Blowin' and Goin', Slingin' and Bringin' at Lake Jackson

1.26.12

Lake Jackson

Water Temp:  67 degrees

Air: 70's

Nancy and I went up to Lake Jackson to hit the large lips.  It was before a big front was coming through and we figured they would bite.  We were correct on the bite.

We managed to put 19 fish in the boat, 17 bass and two pike.

The wind was blowing hard with gusts up to 25 mph, that was the blowin' part.  Since we couldn't really slow down to fish slower plastics, we put on swim baits and started the slingin' part.

Our first stops were the hay mounds that Hunter and I did well on the first time we went to Jackson.  On the third mound I caught what turned out to be the first and biggest bass of the day.  I was retrieving a Grass Pig through the grass and the fish slurped it in.  I thought it was a little guy.  When she saw the boat and turned I found out that it was a little bigger than I thought.

We eased over to the north bank where Hunter and I caught them on the second trip, but the wind was raging in there and we couldn't get on them.  We slid over to the least wind blown shoreline that had a mix of new pads and the older vegetation and we started catching fish quickly.

Most were buck bass and as the boat quickly blew down the shoreline we could see multiple beds.  Most were empty but I did get eye to eye with a nice 6-7 lb. bass on a bed.  We made numerous attempts to set up on her but the wind and cloudy conditions made it tough.

I finally got the idea to put out the drift sock to slow down our pass.  I had never used it in 3 feet of water covered with old weeds, but it worked well.

We worked the buck bass over pretty good until about 2 pm when the wind got unbearable.

Nancy with bass on Big EZ

Nancy put three in the boat and was quite happy with herself after getting shut out the last time out.  She would have had a few others but the bird watching lulled her into a trance at times.  She snapped out of it when the Big EZ got ate a few times while bird watching.

You can see the old lilly pad stick ups in the background.  The beds and bass were all through this area.

We headed back to the ramp and managed to get the Nan back on the trailer.  That is a feat in itself with the extremely low water levels.  The word ramp is loosely used term, as we back way out onto a small point of land way past what was the paved ramp.  

Another good day of bassin' but now monsters.  We'll be back!

Dang These Bass Are Biting!

1.20.12

Crooked River

Water Temp: High Fifties

Air: Seventies

Tide: Incoming

Nancy and I decided to enjoy the nice weather and go back up to Crooked River and duplicate our last trip to this beautiful stretch of river.

We weren't disappointed as the newly tuned up NAN was a bass catching tin boat again.

We caught the fish on spinnerbaits and a lightly weighted fluke.

The fish were more concentrated near creek mouths this time instead of the weed patches on the main river.

These two came aboard on the spinner baits where I pitched it up just inside the current at the mouth of a couple of small feeder creeks.

It started a little slow, but I had one last cigar from my collection and after I lit it up the fish lit up.  It turned out to be another five fish cigar.

We were going to try some topwater rat fishing on the grass and moss, but Doug had borrowed my only rat when we went to the Big O and hasn't returned it yet.  It was last seen in the home we rented.

We only saw one other boat all afternoon and he was cruising down the river and not fishing.

What a nice afternoon and fishery!

Undisclosed Location Fishing Report

1.18.12

Tide Incoming

Water Temp: 58

Captain Vic and I went fishing to one of his winter locations which can not be disclosed.  A promise made to Vic.

We were searching for trout that may be headed in the creeks for a winter hide out.  Due to the weather not being very cold, we were doing a search that may not work.

But, after the storm rolled through we headed out.

Vic got it going quickly, and promptly landed a trout on a pearl white grub.

A few short strikes later, we were figuring out that were a few fish in each hole, but they weren't stacked up.  So, we started bumping from hole to hole.

One bar yielded a handful of trout. I lost a nice one on the sinking bonk a donk.  And Vic had two nice come up and swirl on his grub right at the boat.

I managed to put a nice sheepshead in the boat off one oyster bar.  He decided that the  shrimp I threw at him was too tempting.

We managed to put four trout in the box.

After the skies cleared and the wind picked up from the north, the fish really shut down.  After about two hours of dry casting with no luck, we headed back to the ramp.

Vic cleaned the fish quickly and as we discussed the days bite and decided hunting and gathering was a pretty good deal on the Forgotten Coast of Florida.

Lake Okeechobee Bass Fishin' Cast Fest

January 7th thru January 13th, 2012

Weather: Beautiful, Air in the 70's

Water:  low 60's to 70 degrees

Trying to get a jump on the New Year, my brother Doug, my good friend Nick, his Dad, Larry in from Utah and I headed down to the Big O for a week of bass fishing.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon and the cast fest began.  I say that because there were many, many casts between the fish for us.

One boat (ours) had many more casts between fish than the other boat (Nick and Larry).  But, as you can see by looking at these pictures you always thought the next cast would yield the Largemouth of your dreams.

Last year, Doug and I fished the Big O in February and caught 50 bass a day.  We laughed, at the end of our trip we don't think we caught 50 bass all week.  But, Nick and Larry kept texting us pictures of their catch, so it kept us going.

I am going to post the pictures below and just add a title, but in general, you needed to be casting a John Deere Green Big Easy in the Ranger and a spinnerbait in the Renegade.

We caught fish on all of the baits we threw, toads, worms, Big EZ's, Big and Little dippers and spinnerbaits.

The most unusual bait I caught them on was a Staysee Jerk Bait.  Doug and I had run into a school of nice fish in a canal heading out of Harney Pond one evening and we decided to fish them over and over, since we didn't have much else working.  We hit the pod once with nice fish in canal.  Doug caught a 5 lber. on a spinnerbait and I caught one just shy of 5 lbs. on the jerk bait.  Probably the only time these fish have every seen a suspending jerk bait in those waters.

The fishing was a little slow, but the company was great.  Lots of fun with three great guys and good fisherman!

Here are my pics.

Doug Starting It Off on Saturday

Tried Flipping.  This One Got it Through Both Lips

Caught this on edge of Peppergrass

Another Peppergrass Fish

Even I Caught One on a Spinnerbait

The Real KVD

5 POUNDER on Spinnerbait

We lost a couple more like this in a flurry of activity

Here are the two we caught schooling.

At the same time on the other end of the lake, Nick and Larry were busting them!

We took our rat fishing with us.  He enjoyed getting out of the trailer.

This cover is why you are excited on every cast.

There is one in there somewhere.

Or Maybe she is over here!

Or over here!

Anyone have a weed eater?

Another Jerkbait fish on the last day.

KVD's Evil Twin

The word is the Okee Rig is the way to catch the schoolers!

You can tell who the pro is.

Nick with another big'un

Larry said when Nick would slow down enough to let him cast, he could bust them too!

He said John Deere Green was all the worked on his Big EZ

I see a secret bait in the background.

Larry finishing up in the evening light.

Crooked River Bassin'

1.6.12

Incoming Tide

Air: 60's

Water: high 50's

Nancy and I tried new water today after getting a tip about the bass biting up Crooked River.

After getting some directions from Mike at Mike's Marine, we headed to a small gravel ramp at the end of NT Smith Road.  The water was clear and the ramp was accessible for the Nan's standards, so we slid the tin boat into the tannic waters of the Ochlockonee River.

We headed down stream and took the right up the Crooked River and soon realized why they call it the Crooked River as we weaved back and forth up the river looking for bassy water.

It started well, as I got a small bass at a creek mouth on the ultra vibe Zoom worm.

We bounced around heading up river and found some reed islands and some banks with thick mossy stuff on the surface.

We fished these two areas for over an hour and brought another 7 bass aboard.

No whoppers, but one was over two pounds.

I had brought a few aboard, when Nancy was lamenting the fact she hasn't caught a bass since we left Lake Lanier.

She promptly got a backlash and was picking out the knot in her line.
When she picked up the slack in her line I heard her say, "Hey, I got one!"
See, bassin' is easy!

They were all about this size, beautiful fish, dark backs in the tannic water.

The fog started rolling in, so we headed back to the gravel ramp and back to the house for a successful new water trip.