4/15 Kim City- An Interesting Day

[dtrs5kprs]

Started by trying to get everything thawed enouh to open on the boat. All hatches frozen shut, ignition keyhole, then discovered the entire ignition switch was frozen solid. Good grief.

Oh, and pulled my prop first thing because of a little spot of lower lube. Had just changed it, and figured it was the spillage as the motor had not been down that far in the garage. Pulled it to check anyway, cheap peace of mind. Whee.

Fish were about where I expected, but wasted quite a while fishing too deep/far off. Caught some K's early that gave me the idea. Mostly 6'-15', flatter banks with gravel and mixed rock. Did not catch any on steeper banks or ledge/slab rock.

Ended with about 12 fish, 5 keeps with a couple of solid blacks, and a fat spot. Blacks were almost twins, 18"-19".

If you don't want to read about the little rig, stop reading now. Every fish I caught was on the cut zinkerz in PBJ, on either the 1/16 or 1/8 oz head. Stayed with it even where there was some wind. Threw other things that made sense, only other fish that came close was one that I watched follow and slap at a pearl swimbait.

Blacks took a boat ride because my camera batteries froze. They are still swimming.

Ended the day by finding a truck and trailer backed down the resort ramp, no sign of the owner. Turned out they had a big pleasure boat, and a truck that had no chance of getting it up the ramp. Honestly.

[rps]

Good report.

I know several things I would have considered doing about the blocked ramp. What did you choose to do?

[dtrs5kprs]

Well I tried to be helpful, at least suggestion wise. They were from South Dakota, so apparently someone forgot to check their passport at the border...

Normally I'm pretty patient, but I was ready to stop floating.

Forgot...temps were 52-53, did find some 55 on the south side of the lake, but no fish. Clarity was goofy, 10-12' clarity in one spot, stained right across the creek or coves. Odd. Assume that is due to the rain and temps.

[DerekB]

Nice fish. Just curious - at what point is the Ned rig rendered ineffective? We'll be down there next Thursday for a few days and I'm curious at what kind of water I should look for. Thanks.

[motoman]

Well done Dave. Those are some nice fish indeed!

[Champ188]

Quit stocking Schooner Creek. You're just padding Beck's bankroll. LOL

[dtrs5kprs]

Nice fish. Just curious - at what point is the Ned rig rendered ineffective? We'll be down there next Thursday for a few days and I'm curious at what kind of water I should look for. Thanks.

I really don't think it ever stops working. At times there may be better options, but it still works. You do have to adjust it to conditions a bit.

[Guest]

When do you start using the 1/32oz jig head?

[dtrs5kprs]

When do you start using the 1/32oz jig head?

I messed with it first thing when it was flat, but ended up catching a couple of K's deeper and put it down. Was not a lot of breeze today, but think every second of it blew on me, so it was not an option later.

Also threw some really sinister finesse stuff, but they were planted on the bottom.

[NebSchmidty]

Nice fish. Just curious - at what point is the Ned rig rendered ineffective? We'll be down there next Thursday for a few days and I'm curious at what kind of water I should look for. Thanks.

IMO, the rig is a prime presentation for when fish are relating to shallow water and are in the fickle mood where they want an easy, opportunistic meal. Definitely excels in less than ideal conditions where you would likely struggle for numbers with more conventional power or reactions presentations. Case in point: our trip to the rock during the end of last April. 20'+ water clarity and it didn't matter whether it was 80 degree air temps w/ blue bird skies and smooth as glass surface; or a cloudy 30 degrees with strong north wind and rain turning into sleet and snow... that stupid little rig just put 'em in the boat. I will still remember being the only resort fisherman stupid enough to go out on their own boat by themselves in the sleet and freezing rain. Pete and Bill (I think it was you Bill) were both dilligently picking up clients at Still Waters for what could only be described as one of those "we pre-paid for it, by golly we're going out for it" type of days. Troopers, both -- I would've called in sick and skipped the "office" for the day. But I digress.

I was further convinced of "Ned's" utility last weekend when BIL and I were on a local mud-hole of a "reservoir" (40 acres) and we were struggling to put anything together with the wind, 60 degree surface temps (had to be much lower below), and 12-18" max water clarity. Jigs, shakey worms, or jerkbaits, cranks, or any other reaction bite had yielded us only two fish in an hour or two. Shallow, dam rocks, all depths of the (only) creek channel, inlet, outlet, wood, mud... no consistent bite. We switched to another shallow flat, and I figured what the hay and threw out the rig (dang near dead-sticking it), and it was on like donkey kong. We double checked by throwing other baits to see if it was just the shallow bite in that particular area, but it didn't seem to matter as much... the ned rig was the deal.

Now in an effort for fair disclosure and impartialility, when on the rock last october, couldn't hardly buy a bite with the rig. Was mostly the seasonal crank and jig patterns. And there-in maybe lies the caveat... chasing shad in open water, there's better options. But when intuition tells you they are shallow and willing to look to the bottom... I'm convinced its hard to keep powering through with something more conventional when there could be another solution to your stuggles.

It's kind of weird because I feel like I've come full circle being willing to accept the ned rig. When I first was introduced to fishing as a serious endeavor, it was by my (at that time, future -- now current) wife's grandfather, and the man loved and could catch dang near any fish species on that dang beetle-spin. That's all we fished. Gills, crappie, bass, northern, walleye; Minnesota, Nebraska... didn't matter, it caught 'em. To me, the ned rig is just the beetle, without the spin. Put it in the right depth and it will pass for something that fish eat. No wonder it works.