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It's a 2 Part Process...

3K views 77 replies 18 participants last post by  9Left 
#1 · (Edited)
Been doing a little fishing here and there. Nothing special, some of my pics already posted in some other threads.

Chasing cats as of late. Before I chase the cats, I go out and chase the bait. Not sure of exact numbers but a ****load would be a good number. :D Chubs, Gills and Craws are the target and it's actually FUN. Chubs and Gills come on a very small circle hook tipped with a Gulp Waxie. Believe it or not, there is a bit of technique involved to be somewhat successful with the Chubs. Micro-sized gear and precision casting make a difference. Craws are easy. Last time out, I defecate you not, there were hundreds crawling out in the open on the creek bed. Just reach down and grab em. So easy a caveman or even House could do it! :p

I go here...
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To catch these:
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And these:
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And sometimes I end up with a bunch of Jr. Sized these:
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And this one time at band camp I ended up catching this:
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But when it's all said and done I'm heading to the big water with a bait bucket full of these:
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And these:
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At big water:
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I've caught a few of these:
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And watched this dude eat trees:
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LOTS of small flatties between 12' and 17", same with the channels, a few carp, and some nature sightings. Best channel so far was about 24", same with the carp; best flattie was about 17ish. Action should be heating up soon. Equal success with Live Chubs, Live Gills, Cut Gills and Live Craws.

Fish Well and Be Well, E...
 
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#54 ·
Fishing has been a bit slow. Been doing some catching, but mostly dinks for the month of August when I could get out. Did get a little nighttime topwater action and a couple of quick wades in for the first time. I'll get some pics up sooner or later.

Not sure how much fishing I'll be getting in before the end of the year. My longtime girlfriend was diagnosed with breast cancer recently. I'll be doing whatever she needs as she approaches surgery, and the follow up treatments afterward.

All of us have important women in our lives. Mothers, Grandmothers, Aunts, Sisters, Daughters, Granddaughters, Nieces, Wives, Girlfriends, Cousins, etc. Next time you see them, remind them how important they are to you and tell them that you love them.

I'd appreciate it if you'd keep us in your thoughts and prayers and maybe, just maybe, toss on a pink lure next time you're out fishing for support.

Be Well and Fish Well, E...
 
#60 ·
Man O' Mighty! The last few months have flown by like nothing. My girlfriend ended up having two separate surgeries about a week and half apart. After all the healing she's been in radiation for the last 2 weeks and has about 7 more sessions to go. So as far as the breast cancer goes, things look reeeeeeeeal good, Thank God! However, with all the scans they did on her, they found other lumps/tumors in her gallbladder and on her liver. She has another surgery at the end of the month. The prognosis looks good though. They think everything is benign at this point and it's just a matter of removing them. There is a possibility they may take the entire gallbladder but they're not sure yet.

I've gotten a lot of PMs, txts, etc. from a ton of people on the site giving thoughts and prayers and just keeping in touch. Definitely appreciate all the thoughts from everyone. Though it's more for her than me. :D However I'm still on the site doing my usual thing, stirring up trouble and being a smart ass. LOL... Ya know when you're sitting in waiting rooms with nothing to do, you've got a PHONE, and it has a web browser, it's a good way to pass the time and get your mind off things.

Sooooo, it's been awhile since I actually got out and fished. But guess what, some time has opened up and things are better, so I've had a chance to make a few runs in the last couple of weeks. Some of you might remember, back in the Fall/Winter of 2014 into 2015, I was out fishing almost everyday from October to our first major freeze and snowfall in January 2015. In my yout (that's youth for non Brooklyn types), I always fished year round. Cold isn't an issue until your gear freezes up to the point of being unusable. So getting back out for the first time in a few months in the cold isn't a big deal for me. As other's have said on other threads, winter is a great time to fish. Nobody is out except the VERY FEW diehards and dedicated anglers. It's definitely a badge of honor in my book, especially when the temps are below 30 and you're not in a heated hut, lol.

So here's the deets. Made a few runs with ESF. Helped him net a decent catch, but when it was his turn to net my fish, well.... let's say he must have skipped class that day when they were teaching fish netting 101. LOL... Had about an 18 incher and held it close to shore for a good minute or two before he got off. No biggie, that's a catch in my book. Out solo I pulled in a few dink saugthings here and there and a 17 inch walleye. BUT, this last run was my best "winter" run so far this year. Being an old fart and fishing all over the SW since the mid 70's, I know a few places that are not very well known and great winter spots. The average person/angler would never think these places could be productive, especially in the cold of winter. I decided to visit a spot I hadn't fished in over 12 years. Arriving right at dusk, I went to work. Temp was 25 and the wind was nasty. Not sure if you'd call it heavy flurries or light snow, but it was coming down. First cast, fish on. A nice little 17. Things are good! Second cast, snag, lure lost, CRAP! Third cast, fish on, and a big one. I'm calling it 25". I couldn't get it lay flat for it's pics. I don't have a scale but this one was very fat. Kinda hard to tell in the pics. To me, this looks like a walleye. I've never been good at picking out the differences in the saugthing fishies and honestly don't care. If it's a walleye it's 3 inches short of FO. But to me, a good fish is a good fish, and this was a good fish. After I got him back in the water I continued to catch members of the saugthing family in the 13 to 18 inch range for the next 2 hours. The bite finally died off and ice was becoming an issue on my gear so I called it a night. It seemed like I had to clear my guides and line roller on every cast. Ended up hauling in 19 for the night. I think I caught the first 17 incher another 4 or 5 times, lol. They all look the same to me.

So while I have available time I'm going to take advantage of it. For you guys on the fence about saug/winter fishing, just go out and do it! You'll be glad you did. There's a ton of good info that EatSleepFish has posted and so has OldStinkyGuy. Check out their threads and get to some fishing!

Be Well and Fish Well, E...

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#61 ·
Hmm you forgot to mention the part about letting that head shaking fool go for another run out past my reach as you kept screaming HAHA I got fish!!!! I got fish!!! HAHA Some people can't control themselves under the pressure of those mighty 18 inch saugs lol
19 saugs in an outing ain't bad for an old fart who fishes with orange cheeto dust on his fingertips. I wonder if it's that florescent orange color that calls them from afar or that irresistible cheese flavoring. Either way well done! Oh and did that nice 25 incher hit that newest lure of yours? Folks, Mr. Strong here has a saug magnet and it really works! He takes one of those big campfire marshmallows, threads a few pretzel sticks into it, and adds a couple mini M&Ms for eyes. Those saugeye can't tell the difference between his topwater creation and a dung beetle so they hit it every time! Lol

Good to see you're finally back and catching fish(for once) :D
 
#65 ·
Hmm you forgot to mention the part about letting that head shaking fool go for another run out past my reach as you kept screaming HAHA I got fish!!!! I got fish!!! HAHA Some people can't control themselves under the pressure of those mighty 18 inch saugs lol
19 saugs in an outing ain't bad for an old fart who fishes with orange cheeto dust on his fingertips. I wonder if it's that florescent orange color that calls them from afar or that irresistible cheese flavoring. Either way well done! Oh and did that nice 25 incher hit that newest lure of yours? Folks, Mr. Strong here has a saug magnet and it really works! He takes one of those big campfire marshmallows, threads a few pretzel sticks into it, and adds a couple mini M&Ms for eyes. Those saugeye can't tell the difference between his topwater creation and a dung beetle so they hit it every time! Lol

Good to see you're finally back and catching fish(for once) :D
If I remember correctly, you were too scared to actually step in 4 inches of water (wearing waders) and reach far enough out for it, lol. I guess I shouldn't expect much from someone who's scared to reach into the bait bucket with his bare hand when there's crawdads in it. :p When it comes to catching fish, you're my Bad Luck Schleprock. I never catch anything when I'm out with you. All that happy helmet wearing screaming was due to the shock you didn't jinx me. LOL... The orange on my fingertips isn't cheeto dust, I used to work at Fernald, that's permanent. As far as rigs and lures go, you know I'm a fishing MacGyver. Best lure yet is a stick of dynamite tied to a rock and tossed out. Guaranteed to catch em every time! :D

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#69 ·
Had a chance to make a quick run this evening after our mini deep freeze and rain/sleet/snow finally passed. The water was up a bit, but still not like what we're used to as far as "Normal" summer levels go. It was about 30°F when I hit the water, ended up around 24°F when all was said and done.

Started off with some standard issue jerkbaits. About 20 mins in I lost a really nice saugthing, guessing 20-23 inches. Got it within 12 feet of the net and he shook the hook loose. My next escapee came about 10 minutes later on deep diving wide billed crank, I actually hooked into one of those stripey fish things. This one broke surface a few times and got off about 25 feet from the net. It made several good runs before getting off. So I continued with the crank for a while and hooked into a baby flattie, about 17 or 18 inches. This one fought pretty tough for being so cold out. I wasn't going to lose this one so I flipped on my headlamp, grabbed the net and waded into the shallows to get him. With the light on I could see his glowing eyes and he had a really dark mottled pattern. I could also see he was barely hooked, with one treble, right on the corner of his lip. I made a rush into deeper water (getting some in my boots as the water came over the top, damn), and I now I'm screaming No like Cleveland Brown on Family Guy when the bathtub falls out of his house; no no no No NO NOOOOOO!



Yeah, you guessed it. As all flatties do, as required by their fish laws, this one gave a couple of massive head shakes and twists and busted loose. Dude..... I'm like..... Really!?!?! So now I've got one wet foot, half a wet pant leg, and no fish. A few of those crane/egret things flew by squawking as if to mock me. Actually, those dorky birds were laughing their feathery butts off at me. "Damn you flying crap factories! Revenge will be mine!" I yelled into the night sky with raised fist. (I did use my Stewie Griffin voice, it really works with that phrase, try it). So I worked the crank for a bit with no additional luck. So I decided to work some jigs for a while. Not only did I work some jigs, I worked some jigs with the now infamous "Christmas Tree Light" grubs, made so popular by Trailbreaker. He's such a Genius. I worked these around for a bit, getting a couple of taps and misses but nothing major. So now the leg and foot are starting to enter that "pre-numb" stage. It's time to go. I don't do an official "last cast", I do 5 last casts, fanning it out 5 times in the general area before booking it. Cast 1, nothing. Cast 2, snag, do the "bow and arrow' trick, free the jig, back in business. Cast 3, leaves. CRAP!!! Cast 4, ok, something weird is pulling on this, ok, FISH ON! So, this is fish-on #4. But this one feels really different. I feel some fight, then I feel like I hooked a branch. I keep reeling this in and then I finally see it. Looks like a carp, maybe a buffalo, could be a drum, hmmmm. It's definitely not a Gar, lol. I get this one in AND get him in the net. Angels Rejoice! So I'm checking this dude out. I believe I just pulled a Quillback Carpsucker in, aka Carpiodes Cyprinus. At 20 inches, not too bad. Seems these guys are all the rage all of a sudden, lol.

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So even though I lost what I consider 3 really good quality fish, I'll settle for a 20 inch QuillbackRedhorseCarpBuffaloSucker Thing, lol.

Three things that also made the night a good one; Saw an amazing sunset (sorry no pics, was busy fishing), saw a river otter swimming the current then bust up on shore and run off like he was late for court. A pretty big one too, bigger than your average cat. Also saw a very bright shooting star. Caught that out of the corner of my eye it was so bright.

Should be back out for a few hit and run sessions this week while the sub 20°F temps stay away for the next few days. Nothing worse than frozen up gear. I will be shutting it down sometime soon for a few weeks to help out my girlfriend. We have to deal with this Gallbladder/Liver issue now. Surgery is the middle of next week. As far as the breast cancer, she is doing well! She's finally done with radiation, and it looks like she's going to beat breast cancer! Again, I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers, it means a lot.


Be Well and Fish Well, E...
 
#77 ·
We have some some ice coverage down here. It's always funny just going north from the top of 275 up to Centerville/Dayton area, and how the weather has left things very very different up there, lol.

I'll shoot you a txt and maybe we can meet up soon. I just had a B-Day so maybe we can do a December B-Day Catch a Fish or two thing, lol.

Speaking of fishing, I'm spooling up some fresh line as we type, and then it's out the door to chase some of those winter monkeys. :D

E...
 
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