abkeenan Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 Was a great time as usual even though didn't cash this year. As others have mentioned just couldn't top that 2.5-3lb range. Mostly Kentuckies that were ready to pop. Fishing was a bit tough with a fish or two here and there but nothing stacked up. At least we didn't find any locations like that. We fished Long Creek Day 1 and it was a ghost town for fish. So day 2 and 3 we fished from the dam and up towards Spring Branch. The fish definitely aren't starving and have to work very little to fill their bellies as there are tons of shad balls and also dead shad from Beardsley to Spring Branch. Spring Branch specifically. Just too much food for them right now for the fishing to be great. I did have a 5 or 6lb'er break me off in the main lake pocket just east of Spring Branch. So if anyone finds a Norman Flake McStick floating around there or the big girl still attached to it go ahead and remove it and I'll send you my address. Tried to horse her out of a tree top, she breached the water spraying everywhere then had ideas of going down back into the next tree over and I leaned on her too hard plus had the drag too tight and pop......she gone! Also nearly weighed in a Heron. Made a cast with a DD22 and the stupid thing took off just as I released and flew about 20 yards left directly into my line between myself and the lure. Thought for sure I was going to have a mess on my hands as the DD22 made it's way towards her as she flew. Thankfully, somehow, the trebles didn't get anything but a couple of the under feathers. NO IDEA how I didn't stick it with the Gammy size 2's that I had just put on there the night before but they didn't. All in all a decent weekend with some stories to tell. Saw lots of beds in the back of pockets. Sunday in the back of our cove in Beardsley there were probably 50 fish cruising and guarding beds. Wanted nothing to do with any baits. Congrats to the winner. A 9.02 is a beast for TR. Can we go ahead and ban the A-Rig already? Seems like 90% of the fish brought to the scales were caught on it. Couple of said 16" 3lb football spots: SplitG2, Quillback, cheesemaster and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champ188 Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 3 hours ago, abkeenan said: Can we go ahead and ban the A-Rig already? Seems like 90% of the fish brought to the scales were caught on it. Better watch out hatin' on the A-rig like that. Some of these overnight zero-to-hero boys will get all kinds of riled up. I learnt my lesson. 😆 🤣 big c, vernon, Codywskeeter1521 and 3 others 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m&m Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 abk, wow on the bellies of the fish! Lots of competition out there this weekend. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter53 Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 Them are some FAT spots!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abkeenan Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 6 hours ago, Hunter53 said: Them are some FAT spots!! They were for sure tubs. They look like they weigh about 4lbs when you get them in the boat. Then throw them on the scale and they are like 2.75-3.00lbs. Hard to have any weight when you have to step on them for them to be a legal 15". 😆 I think the best adjective to describe them is "rotund". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wart 57 Posted April 9, 2019 Members Share Posted April 9, 2019 OK So where was the big one caught and where ? Any write up or articles out there ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abkeenan Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 4 minutes ago, Wart 57 said: OK So where was the big one caught and where ? Any write up or articles out there ? I believe most of the big fish were caught in the clear water sections of the lake. So from the dam to mid-lake. Nearly all of them caught on the A-Rig. The winner with the 9.02 actually caught a 6.42 a few casts BEFORE he caught the 9 on the same location. Where exactly that was I do not know but what a honey hole! I usually stick around the last day to hear the winners story but this year I did not. Maybe someone that stuck around at Long Creek Marina at the end of Sunday to pick up a check or listen to the winner talk can fill us in on the exact scoop. dtrs5kprs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longball22 Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 I fished Kimberling Friday and mustered 2 fish, including one of those chunk spots. Both fish on a keitech. From Point 5 to point 9 the water clarity is just ridiculous, and definitely saw lots of follows on the keitech back to the boat. Those spots would come up out of the trees 20 yards from the boat, and seemed to catch a glimpse of the boat and go right back down. Jerkbait and A-rig showed me no love. I guess I'm still a zero, and not a hero with that thing. The fog not clearing until 10:30 really screwed with my game plan. It was quite incredible to see the highway of boats that started running down lake once that fog cleared. I'm assuming those boys had caught fish and were waiting to head to the scales. Saturday there were much fewer boats in that part of the lake, so I'm guessing others had similar results there. I made a run up to the PT 10-12 area, and water clarity was probably 6-10 feet. Much better conditions, but I still struggled to find a bite. I had to pull off the water at noon without even a strike at my baits. 2 fish in 13 hours on the water, and I was almost glad to do so. Last year I didn't throw the jerkbait or A-rig at all, so I was determined to learn from my mistakes. I guess I'll have to work on location for next year. On a side note, I bought a new Shimano Curado DC in March, and this was my first weekend really getting acclimated to it. I will tell you that reel is a thing of beauty. It is not as "foolproof" as they might say, but it certainly makes throwing a jerkbait or crankbait a pleasure. In calm conditions it is perfect, but needs its settings dialed up in both a tailwind or headwind. My buddy who is terrible with a baitcaster threw it a little bit around my dock, and he said in calm conditions it seemed "idiotproof". I got the one with an 8.5:1 gear ratio, and 36" of line pickup is awesome for jerkbaits, but hard to keep a crankbait slowed down enough. For $250 a pop, I won't be loading the front deck with them, but it's certainly worth a look for lighter baits in particular. Champ188, Quillback and abkeenan 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m&m Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 Longball22, thanks for the details. Fishing is a very humbling hobby. I’m not a golfer but can only imagine that hobby is humbling also. I’ve been looking at the DC reel and I appreciate your summary. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champ188 Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Indeed, Longball, thanks for the brutally honest report. No one catches them every time and when you have that many boats on the lake, it gets a lot tougher. Unless you camp in one spot all day, you never know if you might be fishing 3 minutes behind another guy who just left the spot you pulled up on. Takes a true fisherman to shamelessly admit failure. crazy4fishin and dtrs5kprs 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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