Fishing Report & Fun Screenshots

[J-Doc]

I was breaking in the new boat this weekend and witnessed more than my share of stupidity from the "other kind of boats". As I was loading today, trailer is in the water, I'm headed towards it and guy in cabin cruiser doesn't even look my way and cuts me off to load his family/friends. Really hacked me off. I just had to sit there and wait till he was done because he was completely in my line of loading next to the dock and Prairie Creek.

Anyway.

So I have new graphs and could not wait to share these. I'm going to get some better images of the amphitheater but due to boat traffic, my boat was rocking on a couple of images or...I was turning to get a better angle and that just messes up the image.

I did make note that the old bridge from the early Monte Ne era where the gondolas used to take passengers under has had a portion of it collapse. Which is sad but hey.......it's been underwater and forgotten about by most for over 50yrs. It's lucky to be standing at all.

Look at the very bottom of this post for the screenshots and images.

For fishing.........I only fished to cool the motor down during the break in period. I found lots of active fish in multiple species around the 12 bridge area. For that matter, with these new graphs I found fish in almost every place I stopped and lots of fish too! And.............I covered 97 miles in two days on about 3/4 of a tank of gas (20gal) so I was doing REALLY good on fuel. Varying speeds/rpm for motor break-in. So..........to find fish in almost every area, that's saying something about this fishery. AND.........it pays big time to get really good quality graphs. You just don't know what you're missing until you have used lower end stuff for years and then all the sudden........you get 1080p HD Blue-Ray! LOL!!!!

Oh.......the fishing. I almost forgot.

This morning I got a very late start and was on the water around 8 I think. Very calm water. Was really nice. The wakers were not "awake"...(HA!). I knew of a main lake point that always holds fish and sure enough, they were there in a big way. I found this nice 17"+ smallmouth on a Strike King Sexy Dog topwater plug. Long casts in clear water was key. They wouldn't bite it within a reasonable distance from boat. I also got a couple on drop shot and the jigging spoon. The fish on this point were tough. Water clarity was about 10-11ft easy so in 20ft, they could see my boat fairly easy. That big lurking shadow must have thrown them off because I couldn't get them to bite much at all in multiple bait presentations. Even my "cheating" baits were not working too well.

After about 12, the wake crowd was in full force and when I left around 1:30........there was a stead convoy of wake makers heading to the lake which made me glad to be off the water. My new boat rides really well but in really rough water, it can be dangerous because the strakes on the bottom grab suddenly and can twist the front of the boat a little and throws you around. You just can't get crazy in it. I don't know Karate.....but I do know Ca-RaZY! :-)

Here's the screenshots......really love these new graphs. Worth every penny!

Here is the old bridge at Monte Ne (out of the water years ago)

Here are my screenshots.

Here is the amphitheater

Here is the old bridge pilings off the corner of the marina at Prairie Creek. I've always wondered what I was seeing on my old Elite 5dsi unit. The piers are long concrete piers that were in the old creek bed. You can see this pretty clearly here.

Here is a good example of an old road bed that follows my map card to the letter. Really cool.

[Mike jones]

Nice!!!

[Robert Haynes]

Very nice, I have a hummingbird 998 down and side imaging as well as sonar. I have had it for several years but have not grown confident in reading it. Listening to how you guys trust your fish finders, I have got to learn how to trust it, I don't need a $1500 depth finder.

[J-Doc]

I don't need a $1500 depth finder.

HAA!!!!!

Yes you do. :-)

(kidding)

You can get an HDS7 for $700 now at Cabelas.

I said the same thing. I've lived with the low end stuff for years. Finally got a deal on a Lowrance Elite 5dsi and it was between a $100 unit and a $700 unit. Between by halfway between in quality of image and the info it gave you. NOW............these big HDS units I have are simply amazing.

I promise you........once you learn how to use the tool........you will understand why the pros love them so much. The quality of the information they feed you is so nice.

I am a bit of a "sonar geek" too so I really love the technology. I had always wanted to "learn" to read a fish finder and once I got the initial concept of what it was telling me, the light bulb turned on and then I researched. I highly recommend the Dr Sonar DVD for basic sonar information for any brand or make of fish finder. Once you understand what you're looking at, you "get it" and the value you get from your current fish finder just went way up.

[showmebass]

Looks like maybe a school of crappie in your first SI/DI pic. Go get em!

[J-Doc]

I know not what you speak of sir.......

[zarraspook]

GREAT Screen shots !!!!!!!!!!!!

You might try a different "background" color the next time you look at the area , to see if it will pick up/out something unseen with the gold back ground...

But, fantastic pictures !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[J-Doc]

I'm thinking in screenshot 4 its showing old railroad cross-ties from the old Monte Ne railroad line that was adjacent to the creek bed. Consistent length, consistent location. Only seems logical.

[J-Doc]

GREAT Screen shots !!!!!!!!!!!!

You might try a different "background" color the next time you look at the area , to see if it will pick up/out something unseen with the gold back ground...

But, fantastic pictures !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, tried that. This color seems to pick up the smaller details oddly. I tried multiple colors configurations this weekend.

[showmebass]

I know not what you speak of sir.......

Man - those would be easy pickins, assuming the area wasn't covered in idiots driving wake boats.