_154459_zps7bb12d54.jpg.html)
It's the one on Jim's left. 5.02 lb. We thought it was heavier than mine but adrenalin seems to affect perception.
I can't believe that it's not, the one that got away!
Jim, don't worry about setting the hook with the second drag still engaged. You'll get used to doing it! I still do it once every 4 or 5 trips.
Thank you Jim for a great day of fishing! I'm going to remember our fish for a long time!