Feathers and Fins

Ill bring one

Most welcome I was glad I was able to put you on them.

I like the bottom bouncer because I have positive control to the bottom with a lower percentage of snags, you can always adjust length from the weight up to the swivel, If I use my 12' crappie rods I can have 12' of line. watching the sonar tells me where I need to set the depth for that way I can target a very specific depth the fish are in. It does take some math in your head if you are angled out but its not to hard to figure.

So here it is I use a 1 to 2oz bottom bouncer 18'' to 2' below a three-way swivel. then off the other end a 3' to 4' leader to the hook with either a slow death hook no beads or a bead spinner combination ( this is one RPS made for me ) the main line to the rod. I thread an entire night crawler on the hook from the tip to one hook shank length past the egg-sack (old timer term) / Clitellum. and make sure the beads are 4 to 6'' above the hook. Then I drop the rig down and put the boat in motion with the electronics and let out line just enough so its ticking the bottom in the desired depth and no more. The 1oz weight will work with no problem from .5 to 1.3mph in 15 to 25fow. The 2oz weights work great in speeds up to 3.0 mph and 25 fow to 40fow.

I only used one Pole yesterday lol. I will take a picture of the set-up in a few minutes after coffee and post.

The clicker has turned in to a great joke between us. But him bringing and Ice-chest is priceless and guarantees I will out fish him.

Glen, I am all for more enforcement not just for drinking and boating, but I also know those who are drinking on the water are probably still under the influence when they drive home and after loosing friends to dui drivers I am all for stopping it anyway they can. However I am also all for the enforcement for keeping the water safe. We all see the wake boats and cruiser cutting way to close to people and zipping past docks throwing massive wakes along with the blaring music etc. And im for safety inspection. With AGFC out they will be checking fishing regs as well and im all for it. To me I really don't see a downside to them doing their jobs. Remember in AR you are responsible for your wake and that is one I really want to see them writing for. I have a 190 tracker and it takes a heck of a lot to put a wake in the boat but its happened 3 times this year now, I can only imagine how bad it is for Yaks, Canoes and smaller boats. Its sad imo they have to have a """Operation""" to get enforcement out and about.

been nice to have asked and had an answer first before you just did it, but sure go ahead

yes he does lol

Updated June 28th 2014

Thanks, ya they have been hanging in that depth all week ( crappie ). I did want to note, the crappie with the ziptie is J-docs if you are fishing together its a fast easy way to positively keep your fish separated as to who owns which fish and will save a citation potentially.

Brett, your unit is showing a very clear pic best I have seen out of the that model. Its whites / hybrids / stripers based on your info of where you were. they have been there all week at that depth with the bait at the same depth you are showing. the streaking arches appear to be active fish. Zarra is dead on with playing with boat speed to trigger a bite and if it doesn't work when I see active fish like that I would pull a spoon out fast they will hit it. Here is a few I took earlier from the same area first is a sidescan then and up and down. I verified the species by catching them and the aquavu. I would say you have your unit dialed in great I wouldn't mess with it.

I am a firm and staunch supporter of our constitution and when a wife is involved that is not my own I invoke the 5th LOL. Glad I can help. It was tough out there today with no doubts.

No clue amigo but it was like fishing in the middle of the week. Doc and I had a great time with no hassles or annoyances best summer weekend day trip I think I have ever had on Beaver ever. I don't know why or what but sure was nice.

I switch them out to trokars almost as fast as I can. The factory hooks are good but I just like more beef on the hooks.

Area;................... Rocky Branch region Water Temp;...... 79.7 Clarity:................5 to 6 fow Bait:....................Crawler Harness, slow death rig and flicker shad #7 in avocado and pearl white Wind:.................. South at 15 to 20 Sky:.................... Cloudy with periods of drizzle Fish:...................2 Small stripers, 1 White, 5 crappie, 5 walleye and 1 catfish from 5:30am to 2:30pm. No surface activity to speak of today. We started off trolling in the morning to no avail and then tried the worm harness with only 1 catfish to show for it and a small striper. The wind was to harsh to stay where we were at so headed to a more sheltered area and it was dead slow till about 10am when I connected with a 22'' walleye followed by a couple short ones then a 20'' walleye. We tried that till about 1pm and the bite just shut down on the crawlers so back to trolling picking up 5 nice crappie. Walleye were in 20 to 25fow and the crappie were in 30fow suspended at 12 to 15 when the sun came out about 2pm they sunk down below 20 pretty fast. It was a tough day out there for sure but a good one listening to some Ron White and Blazing Saddles. J-doc with a handful of Crappie And the full guest list for dinner

Great report. and good eats

Had no issues today fished fromt 5:30 to 2;30 and saw maybe 10 total boats of which only 1 was a wake boat 1 ski boat and one pontoon that was trying to be a wake boat we think. No sheriff no f&g no cg.

You are cheating using Halibut!!!!!

Glen to me it must be exact for the type of fishing I do while trolling. I know for instance my module is 1' under water when trolling and I adjusted the unit for keel depth so it shows true depth from ( -1 + 2.0 = 0 water level ) then to verify the depth im running the baits at I have a long flat that is verified 20fow by dropping line down and then measuring the line with a tape. I repeat this all the way up to 5fow and check it against the depth finder. Then run different baits on the flat till they hit bottom to make the determination of how deep they actually get.

1. never run in the school with the big motor. shut it down at least 100 yards from the school and use your electric to get parallel to the direction they are going 2. Use popper style baits first if they don't take it switch to a small swimbait ive been using the bobby Garland baby shads if they are bigger fish go with a keitech swing impact 3. have a good pair of bino's on the boat and keep an eye on the water for them many times you will see a pattern develop where they want to come up.

Nope, 140 back at 2 to 2.5 with 10lb floro I can only barely hit 12 with them.

They are a good shallow water bait but difficult to get below 12ft without weight, leadcore or downriggers is my draw backs to them. Same issue I have with thin fins which I love. Warts The wart on the other hand will attain deeper depth and I use them when fish go deep with a decent degree of success. All three have their place for certain, my thing is find the bait that works best cost the least and stick with it to save on space in the boat.

I use a mushroom 10lb anchor straight to the rope for most cases if there is a wind I can add 10 ft of chain. That said the vast majority of night fishing on Beaver is tied up to tree's or the 12 bridge and you don't need an anchor for that in fact it can be a hindrance more than an aid.

Its ok Mine is doing summer school this year and got home and said FEED ME.. So I had to get to it.