Glaize 3/5

[Flatbottom Boy]

I fished the upper Glaize yesterday from 9:30 to noon.  The boat traffic was crazy and I normally don't get fired up with rude people, but they were plentiful.  I'm not sure if they were tournament fisherman or just people itching to get bit.  I got cut off by three different boats, one of those boats twice in two completely different spots.  I know I don't have a 20' glass boat and I probably don't appear to be taking it serious but darn pulling up 50' to the nose of my boat is really pushing it. 

Ok so on to the fishing.  Bass seemed to be cooperating on the jig pretty well.  I was casting a brown/red 3/8 finesse jig tipped with a havoc pit boss.  I started out hopping the jig on the bottom and didn't do well.  Once I started to pull/drag the bait along the bottom the bites came pretty regularly. When I got hung up on a rock a few times and pulled free they seemed to attack the bait right away. I did cast a wart for a while with no luck, but it wasn't a very committed try with the jig doing well. 

After getting beat up by the wind and other boats I moved into a couple coves and tried some docks that usually produce crappie.  They were biting good yesterday with a lot of short fish.  I was fishing a blue/silver bobby garland shad and it had to be way up under the docks or no bites.  I was able to weed through the little ones and did manage several very fat healthy 12".  They have evidently been feeding well with this dirty water and lack of pressure.  I was having motor issues and had to leave a little early but I think a limit of crappies would have been manageable.

Not wanting to waste the day I loaded up the kayak at home and headed to the Piney till dark.  I've never really found a big school of winter smallmouth before, but I did last night.  I have been practicing with the NED quite a bit trying to find a head that doesn't get snagged up every cast or is too light for the current.  Last night I used some cheap Archie heads from Walmart that I typically throw with the chompers.  They worked!  It was a fish every couple minutes for quite a while.  If it wasn't a smallmouth it was an angry little goggle eye.  A couple of the fish were very healthy and gave me some pretty good runs on a 7' light action with 4lb line! Awesome day for sure. Here are a few pics from the river, I was busy battling wind and the BASS elites at the lake to get any photos there. 

 

 

[WeekendWarrior]

Nice! There was an Anglers Choice tourney yesterday and I am sure some of those guys were up there.

[Flatbottom Boy]

I assumed there was some kind of tournament happening, every piece of semi-clear water was a parking lot! How did you end up in your tourney Warrior?

[WeekendWarrior]

I didn't end up fishing tourney, my fish went bye-bye. Could only manage couple of keepers each day with no size. There were boats everywhere around where I was as well, I was not in a smaller clear river area but sure it didn't help.