nathanhooper

For some that would be slimy, for me it would be light and airy....

I figure that is the best thing also. It makes complete sense. That would only work with stripers/hybrids though. I would guess if you were chasing whites, walleye, or crappie you have to have another solution. Those species don't move around like the stripers/hybrids though do they? Not that I am after them right now, but I plan on it eventually. Trying to stick down a good over all approach to consistently coming home with fish, which ever it is I am trying for, without spending all my time in one area and having nothing to show for it. There are a few times when I just go out fishing for the heck of it, what ever bites is fine with me. But more often than not I am looking for something specific and for a good meal.

lol Yea, well I had written all of this way before your phone call. I deducted that the fish were there too little too late on Sunday. I say that, but really I figured it already, but not totally convinced till Sunday morning. But I learned a lot from the trip. I guess I am wondering more on when you have not received any tips or anything like that. When things have been quiet, and you go out looking for fish, do you base a spot being worth fishing on catching some or can you base it on seeing certain things on sonar? Seeing how I have not quite got the whole techniques of fishing down I am thinking I need more of a plan than I have had. I like the idea I have heard from some about trolling around till finding a decent spot and then picking that spot apart with other techniques. Some I have seen base that on catching fish, others on seeing fish on sonar. This is strictly summer fishing I am talking about. Fish seem to be more predictable for me in the spring.

Is it worth the effort? At what point do you determine there is sufficient evidence of fish in the area to fish it?

Camped at LBS this weekend so I decided to fish the area around point 5. I have to say that I have never seen so many guide boats in my life. I really don't have a full report or anything to give unfortunately. I am still on my learning curve, about midway I think(can see the straight away up ahead), so I managed just one big hybrid. Did not weigh him, but he was under 10 for sure. I took my brother and BIL out the times we went, but as camping and fishing goes(especially with lots of children), we did not manage to get a whole lot of time in fishing. Mainly just Saturday morning, which is when I caught that one, and Sunday morning when neither one wanted to get up early and I finally made it out by myself. The one I caught Saturday I found in a school. I was pulling my old indecisiveness trick again(think I have come to a good compromise on that) and I was set up for trolling. I did bring some live bait with me "just in case" I guess I thought because I did not pay much attention to the fact that I did not put a bubbler in the bucket for them. After trolling for a bit and not seeing much I decided to fish a spot someone told me about. Motored up and shut off the big motor before reaching it, put out the trolling motor and eased on up. My BIL had a small spinning setup and I handed him a live bait fish to put on and I had one pole set up myself for live bait so I put one on. We eventually eased on up to the little point/hump and I started marking a lot of big arches and got excited. Then all of a sudden I saw the screen full of them and I quickly reeled up my bait which was dragging behind us and told my BIL to do the same and let them straight down over the side. No sooner had I said that when one just slammed my bait and the fight was on. I am still not sure what happened with his bait and all. He never got a fish from it and I think its that he did not get it down far enough. So after getting the fish in the boat and deciding to go ahead and set up some more rods, knowing that if I had my setup already we would have had a lot more than one in the boat...aggravation...I went to the bait bucket to grab some lively bait and they were playing possum. So that kind of ended all of that real quick. Saw one of the biggest boils I had ever seen also. I have seen some where you'll see one or two every half second or so, kind of like the videos that have been posted here, but this one was beyond comparison. We had our backs to it, and a good ways off, when we heard this roar. Looked back to see a 50' radius or so that was covered in every square inch with fish on top. Had to have been hundreds of fish and only lasted maybe 15 seconds. This is the point when side scan sonar would have made all the difference. We tried looking for where they went, but did not know which way to look. Needless to say, there is some good striper/hybrid activity going on around the area. I saw guide after guide, and a lot of other guys fishing it also. One interesting thing is I got to see one guide motor around looking for fish. He came in late morning and stopped at one spot for a moment, then motored over to another to have a look, then to another, and then to another before leaving. Got me to really thinking about things a lot. He was not the only one I have seen do it before. I am sure he has side scan, which lets him pick apart a lot more water than just traditional sonar, but got me to thinking that I should start being a little more active in locating fish rather than hoping for them. I know that I am not always going to see large schools on my sonar, but I would think that finding a good number of them would prove better than not looking much at all. I've caught fish without seeing them on sonar before, but thinking back when I would catch a lot of whites or even walleye, I would always have a lot of indication on sonar. I also know that just seeing them does not equal catching, and that's where my other lightbulb has gone off. I have 4 main rods I use. In the past(up till yesterday, lol) I have had all 4 set up for either trolling or live bait. Now I am going to take 2 and leave them set up for trolling, and 2 for live bait. Sounds so simple when I say it, not sure why I have not done it up till this point. I know it does not take much to switch one out, but when your over a big school of fish like I was Saturday morning you sure do wish you didn't have to spend the time tying on different setups.

Coming from a water treatment perspective, heat and sun really help clear "particles" from the water. Mainly just help them drop out quicker. Don't see much issue in summer flood events as fall, winter, spring ones.

Man I wish I had side scan

I had a couple steal my little guys this weekend. Very interesting how they do that. Wondered if a longer leader would allow them to take it easier. If it was happening consistently couldn't see why a stinger hook couldn't be set close to the tail and still allow the bait to swim free?

Nice doc. I experience the same thing with live bait a lot of times. Been thinking I might make my leaders longer. I'll have to dig up some of them clothes you speak of so I can start fishing daylight hours.

lol. That was my first thought. My second was that my whole boat may just be a banana. Hit the nail on the head. Ever seen them guys that spend more time tying lures on than actually fishing the lures.... I like to try a lot of things for sure. I'll eventually settle down on one thing or another, given the right circumstances. I realize that I will always have to keep an open mind for changing conditions, but right now I do not know what conditions require the correct presentations/technique. Funny thing is that while I am flexible in my approach, I am not flexible enough while in the boat. You tried several things last night which is what I need to do. I just need to have a method for doing them. I'm learning thanks to you guys. Detailed reports help to see how people do things. I did not grow up in a fishing household at all. I managed to get some tackle sometimes and hit the local ponds, and when we went to the lake for a day out I'd get to fish big water. But I was on my own. Its just been the last few years that I've started putting together different things. It all came together wonderfully this spring, and I am sure it will again next spring. So now it may take a few summers, but eventually it will click. I am sure the new boat has something to do with your thing doc. Maybe its too shiny on the bottom.

I appreciate the offer. I'm more than likely not going to be trying it anytime soon though. So many things on my plate that adding another wont help much I don't think. Would be nice for having some good bait as I've never fished with actual shad before. But I think I'll stick to the other methods for now.

It was a nice evening out. And the fish did seem active, but must have been locked on to something else for food. I feel your pain way too much, seeing a lot of fish and not being able to get them to bite.

Interesting. I've never tried it, and cant say I am itching to either. But maybe I will one day just for grins and giggles....er.....or cussing and swearing. I've seen it done and people make it look very easy. Ive thrown a net before just messing around trying to catch perch and had a heck of a time.

Even during the summer? I have often wondered how hard it would be to try to net some shad on Beaver.

Nice haul. Good eats!

Yea, take a video of what they look like in the water. I would sure like to see if they will produce like the shads.

ooooooooohhhhhhhhh.......me like!

I said I'd report back on my excursion last night, so here is my report. I fished two different area's that I have seen fish in. I wanted to get right to fishing instead of looking since I did not get out till 6. I marked a lot of fish in both area's, but could not get a hit for the life of me. Between the wind and the waves, that live bait thing was a complete wash. Part of it was also my stubbornness of trying to use more poles than I should have. I never got the 5th in the water because it would have been the straw that broke the camels back. Ok, so maybe I am exaggerating just a little. Still yet, I would liken what I was doing last night to trying to "drift" live bait down the Colorado river.... I could not keep the boat where I wanted nor the speed I wanted. I tried it two different ways, one with the oz sinker and the other with just a splitshot. So, I think that in the future I will keep a plan B on board. I believe I could have had better luck trolling some cranks of some type. At least I could have controlled my boat better doing that. I might have to quit trying to figure this out via the internet and actually get in the boat with someone who is experienced with such things. But I don't feel too bad about last night because it turns out that my neighbor has had some good fishing experiences in the Gulf and up in Canada. Not that it would not have been nice to catch a fish, but just not the same as seeing someone who has never caught big fish reel one in. I'll be out this weekend, if the rain holds off long enough to get out. I'll have my bro and BIL with me, along with their kids at various times, so hopefully I'll be able to track down some hungry stripers for them to get on to. Not sure about my BIL, but my bro hasn't gotten on one yet and I want to set him up with one. His kid is a pretty serious fisherman too, and I'm sure he would have a huge grin on his face seeing a big fish at the end of his line. Really, for me, that's what makes it worth while going out with others. I've been fortunate to be able to be that "other guy" in the boat with others and I just want to pass that on.

Oh, now that's just wrong. You cant post mouth watering pictures like that for guys to sit and drool over all day long at work! Very cruel! That looks very good.

You'll need a spotter. Holler at me when you decide to go out.

Nice catch. It's amazing what trolling around will put in the boat. And at that time if day it's nice too. Well, nice to catch fish, not so nice weather unless there is shade.

In my digging on the internet there seems to be a lot of yak striper hunters on lake Lanier. They do very well with the above mentioned tactics as far as I can tell. Yea, I am looking forward to trying out something new tonight. I never thought about a small bait trying to swim its way down, but it makes sense that it would not want to just sit at the top of the water. I guess I just assumed that during the summer you had to put the bait down to their level. But from my last outing last week I am starting to think that them stripers don't look at water depth like a electric fence or anything. Meaning that they could very well come right up to within feet of the top of the water if they see something they like. I also know from doing a little soaking with my wife in the water that just feet below the surface it gets quite chilly. Hopefully tonight, and the rest of the week, they will like what they see. I know it will sure put some big smiles on some guys faces.

Should I put a "buy one get one free" sign on my bait...

I like to live on the wild side! lol. I have something in mind I think. I am actually going to try with 5 rods. Yes, call me crazy, but hopefully it will work without too much hassle and produce a fish to boot! At least trying new things will keep it interesting for me. The way I did it last weekend was straight below the boat, as far out as the rods would reach 6'-7'. But in doing that I did notice that I would have quite a few lookers, but no takers. Being out by the boat I could see my bait and the arches/lines come up to look at them. They would scare the fire out of the little fish, but never bite. I am wondering if the lead weight and being directly inline with the boat above them caused the apprehension of the fish to bite. This should be fun.

Not sure of the exact laws, but I am pretty sure from my digging that there is no import of fish from outside of Arkansas allowed.