Fried Lemons

Been hunting for a citation (15”) crappie. I got on a really good bite but couldn’t quite hit the mark. They were biting nonstop for about 90 minutes. Caught and released around 50 with the majority of them in the 11-13.5” range. Not sure if I’ll search for a new spot or keep hoping to find a bigger one mixed in.

If ice is forming in my guides and causing backlashes it’s probably time to call it. I’ve still caught fish in those conditions though.

Fall into winter is actually a good time to search for them. I tend to find them suspended on vertical structure like docks or the ends of trees in deep water. If you have any weeds left look for them on the outside edges . Usually the difficulty is figuring out the depth they’re at. I’ve caught them suspended at 10’ over a ledge in 16’. Electronics make it easier but I don’t have any.

It's hard to catch them with any consistency here. When I look back at my best catches though, I realize none of them were random. I can see why the fish were in those particular spots at those particular times. However I am still far from having them figured out. Plenty of times I think I'm in the right place at the right time and nothing happens. I prefer to fish in the nastiest weather when most people would stay indoors. On windy days I always seek out the windblown side of the lake as the fish seem to be much more aggressive in those conditions, so any big ones I cross will be more likely to bite. All the biggest fish I've caught with one exception were on various swimbaits.

Back when I used to throw jigs from the bank I would commonly go through 5 per trip. It was legitimately more expensive than swimbait fishing. I've made a few adjustments that have almost eliminated my losses. 1. I stopped throwing jigs from shore. When fishing rocks you are going uphill and the odds of snagging are just too high. When fishing laydowns the angle of approach means you are getting caught in the forks of the branches. 2. I started paying more attention to the weedguards. For open water structure fishing you don't need a strong weedguard but for flipping into trees you need a good one to not constantly hang up. I'm partial to the hack attacks. I throw them into the gnarliest branches without worry. 3. Heavy line for heavy cover. I lost many a jig setting the hook on a fish deep in a tree with 15lb fluoro. I've been running 50lb braid either straight or to a 20lb fluoro leader.

I would like to think I would, but probably not. When I got off the bank with a paddle board I caught plenty of fish I never could have gotten from the bank. On the other hand, when I look at the last year overall, I haven't gotten more or bigger fish since I got off the bank. It’s easy to think if I just had more shiny tools I would do better but experience says reality rarely matches expectation.

Here’s an account of an adventure I had searching for a citation size snakehead this past August. I launched at about 6 am and made the 1/2 mile paddle to my first spot. It was the last hour of outgoing tide so the grass was almost topped out but there were still pockets with about 6” of water that I could fish. Within about 30 minutes I had my first fish, a nice thick 28” fish that smashed a ribbit frog. It was then that disaster struck. The grass was so thick that my paddle which I had been using as a push pole broke. With no other options, I used my net to make the 1/2 mile paddle back. In hindsight I was lucky that the failure occurred at the first spot and not miles up a creek with not a soul in sight. Three hours later I was back on the water after having made it back and replacing my paddle at a local vendor. I put in at a different spot with a skinny creek right next to the launch. The tide has switched to incoming so I drifted in with the current. About 1/4 mile in I spotted a dark shape moving through some coontail. I made a cast well past it and the fish struck as I stopped my retrieve, letting the ribbit frog sink. The first thing I realized was that this fish was much bigger than I had thought. After a short but chaotic fight I had the fish in the net. It took several attempts as the fish was simply too large to easily net. I made the 1/4 mile paddle back to the ramp to get proper measurements. The fish measured 34” and weighed 11.5lbs. That was my most exciting trip of 2025. Hope your surgery went well.

Pulled this pair off the same exact cast about an hour apart. Funny how two fish of identical length on the same structure can look completely different. Both took a jig.

They make some gems. Despite the hundreds of glide baits on the market these days the original Deps 250 from more than 10 years ago is still the goat.

Having owned rods ranging from $50-700 there is a point of diminishing returns. Higher price usually gets you a better blank and guides which leads to better performance. At the top end you are getting minuscule improvements for exponentially higher price.

I always try and fish when I see pre frontal conditions in the forecast. I was hoping there would be a good bite on moving baits but nope. They still only wanted jigs.

FYI can step up to the Poison Adrena line of rods from Japan for the same price as buying an Expride domestically.

Got on a bunch of fish pitching a jig into wood. Also got one solitary fish working deep structure with a worm. The top fish I caught deep in a brush pile. Wrapped me up so badly I thought I lost her. When I eased up the pressure she swam out on her own.

Got on a pretty good bite during the first hour of outgoing tide fishing flooded spatterdock. I dumped two 4-5lb fish after they wrapped me in the vegetation. This was an impromptu trip so I was unprepared and fishing with fluorocarbon. Despite that I still managed to land 5 fish. I also spotted several snakeheads but could not coax them to bite.

I have found some correlation between the lunar calendar and the likelihood of catching a 5lb+ largemouth. However, my biggest fish was caught on a non optimal moon phase. I don’t let it dictate when I fish but I do look back and connect the dots.

New pb snakehead while scouting a new location. I’ve been hunting one of these “dragons” as they are called locally for a while now. Caught plenty in the sub 30” class but the big ones take some dedication to find and catch. They tend to be killed when caught so finding them is a game of searching for less pressured water. I caught this one casting a ribbit frog over a fry ball.

I throw em a good 50% of the time from June-August. 10” the go to size, it catches everything. If you take one and ball it up in your hand it’s smaller than most jigs. I mostly throw them either on offshore structure or weed edges/flats. If I haven’t located fish yet and am probing deep spots I’ll use a heavy Carolina rig. That lets me fish faster and quickly discern bottom contours. If I’m throwing into weeds or trying to slowly pick apart a spot I’ll Texas rig with the lightest weight I can get away with.

Caught 6 fish in a quick afternoon session, all on a jig. Excellent weather after 2 weeks of saunas. This was about the average Big fish of the day, a 4lber.

Couple from the past week. It’s been hot as heck but fish were biting. Either on a 10” worm or a jig. They seem to strongly prefer one on any given day.

Yup… to be fair I’ve donated my fair share of baits to the abyss so the balance is still negative.

First good fish of the year coming in at 6lbs. Caught her on a bait someone must have broken off that I found floating around. Their loss was my gain.

Worst fishing related injury I've had was from a 28" pike. I thought I was safe with the gill plate hold but apparently if they thrash the teeth in the back of the throat can still get you. My finger was bleeding so much I thought I might need stitches. My whole hand was red when I stopped at a CVS. I probably looked like I just killed someone.

Third foil job done. By third I mean third completed. Lots of failed trial and error in between.

Half digested stocker trout

Really slow start to the year but finally on the board with a 4lber. 4.25 if you count the trout she puked out.