Big M area, November 16

[Quillback]

Hit the road a little later in the morning than I usually do, thinking that when I got to Big M, sun would out, fog would be burned off, and it would be at least above freezing.  Got there about 9 AM and it was foggy and 30 degrees.  😃

Well I was there, so might as well get the boat in the water and start.  Pretty much was a Ned fishing day for me.  Fished it slow and fairly deep near or on the bottom.  Never was hot fishing, but could get a bite or two here and there.  Mostly off steep rocky banks or rocky points.  Most fish were in 10-20 FOW, but I did catch one spot in 35 FOW off a bluff, had several hookups off that bluff spot, but only got one in the boat.

Caught one spot on a Pointer 78.

Water right by Big M was fairly clear, 3 feet of viz maybe, going down stream in the point 23 area and it was pea soup green.  Didn't seem to faze the fish, I think it might have been better in the murkier water.

Caught 14 bass, one small walleye.  5 of the bass were keepers, 3 of the keepers were smallies.

Not too many people on the water on deer opener morning.

WT 52-55

 

 

 

[Jerry Rapp]

your bump board is dirty. 😊

[Quillback]

Yeah, have to remember to clean it off one of these days.

[m&m]

Pretty brave of you and apparently a good day considering the elements. 
Mike

[liphunter]

6 hours ago, Jerry Rapp said:

your bump board is dirty. 😊

Mine looks brand new!!!  I suppose there is a reason for that 😒 

[Guest]

i fished the kings the other day, and had good success on the doodle also.  color was a foot or less, but hardly any bite was up shallow.  all in that 10 to 20 ft. range.  another tactic for these conditions would be a split shot french fry.  but, i fished the same doodle and jig head all day.

by the way, i see you mentioned having issues keeping some bites on.  this is why i have gone to using braid for everything.  i am fishing the doodle on 10 lb. test hi-vis yellow braid, tied straight to the bait.  a quick flick of the rod, and the hook is instantly buried.  plus, you feel the bites much better.

bo

[liphunter]

3 minutes ago, merc1997 said:

10 lb. test hi-vis yellow braid, tied straight to the bait.

You don't color the line or anything? High vis at the knot? 

[Quillback]

42 minutes ago, merc1997 said:

i fished the kings the other day, and had good success on the doodle also.  color was a foot or less, but hardly any bite was up shallow.  all in that 10 to 20 ft. range.  another tactic for these conditions would be a split shot french fry.  but, i fished the same doodle and jig head all day.

by the way, i see you mentioned having issues keeping some bites on.  this is why i have gone to using braid for everything.  i am fishing the doodle on 10 lb. test hi-vis yellow braid, tied straight to the bait.  a quick flick of the rod, and the hook is instantly buried.  plus, you feel the bites much better.

bo

I have converted over to braid, but I still chicken out and use a leader.  And yes it is a great improvement in sensitivity and hook setting.  I'm sold on braid now, at least for certain applications.

So what brand of high viz yellow are you using?  I tried a couple of brands and the yellow coloring would wash right out after a day of use.  I picked up some Seaguar Smackdown high viz green and it is much better at holding it's color, hasn't washed out after a few uses.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, liphunter said:

You don't color the line or anything? High vis at the knot? 

no, i do not color the line.  everyone seems to believe that bass has the ability to reason, and when they see a fishing line they will not bite the lure.  everyone would have to give in to the fact that your hook or hooks on any lure are actually more visible than your fishing line.  the hook is what is doing the damage to the fish.  so, why then does any fish not reason there is a problem with the hook and not bite anything with a hook whether it has a line attached to it or not?????

line sizes types and diameters affect your sink rate and action, or how deep a crank bait will go.  fish the right depth at the correct speed to trigger bites.  your line affects your lure speed.  so, when we are fishing deeper depths with light lures and more speed is dictated, you need to go to a smaller diameter line.  sure floro sinks some, but it also has line drage because of the line diameter.  braid does have a float factor, but is also very small diameter for pound test.  i've heard all the time how someone was fishing with mono and was not catching anything, but switched to floro and began catching them.  the fact of what caused them to begin to catch fish was because they changed the speed of their lure.  visibility really was not the factor.

i've fished table rock since 1963.  back them the water was much cleared than it is today.  i have always used a high visibility line.  being able to see my line has a lot of benefit to detect bites and to be able to tell when your line is on the bottom on windy days.  you do a much better job of fishing.  bass just react, not think and reason.

bo

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Quillback said:

I have converted over to braid, but I still chicken out and use a leader.  And yes it is a great improvement in sensitivity and hook setting.  I'm sold on braid now, at least for certain applications.

So what brand of high viz yellow are you using?  I tried a couple of brands and the yellow coloring would wash right out after a day of use.  I picked up some Seaguar Smackdown high viz green and it is much better at holding it's color, hasn't washed out after a few uses.

well, i have been using spider wire, and the color does eventually fade to more of an off white, but it it still easily seen and will still illuminate in a black light.  but, i bought some line branded spectra, in hi-vis yellow.  i bought it off ali express for $15 for 1000 meters.  that is cheaper than mono of any kind.  the first thing that i noticed when spooling it on was there was not one bit of color came off on my fingers.  after fishing it in the mud in kings river, it did not stain any, and that stuff lights up a bright yellow in a black light.  the 10 lb. test is a 2 Lb. or smaller diameter.  i did not have any issues with a break off.  in fact, i only had to retie once all day fishing the doodle.  i am going to order some more because it is now on sale for $11 per 1000 meters.

bo