Quillback

Awesome, see you then!

OK, I am booked for a cabin and I have rented one of the G3 bass boats for Saturday and Sunday. Open seats for 2 people if anyone wants to fish with me. At 50% discount, heck I can stay at the cabin cheaper than staying at home. 😀

I'm getting my own place so I can exit before the couch tossing starts. I'm old, I like to go to bed early in peace and quiet. 😀

Yep, a bad day fishing beats a good day sitting in the house watching soap operas. 😀

Fished one day with an OA member that doesn't post here anymore and he threw a jerkbait probably 15 feet up into a tree that was on a steep rocky bank where there was no way we could get to it. He had to break it off. It was still up there a year later.

Didn't have time yesterday to tell yet another crazy early morning vehicle incident. Towing the boat on county road E, a few miles from the launch, it is around 0645, just getting light with heavy fog. Out of nowhere a pickup truck, with no headlights on, flies by, passing me in a no-passing zone. The road was going up a little hill so you can't see any oncoming traffic thus the no-passing deal. If someone had been coming over that hill, it would've been a bad head-on wreck. And to top it off, once over that little hill there is a straight away where you can pass.

Not much to report as I only caught 3 sub-legal bass and a 14" walleye. The spots that held them a couple of weeks ago are barren of fish. I know of some people getting them elsewhere on the lake, so they are biting, but not for me today.

Some awesome looking food!

Looks like they have stopped the drop. I thought they might once it got down to 915.

I've had the snap off happen a time or two in my life, and also the cast too far that ends up in a tree, and one of my favorites is tying a knot, go to cut off the tag end, make a mistake and cut the main line and then watch the lure drop into the lake a disappear in the depths - of course it never happens with a top water.

I'm going to make a reservation in the next few days. If anyone wants to split a 2 person unit, let me know, if not I'll book one of the one person deals. I checked out Phils bass boats that he rents, they look to be great rigs to fish the river. I plan on renting one for Friday and Saturday, they can fish 3 so if anyone wants to split a rental boat with me let me know.

👍

Dang, that is getting close.

I'll go for that one, it's a lot closer to home. Any date set for that one?

Thanks for asking, but I'm out this year. Hope you guys catch them and looking forward to seeing some pics!

Yeah, not my kind of fishing weather.

I never made them myself, but my mom used to make them, she'd make the dumplings from scratch. I do know an easy way to make dumplings, take soft flour tortillas, tear them into chunks and simmer them in the chicken part of the process. It's surprising but the tortillas make excellent dumplings, and it sure is easier.

Are you anti-fish finder? 😀 You can get a Humminbird Helix 5 for $320 at TW. You'd probably need to purchase a TM mount transducer also. Are you targeting smallmouth?

Had a somewhat frustrating day. Started off with a swimbait bite on a location that has been holding fish for the last couple of weeks, but after catching several it died off quickly. Moved to another location, it was flat calm at that spot and a top water bite was going on. Scattered fish chasing shad. I caught a couple of them but had another 10 or so that swirled at the lure and missed in entirely, or would briefly grab it and come off. I was also marking fish both suspended and, on the bottom, but could not get those jokers to bite the swimbaits, spoons, and tail spinner I threw at them. I left, came back to this location later when the wind started blowing, anticipating that would put off the top water bite which it did. Caught a few on a swimbait and a finesse football jig dragged on the bottom, but it was far from a hot bite. At the end of the day, stopped at a steep chunky rock bank to throw the Ned rig and caught a 14" smallmouth and a spot before heading in. I ended up with 18 bass, 2 of them keepers. Talked to Tom W. later that day, he and his wife caught 70+ bass on spoons and jigs at a location I cannot name, so they were biting there. WT 55

Nice fat healthy striper!

Heck yeah, you gotta get out there and get those smallmouth, they ought to be biting.

Forgot to add, they have been running water, level has dropped a foot and a half in the last week.

Been 10 days or so since the last time I was here with Dutch, the water has cleared a bit and some of the fish have moved. Caught some little 10-12 inch spots on top in the Big M cove early, they were chasing shad, but didn't see any bass of any size. That bite lasted about 15 minutes, then shut down, so down the lake I went. The spot where Dutch and I got them, still had some fish, but not as many as last time and they were out a bit deeper - 30 feet or so. I think I caught 15 in that spot on 3.3 swim baits, the average size was good, 5 of them were keepers with some largemouth mixed in with the spots. I had a plan to throw cranks, and I threw them for a couple of hours, worked a lot of bank. I caught 4 LM on the cranks, a couple of fat keepers that were caught on back to back casts to a shallow rock pile. But I tell you they were fish of a thousand casts, a lot of work for meagre results. Fished another deep spot before heading in, caught another 5 spots in 45 FOW. Also caught a couple on the Ned rig including my only smallmouth of the day, a whopping 12 incher. Very few boats out there for a warm December day, saw 4 or 5 total. Caught 28 with 7 keepers. WT 55 Took some pictures but unbeknownst to me, autofocus was turned off so they were all blurry. Here's one for Pete.

Dillo road kill was really bad this year where I walk. Trail runs alongside a busy road and when it was dry and hot they must have been out foraging as noted above. Nothing beats a dillo that's been dead for two days when it is 95 out for real stink.

Used to have a couple in the area, but have not seen them lately.