Fried Lemons

Went to the lake this morning to tune a friend’s bait and couldn’t keep the fish away from it. Got four in total with these two being the better ones, 4-8 and 4-0. Not big but they were angry. I’d be too if my lake looked like that.

4 and 3 from a quick shorebanging session. They’re already starting to look thin. This years spawn might be in trouble with how fast the lake is dropping. Seen one bed in like 6” of water that will be on dry land soon. If they refill the lake the beds will be 6’ under.

This thread really speaks to me. I've personally been on this grind for a good 8 years and it's mostly in the last 2 that I feel I've really made strides so I'll share what I have learned. The most important thing is to be fishing the correct body of water. Back in 2016 I caught my first fish I would consider giant for my state - 7lb 4oz. Since then I was striving to beat that fish, but my approach was all wrong. I was hopping around to probably about 20 different bodies of water, most of which simply don't hold that caliber of fish in catchable numbers. Over the years I started eliminating bodies of water that I felt were hurting my chances. Not that these places aren't fun to fish or good for numbers with the occasional big one. Eventually I narrowed it down to just two lakes that I fish on almost exclusively. Sure, it got repetitive but I learned a lot more about these lakes by fishing them exclusively. I also saw my numbers of 5+lb fish increase dramatically on a year by year basis. I'll also make a note about location. All of the biggest fish I've caught were on very obvious prime cover/structure. There's a particular tree on my home lake that has produced two giants for me in the last two years. This tree doesn't really fish well - those two fish are the only fish I've ever caught off it. I never see or catch small fish on it. My belief is that the big fish dominate the best locations which is why some of these spots are overlooked or considered beat to death - the small, easily caught fish aren't present. Last and probably least is throw baits that target big fish. Don't think of it with the mindset of a tournament angler that has to catch a limit within a small time frame. Be patient and accept that you will get fewer bites and skunk at times. Look at it instead on a year by year basis and you will see a difference.

Found a few on a pattern I've never seen before. They were hunting trout in open water, not relating to any particular structure or cover. Every now and then I'd see a trout frantically trying to escape being pinned against a steep island bluff bank but for the most part I was seeing these massive explosions out in open water and occasionally against the bank. There wasn't really a way to target these fish other than being in the right place at the right time. Ended up with 3 at 4-5, 4-11, 6-0 on a deps 250. Only thing I figured out for certain was that they wanted an uphill presentation. Cast out into deep water and retrieve toward the bank and they'd pin it against the bank like they'd been doing to the trout. There were definitely bigger fish in the mix, I missed out on a large part of the bite window before I realized what was happening.

Today I caught my first 8" hudd fish... after over 100 hours fishing it over the years. I've caught fish on bigger baits but for some reason I could never get them on the traditional slow bottom crawl. I was retrieving it mid column and watched this fish engulf it near the end of my cast. A new personal best!

Solid one on a suspending tiny klash. Air temp 35 water felt low 40s. Fish were surprisingly shallow on rocky banks and bluff walls. The key was suspending baits fished with long pauses.

First fish I caught this year was a pb, 7lb 10oz on a tiny klash Most notable bycatch, 31” striper on a tiny klash Walleye season is just starting, biggest so far this year 23” on a tiny klash

Nice one today on the ol reliable

Couple post thanksgiving fish, all on a suspending TK. Twitches with 1-2 second pauses.

I’m a big fan. Yeah it’s wet and uncomfortable but it gets the big ones eating shallow.

The fish in my avatar ate a rainbow trout hudd 68 rof 12 and came from a waterbody with gizzard shad and no trout. The rof 12 is good if you want it to hit bottom and stay there on the retrieve. The rof 5 would be more versatile if you also want to throw it in ponds, but you may need to add nail weights for fishing deeper on the big lakes. Rod depends on your budget and how much you want to get into it. The 68 isn't a big bait, you can throw it on a flipping stick with braid if that's what you have.

Got on some good quality today. Bluebird skies, flat calm, lake turning over. I found the fish in chunk rock in 4-8ft feeding heavily on craws. Got one on a swing head and three on a football jig. 4-13, 5-0, 3-0, 5-5.

For shallow shaggy areas with not great clarity I recommend wakebaits and softbaits over glides. Working class zero citizens/battleshads are the best on the market for your application. For wakebaits pick your poison, they all work. MS slammers are relatively inexpensive and easily obtainable.

Reading through the spinnerbait section of Bill Murphy's book and I found it interesting that he recommends downsizing the blade and running a single blade vs the usual tandem blades. Most of the baits pictured in the book have small single french/colorado blades somewhat reminiscent of a beetle spin. Completely contrary to the large double willow that is currently popular. Has anyone had success applying this tactic?

I got into it this summer when I was really struggling. I was using heavy 1oz weights with magnum worms and dragging rather quickly to cover water and gain an understanding of the bottom composition and contours. The key for me was finding hard spots. Any time I would be dragging sand or mud and suddenly hit rock was when I would get bit. I am assuming you fish from the bank like I do. I would rig it heavy and work it quickly to prospect the main lake. Don't just cast it wherever, search off the points and the deepest parts of the coves. Assuming your lake isn't completely silted in, you are bound to find some hard spots. The spots situated on points or the mouths of coves or other such areas will be key spots. Then just keep revisiting these spots at different times until you find the fish.

Prespawn bite is on right now.. some big fish to be had.

Yes, they do work on northern strain bass. The easiest way to get into it in my opinion is with a wakebait like a MS Slammer or a Spro rat. It's extremely simple to fish these types of lures. Cast it out over a likely spot and slowly reel it in. Play with the cadence, throw in some pauses and twitch it in place. This is more of a warm water technique but the New England guys make it work starting from ice out.

Do you eat them? I've only had the ones from asian grocery stores and I always thought they tasted like crap.

Try hitting up Keith Wilson (k7e6ith) on IG, his page speaks for itself.

Couple random bycatches

I did decently for Potomac smallies this year compared to the past few. Got a couple in the 18-20" range. The spots I can reach are fairly limited too so I am sure there are plenty more out there.

Try treating your clothes with permethrin. If I know I'll be walking through woods or any sort of grass/shrub I'm wearing pants no matter how hot it gets. I also tuck my pants into my socks if I walk off trail so they don't crawl up my legs. Ticks are especially bad in Maryland and apparently most of the northeast. It has gotten to the point where I simply avoid certain areas where I know ticks are abundant. I don't know if you have experienced chiggers but in my opinion they are even worse than ticks. You basically get covered in bites like chicken pox which eventually blister and itch like crazy for two weeks or so. I have some bites that are a year old and still itch occasionally. They live in tall grass along with ticks so exercise caution. When I was a kid I used to wear shorts and walk through woods and tall grass all summer long without a care. Something about the local ecology has changed since then and the tick population has exploded.

I think almost everyone who has ever fished $100+ swimbaits has gone for a swim at some point.

There was an 18.55 caught in CA this year, well documented.

Black Hills: 4-11 Loch Raven: 4-11 Nontidal Potomac: 5-11 Tidal Potomac: 5-10 C&O Canal: 7-4 (also have a 6-13 and a 6-7) I have not been able to catch a fish over 5 from any body of water not connected to the Potomac.