Jump to content

mixermarkb

Fishing Buddy
  • Posts

    1,299
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    7

Everything posted by mixermarkb

  1. Hey guys- I know this is a huge can of worms, and there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to fishing- but I've been reading some stuff online trying to get a clearer picture in my head of why I do what I do as far as seasonal patterns on the White river lakes. If you define the seasons as Winter, Early Pre Spawn, Late Pre Spawn/Spawn, Post Spawn, Summer, and Fall, what surface temps make YOU look to change up to the next season. What areas/structure do you look for the fish in each season, and what do you throw? What do you change on a clear calm day vs. a day with clouds and wind?
  2. That's exactly what I did. Being an audio engineer, I've driven half my life on tours and to one off shows, usually in a 26' box truck, so driving 4 hours is no big deal. Driving 4 hours after a full day of fishing and getting up at 4am was WAY HARDER. On the plus side, the muscle pain kept me wide awake for the trip though, lol I'm a slow learner though, I'm sure I will do it again in a week or two. Gotta fish while the fishing is good and before summer concert season kicks in...
  3. Ugh. Please don't tell me that. It's band enough now! These trips never hurt quite as much ten years ago!!! In all seriousness, I really am trying to change some diet, move around a little more, and get in a little better shape. My little guy is 3, and I want to make sure and be around many years for him. Carrying about 40 extra pounds around isn't going to help that. I'm not looking to be a full on health food nazi, but there are some easy changes that my wife has dragged me into making with her that will help her auto-immune disease and help my general health as well.
  4. Thanks Matt! Nice meeting ya, would like to have talked fishing more but my wife had me on a schedule that day! Thanks for the good words here!
  5. Hi Guys- Back home in STL from a whirlwind down and back trip to Bull, feeling old and beat down. Hit the water at 9:45, off at 5:30. I didn't get the 6+ pound LMB I was hunting, but I had something like 8 keepers, best 5 for 13-14 pounds. Had 2 smallies in the 19" range (bump board ends at 18") and a long and skinny 3.5 pound largemouth that I'm guessing was a big male. Smallies and the 3 pound LMB were all still on bluff end or steep banks, found spotted bass on flats in the back of pockets, could probably have had a lot of fun with Mr. Ned or a grub, but I was big game hunting. I had a game plan today of chasing the wind in the clearer water from around Oakland to the Music/Coon area, and was looking for big fish, not numbers. I rigged up one Falcon super duty with an Arig, and a second with a RIver to Sea S jointed swimbait, and kept my old faithful wart and jerkbait out as well. I really didn't get quite as much wind as I was hoping for until late afternoon. Water temps are still low 50's in the clear stuff, and there are STILL dead and dying shad around, not as bad as last week, but still there. I gave up in the clear stuff around 3, and fished transitions in the Theodosia arm with the cranks and caught a few shorts and a couple keeper spots. I was really trying to commit to the big bait, big fish theory, and wow, do I ever feel it after casting those seven and a half foot, extra heavy action rods all day! I guess it was a half success, as every fish that hit the Arig was a keeper, but no love on the swimmer. One of these days that bait is going to catch hawgs, but I just haven't gotten it in front of the right fish yet I don't think. Anyway... My back! Oh my back!!!!! I'm very out of shape with my fishing muscles- I caught the fats over the winter! P.S. lots of boats out today, good luck to all the derby guys tomorrow, I think there must be more than one... I'm off of here to take some Motrin and a hot shower...lol This post has been promoted to an article
  6. Oh, and the bait shop at 160 and 76 is good. The folks that run it used to run the Winter Bass O thon derbies, and they are good people, with lots of the right baits and things you need.
  7. I’d say as long as you stay up lake of about Tucker Hollow, you will be ok. Main lake opens up a lot, and there are a few wide open areas that can get crazy. Good news is fish on Bull love the wind. Don’t be afraid to fish windy banks, should have a good bite.
  8. Anyone write their game plan down and take it with them? I'm actually thinking about taping some notes to my graphs to help remind me about some key things I tend to forget in the moment. How about fishing apps? Anything out there that can help with game planning, maybe store waypoints with notes about what is there? I've messed with a few, but haven't seen anything yet that stored fish pics, notes, and waypoints fast enough to not get in the way of the bite, and allow for editing and filling in the details later.
  9. I'm going on the third year of my everstart maxx 29's. I can tell they aren't holding like they used to, and I'll buy a new set as soon as I have available funds when my work season gets rolling. Dual pro charger here as well. My problem is that I keep my boat in a storage unit with no electric. I try to charge after fishing, but as often as not I fish until I have to leave for home and end up putting the boat away for weeks without charging the trollers. It's outright abuse, and nothing can be expected to last season after season doing that. The bass pro AGM's did best for me, some years ago, but in running the numbers it just wasn't worth paying the price for them. Cheaper replaced faster is a better deal for me.
  10. I never seem to get any more than 3 years, max, out of a set of troller batteries. Usually just 2 years. I've run several brands, including Optima's. I read about the guys getting 5 years out of a set of batteries with jealousy, but it's never happened for me. I just decided to go with Walmart specials, and replace every 2 years. I wish I could say the more expensive ones last longer, but the way I abuse them, they don't.
  11. Check the water in it? You may be able to get a little more life out of it by topping off the water if it isn’t a sealed battery, but it sounds to me you will be in the market for a new deep cycle battery.
  12. I think if I ever marshal a tournament, one of the things I'd like to do most is start a timer on each spot, and just see how the different fishermen use the clock. I heard lots of guys at the classic weigh in say "if I only had one more hour..." I bet even Christie as amazing as he is, at some level is kicking himself for not changing up at some point and catching one more keeper. Fishing is a game of mental decisions, and it helps me to get a window into how others think- especially when I'm sitting in STL on a cloudy day in the spring when I know I could be grinding the lips off warts and catching bass!
  13. I guess if I had two or three days to prefish, I'd be more likely to commit to one location or better yet one pattern. I've seen it work too, but I've also seen the very best fishermen in the world lose by not changing up when the fish change. Keep the replies coming guys, I am learning from all of you!
  14. How long on a spot is too long? I know there isn't any one answer, it's all a feel thing for the conditions, but I have left fish that I should have stayed and caught, and I've stayed on a spot and tried to force a bite when it was never gonna happen. If, and this is a big IF, because mental discipline is HARD, my head is in the game, I've done my best with hitting a spot where I catch fish again with the same bait one or two more times, and a follow up bait for a couple casts, and then moving on to find something similar. Sometimes I will get excited about "the pattern" I think I've found and leave a spot too soon, without thoroughly fishing it, and sometimes I will stay on a spot and beat it to death with everything in the box.
  15. Nice green fish, and nice Champion. Wish I had a better pic of how that graph was mounted, I'd like to do the same on mine but couldn't find a mount to fit there.
  16. I think if I'm honest, most of the time when I'm spending waaaay too long on a spot, I'm fishing a memory instead of actually putting together a picture of what's currently happening. Still though, I'm in awe of those guys who always seem to figure them out fast enough to do damage in a day. Get me some clouds and wind and I can usually put it on them, flat calm and high skies and I'm scratching my head as often as not.
  17. I think any post Ficht (99ish?) model year of rude is gonna be a good motor, and the etec seems a step above "good". With any used boat, have someone you trust do a compression check, and check the lower unit oil before you buy it, but I wouldn't be at all scared about a blue motor. There are less of them around, but that's more of a marine industry quirky political thing than a reflection on quality.
  18. I found I started catching more fish when I set a timer of 10 or 15 minutes, and if I haven't caught a keeper on a spot by then, I'm out of there. If I do catch a keeper, I'm trying to get better about pulling a u-turn and rolling back through that location again, with a logical change-up if what caught the first keeper doesn't pay off. I do think I still get too stubborn on lure choice sometimes. I will finish a day and think man, I should have picked up _____________ and given it a shot before I tried a different location. In talking to Edwin Evers at a bass pro meet and greet, he said when prefishing he seldom makes more than 3-5 casts without a bite without changing something up, either retrieve speed, color, or lure choice. That seems awfully fast to put something down to me, but it's pretty clear it works for EE. I don't often get to fish for more than a day at a time, and I'm usually trying to figure out a pattern rather than running something specific I've got figured out before hand. I still think I waste too much of a day grinding at unproductive water, but it's hard to "fish slow fast" this time of year.
  19. Hey guys- For those of you that fish derbies, or even just for fun fishing, how long do you fish a spot before you move on? How many different baits do you try? And how many casts with a given bait before you pick up something else? How much do your electronics figure in to this decision? What makes you make a 180 and make a big change? (Like run up a creek for color vs. fish clear water or vice versa) How does this mental game change for you on derby day vs prefishing days? As I watch the Classic coverage, I'm really noticing that the very best guys out there, are the best at time management, and just seem to have a sixth sense on when to pull up the troller and move on. I know that's not accidental, soooo.. Discuss.
  20. Uber.
  21. Yep, he had a good time. Better days are coming soon, I may let him miss a day or two of school after Easter and come down and catch a bunch. I think in the big picture a couple days of missed grade school is a fair trade for a couple days of no electronics, no internet, no video games, and being outside.
  22. Oh, still tons of dead and dying shad everywhere. Tons.
  23. Same. Got 2 bass for the father in law, and a decent spot for Sid. I had another nice smallie, a couple keeper spots and 6 or 7 shorts. I feel like the fish are grouped up, but I also felt like those groups were miles away from anywhere I was fishing. Oh well, nice day to be outside, even if it wasn't a 30 bass day.
  24. Hey Ham- I had him with a 3.8 kietech on one of those owner weighted hooks with the underspin blade, and the father in law was throwing his smoke grub that I showed him a couple years ago, and the Ned for a few minutes. They should have been getting bit had I really found anything to speak of. I'm pretty sure tomorrow will be a better bite. High skies and no wind is always tough, and I was moving around quite a bit trying to cover water and find fish. Was down a graph at the console, got that fixed when I got off the water, so I'll be a better guide tomorrow I'm sure lol- and if not, I'll be a hero in a couple weeks when we come back after Easter.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.