conorsixtakc

if that's what you consider slow fishing, id hate to fish against you on a good day. very nice fish WW.

This has always been the toughest time of year for me, especially being located at 7mm... I don't even try! Ready for next month though!

When I was probably ten years old, I was walking the docks as I grew up doing as a kid down at LOZ. I remember seeing a fish that didnt' belong and it scared the hell out of me! I was walking to the back of our dock and it was a very calm day, must've been spring or fall. The only thing I can remember about the conditions were glassy water and sun. As I get to the back of our dock and look down, a long fish that had to have been 3.5'-4' swam right out from under the flotation I was standing on... it's dorsal had to have been touching the flotation it was so close to the surface. What scared me was that it didn't have a long bony snout like a gar, rather a rounded flat mouth like a miniature gator! In hindsight it could've only been a northern pike or a tiger muskie, but the moment was very real indeed. I would be surprised if he caught a northern pike, but part of me believes the claim based on my experience. And after all, LOZ holds the state record tiger muskie...

^ this, and you can bet once that squirrel finally gets a nut it's off to the nearest soapbox to stand on.

A six pack of Boulevard Single Wide IPA has been my go-to every first night down for the last few years, you'll realize how important fishing really is when that 5am alarm goes off a few hours after bedtime! I wouldn't draw any conclusions, just sounds like you're due! If anything, You could always switch it up and get away from the jig game for a bit... maybe spend the early part of next year through late spring working a jerkbait in prespawn areas and along docks. Must've had one leftover from the night before in this pic...

Caught plenty of fish despite the party on Saturday. No lunkers, but numbers weren't hard to catch. The tube drew in the dinks but a spinnerbait in/ahead of current seams produced the better bites. All brown fish. Thanks to you guys I made sure to bring my finesse spinnerbait along! All in all a fun time on the water with the Mrs. and caught a few fish, all I could really ask for.

Beautiful fish. Looks like she's touching 5.

Thanks for the feedback Amery. That's the way I prefer to fish em I just didn't know how snaggy it would be in a stream, hence me asking about texas rigging. I usually drag and bottom bounce them on points/flats on a certain reservoir back in KS for smallmouth, but seldom around really rocky stuff. I plan on probing the deepest/rockiest/woodiest pools I can find with it. Not too concerned about hookset ratios dropping with the texas rig, but if I can get away with an exposed hook jig head and not lose half a dozen to snags I'll fish it that way for sure.

Thanks for the advice Amery. Do you run your tubes on tube jigs with an exposed hook, or do you texas rig em on the elk?

Yes and yes. My only hours outside of the party will probably be early, so I'll see if I can't get my wade on before the zombies crawl out!

I'll be on the Elk this Saturday

good stuff, we will lol

friends camp/float. didn't pick it, just along for the ride.

Thanks! I'm not doubting anybody on here, just fishing regardless.

If I had multiple opportunities to fish it per year I may, but I'm willing to tough it out considering this will be my only trip. Just can't bear hearing smallmouths smack the surface without a stick in my hand. Made it work a few weekends ago at LOZ in a kayak, with mid-Saturday boat traffic. I'm willing to put up with the crazies if it means a chance at a good fish...

Greetings! Long time LOZ poster, first time Elk River poster so here we go... I'll be canoeing with the wife and another couple this weekend, putting in at River Ranch, I've floated the Elk & North Fork several times, but this will be the first time I'll have a couple sticks with me on the Elk Not asking for any trade secrets here, just a critique of what I plan on bringing... and whatever else you're willing to share/recommend! Going after brown/green fish... Rapala Skitter Pop (firetiger) Stanley Ribbit (green or green/red) 1/8oz, 3 1/2" Finesse Tube (green pumpkin) Tiny Deep Rebel Craw (light green/orange) 3/32oz Ned Rig (pbj and green pumpkin) Thoughts? Am I missing anything? Thanks in advance!

I noticed you posing the same question on the Stockton forum to guys posting reports... I think whether or not he ate them is beside the point... That wiper's got some shoulders on it!

Hopefully!

I ran into the same issue this weekend (granted I probably didnt see as much water as you, Wrench) but found a few good bites under a dock with a good amount of brush, on a shoreline parallel with the creek channel. The sun was high so that helped with them seeking shade under it, and water was a little deeper than the other dock's i'd been fishing at the back of it (roughly 18'). Moving the jig fairly quickly seemed to help... They didn't seem to be as heavily cued in on wood as they normally are this time of year, I didn't catch a single fish dragging a worm through my usual brush piles...

Believe me I would have killed for one this weekend, and probably boated more quality fish on that pattern if I had a way to cover more water, and a trolling motor to keep me in place. The rough water isn't so bad when you're catching em

Thanks guys!

Had a limited amount of quality time on the water this weekend... Fishing around the 7mm on a sunny summer weekend out of a kayak isn't easy! Much respect to anybody out there that does it well and often (and lives to tell about it!!) The back of my cove was just full of baby shad Friday. Couldn't do anything with a spinnerbait... Got there just as it started getting hot again so that may have had something to do with it, but caught two decent schooling largemouths over deeper water with a Norman Deep N. One more dink with the Deep N off the back corner of a dock. Threw worms, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and spooks all in the back of my cove in an effort to stay out of traffic, but just couldn't put anything together... So I decided to try the deeper rougher stuff... Ended up catching two goodins off a deeper dock out on the main arm (over 18-20FOW) on a half ounce black & blue football jig... The first one spit the jig right back at me in front of the kayak after coming up quick and jumping, but the second one stayed buttoned. Not many photos to show, but successfully fishing that football jig in deep rough water, in the middle of the day, and out of a kayak felt very rewarding.

NianguaMark - you can pretty much take anything related to trolling as gospel if its coming from Mike. He's about as systematic as they come!

Good stuff as always wrench, keep it coming...