Actually caught something today

[Vinsott]

Wife and I bought a house in January and most all of my free time has been spent moving and fixing up the new home. I have completely skunked my last three outings which have been spread out since Christmas.  I just figured it was time for my fishing luck to hit a slump. Started trying to net shad and couldn't find any. After about 5 or 6 throws I twisted my back a bit so said forget it.  Started trolling around the islands and over to Ventris. Nothing, so ran to PC trolled all the way to the end and didn't really mark anything and had zero action on the spread. Said time to forget trolling maybe some bass on a ned rig??? Wife caught a fat 2 lb. spot on the ned in fairly dirty water. I caught one a bit smaller and a 16" walleye and a small spot, and the action was over. I said its time for crappie, even though I'm terrible at crappie fishing. Went to a cove with tree tops and fished small bobby garland jigs for a while and caught zilch. I was totally content however because the weather was wonderful and I didn't get skunked.

Wife was sorta ready to head in so I said "Lets troll in".  I put out a small A-rig, a flicker shad, and a big jerk bait. A-rig got hit and reeled in a 23' striper. Made a circle and same thing.  Wife pulled one in the same size but much fatter than mine. Wasn't really marking bait or fish and was in 90' of water. Just never know where these stripers show up. The water was cleaner and had green tint to it so that must have helped. Trolled all the way back  and nothing else. The sun had already set and like always I had to try just a little bit more. Threw a Keitech in 10' of water on my spinning rod with 6lb. line and turned the reel to a WHAM!!!!!!!!. Saw a nice splash on the surface and thought huge bass. It started coming right in so I got confused, no more jumping.  Maybe a walleye?????  Right at the boat the fish surfaced and my wife said "HOLY SH47484YTT" About that time the fish which I saw was a striper realized it was hooked and took off. After a lot of drag screaming and give and take for a while it again surfaced at the boat and that's when I said "Holy sh5555t" That won't fit in our net. I handed the wife the rod and got down on my belly to grab it.  All I can say was it was awesome on that 6lb. I didn't weigh it, well cause I don't have a scale on the boat, but it had to be over 20lbs. Needless to say the wife insists we buy a fish scale. The area I caught the stripers was between the dam and 412 bridge.  

[J-Doc]

Man that last part had me laughing. Good story! Good for you. 

 

Yep. Sometimes they are around and you just don't know it. Had that same thing happen to me over a month ago with some big crappie. 

[1969Larson]

Nice!!!

[Stump bumper]

Really nice fish, I was out a little yesterday but my green spot turned brown and only had small stripers in it. I knew I should have looked for green water. Water temp down in the back of Blackburn were I was trying to catch shad was around 64, so I think the stripers are making their run back North. Funny I never saw them in the river like they should have been this year but the water in the south part is getting too warm for them already.

I can tell you if you want to net shad then down south of Hickory Creek is the run you need to make, or get out at sunrise. Those shad balls have moved off deep, I could not even net a thread fin yesterday.

I see we were fishing the same spot I was between the Dam and 412 yesterday too...:)

 

[rhondafish]

14 hours ago, Vinsott said:

The area I caught the stripers was between the dam and 412 bridge.

Thanks for this Hot Tip...really narrows it down . Don't be upset if you see a lot of other boats suddenly on your "spot"

[J-Doc]

3 hours ago, rhondafish said:

Thanks for this Hot Tip...really narrows it down . Don't be upset if you see a lot of other boats suddenly on your "spot"

The entire lake is a community hole

[rps]

I was lucky enough to fish Beaver in the 70's. Basically no boat traffic except for serious B.A.S.S. types. Since then I have fished with two experts on that lake. Not the same. When your boat driver recognizes striper guides, by name, through binoculars, life becomes more complicated. Fortunately, it is a good to very good fishery and local knowledge can make it better. Rhondafish, go visit Scott at Hook, Line, and Sinker. He won't tell you the places he fishes, but he will explain patterns and trends.

[J-Doc]

Um....yes he will. 

He will tell you where to ho, what to throw, how to retrieve it, and sell you the bait to do it with. 

 

He loves giving out info. 

[Dan the fisherman]

Very nice catch Vinsott. Sounds like the stripers r scattered throughout the lake. I've been up and down the lake catching and hearing of catches thoughout.  Have to expect it with the water temps warming up. 

[Vinsott]

Thanks guys. I hope everyone got my last line as a joke. I am very new to this lake and learned most things about it from this site.  Has helped out tremendously.  I do know the big trick to fishing is putting in your time. When I lived in SW Florida I would often go night snook fishing after closing the restaurant. Often at a popular bridge that many types frequented. At first I would always get mad and jealous of the guys who would always catch the fish. Even when I copied the lures they used I still wouldn't catch fish like they did. But I loved to fish and was persistent. Fast forward a couple years and I became one of the consistent catchers and started releasing most of the snook I caught. By the way it is delicious tasting. People would be very angry with me for throwing back fish that they have been trying hours, days or even longer for. They wanted me to give them the fish, and I just couldn't do it. I'm not sure where I'm going with this thought but thank you guys for all the info, and I will reciprocate to you. I did notice the first ever keeper striper I caught had a fleet of boats there the next day after reporting my luck and location.  And I guess like everybody in life there are good, bad, and ok people. I try to be respectful to others on the water but some just don't care.

I did say exactly which lures I used, and many can usually figure out where the spot is from the backgrounds in the pictures. And there isn't always only one way to catch a fish.  That's why the lure companies have something new out all the time, and get rid of many productive lures. They can all catch fish at some point, but new means money, profit.

I'm starting to sound delirious so a salute to all the true fisherman out there.