I started really early at 4:00am to try and catch my own bait. Rudy had his dock light on so I tried there. I didn't see much bait but a bunch of fry clouds. What fry I don't know. I "threw" my net for half an hour and hit the dock/pilings half the time. I ended up with zip. Fortunately after I delivered Kathy F's T-shirt she most kindly and generously offered some bait from her cage. I graciously and enthusiastically accepted.
A big goal for Wed was to scout for fish in preparation for the DGIF Striper Workshop on Friday. So I started trolling as I left Kathy's and just across the river banged the first fish at 5:50am. A very nice 26.5". I don't think I even saw anything on the sonar. So I kept trolling that side all the way to the Coast Guard Station. I only saw a few scattered fish but it was much than I've seen all this spring. Nothing popped so I ran down to Betty's. As I trolled in I was seeing scattered fish and a couple small pods but no schools. I did see a good group way in the back and turned around to try them again. Before I got there I ran over a really good bunch of fish. It was enough for me to stop the boat and drop some bait, and that's really saying something. Another boat or two were there but nobody hooked up.
I was hanging around Betty's waiting for club member Bruce to deliver a reel to be fixed and got a call that the fish were on in Becky's. Needless to say I was late getting to Becky's after waiting for Bruce. I stuck it out back in Becky's and zig-zagged the river channel and finally picked up a frisky 23". I wasn't going to keep it but even using circle hooks he was hooked deep in the throat and bleeding. That was the first time (in many years) that I had a circle hook that deep. One more place to check, so I ran up to R31 and started trolling that stretch. When I got to R34 I saw a bunch of fish strung out along the bank. Nothing hit trolling so I dropped bait. As I was slowly moving along the shore I started throwing a jig, letting it sink to the bottom, then swimming/hopping/sweeping it back to the boat. I hooked up with a good fish and almost had it in the boat when he spit the hook, or something. I don't know exactly what happened there. So I kept pulling the bait around and finally got a nice 28" in the boat. Too bad I already had two smaller fish in the livewell. By then it was past noon and already VERY hot and humid, so I called it quits. I'm sure we'll get some fish for the Scouts on Friday.
Later Joel
A big goal for Wed was to scout for fish in preparation for the DGIF Striper Workshop on Friday. So I started trolling as I left Kathy's and just across the river banged the first fish at 5:50am. A very nice 26.5". I don't think I even saw anything on the sonar. So I kept trolling that side all the way to the Coast Guard Station. I only saw a few scattered fish but it was much than I've seen all this spring. Nothing popped so I ran down to Betty's. As I trolled in I was seeing scattered fish and a couple small pods but no schools. I did see a good group way in the back and turned around to try them again. Before I got there I ran over a really good bunch of fish. It was enough for me to stop the boat and drop some bait, and that's really saying something. Another boat or two were there but nobody hooked up.
I was hanging around Betty's waiting for club member Bruce to deliver a reel to be fixed and got a call that the fish were on in Becky's. Needless to say I was late getting to Becky's after waiting for Bruce. I stuck it out back in Becky's and zig-zagged the river channel and finally picked up a frisky 23". I wasn't going to keep it but even using circle hooks he was hooked deep in the throat and bleeding. That was the first time (in many years) that I had a circle hook that deep. One more place to check, so I ran up to R31 and started trolling that stretch. When I got to R34 I saw a bunch of fish strung out along the bank. Nothing hit trolling so I dropped bait. As I was slowly moving along the shore I started throwing a jig, letting it sink to the bottom, then swimming/hopping/sweeping it back to the boat. I hooked up with a good fish and almost had it in the boat when he spit the hook, or something. I don't know exactly what happened there. So I kept pulling the bait around and finally got a nice 28" in the boat. Too bad I already had two smaller fish in the livewell. By then it was past noon and already VERY hot and humid, so I called it quits. I'm sure we'll get some fish for the Scouts on Friday.
Later Joel
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