Fishlegs

This Pickwick trip was supposed to happen a while back, but it was derailed by ice and snow. We had a perfect upper 60 degree day this time though. It got off to a late start due to some unexpected boat issues, but that allowed us to have some good conversation over a hearty breakfast. Once we got started, it only took a few minutes to get a small largemouth in the boat to ensure that there would be no skunk in the boat. We thought our luck had turned until we looked up and saw a barge that was grounded blocking one of the spots we wanted to fish. We had been making adjustments for the last four hours, so what's one more? We headed toward the dam hoping to get some smallies in the current, but all we got was one white bass. There were several boats in there, but nobody seemed to be having much luck so we moved away from the crowd. Then things started turning around. We passed the grounded barge again, and landed the first smallmouth of the day. It wasn't big, but it was a step in the right direction. Our next spot was where things heated up. Due to roadwarrior's skillful navigation of the current/wind I was able to land my new PB smallmouth. My 30 old spring scale (which I'm sure is rusted waaay tight ?) put her right between the 4.75 and 5 lb tick marks. Then roadwarrior looked at me...dead serious and said, "You ready to try another spot?" I took me a second to realize he was joking. We both laughed, went back around, and landed two more 3.5 lb smallies on almost the same spot. Then we decided to try another spot. We got one more smallmouth, and called it a day. As we were loading our gear off the boat that stupid barge that had been blocking us all day us finally got free, and passed by to taunt us one last time. HaHa! I am very grateful to @roadwarrior for a great day of fishing! He was an extremely gracious captain. He made sure I had the right tackle, gave tips on what to do, offered great stories along the way, not to mention got me a new PB smallmouth. I'm thankful he let this ol' bank beater on the boat. It was a great day of fishing. I hope we can do it again! A few pics below to commemorate. sunrise grounded barge skunk banisher first smb of the day my new PB smallmouth 3.5 smb another 3.5 smb last catch of the day

Wow! Very nice!

Well done. Nice fish!

That’s great. Doesn’t get much better than helping kids catch fish.

No ice or snow in the forecast this time!

I've never been there, but Google maps shows one lake named "Lunker Lake" in Oak Mtn park. It doesn't look like is has a lot of accessible shoreline for bank fishing, but it appears to have a kayak ramp. It might be worth a shot if it's available to the pubic for fishing. Good luck!

Academy Sports has a good sale on Seaguar fluoro (online and in store). It's the small spools, but it's a good price.

I’ll give that a try once it stops raining. Right now that would probably end up like a top water because the current is moving as fast as Richard Petty at the Daytona 500 on our end of the river.

Yes, sir! Watching the weather report like...

One of my fishing goals for '21 is to learn how to fish with a jig. I probably just got lucky, but I caught my first two fish with a jig this weekend. It's nice to know what it feels like to catch a fish with a lure that is such a confidence bait for so many fishermen. Maybe someday it'll be a confidence bait for me too.

Congrats! I was in the same boat as you until Saturday (pun intended). I got my first jig bass too! The jig seems to be a confidence lure for so many bass fishermen, and I haven't been able to figure it out. I don't pretend to have it figured out, but there is some satisfaction in catching one on a new lure, right?

I’ve never seen a minnow put a single fish in a boat without the assistance of a human so the minnow doesn’t do all the work. Most of us aren’t fishing the pro circuit. We’re just having fun.

I’ve caught a few on a white/chartreuse chatterbait in a pond with no shad. Same with spinnerbaits. Try it and see what happens. I use a white zoom fluke as a trailer.

I haven’t lost a zillion...yet. ? I did lose enough this week to make me realize that I need to try something different. It sounds like I need to give the mojo rig a shot.

Having a fish waiting on the line would be a great way to forget the frustration of a backlash.

I like devil horses. I have multiple colors, but I reach for the perch pattern first. Torpedos are great too. I caught several fish in 2020 on a bullfrog torpedo.

Wouldn't it be cool if there were fishing ranges in stores? Like shooting ranges. lol

Good video @Glenn. Any tips for how to avoid losing lures in rip rap when fishing from the bank? I’ve lost multiple lures to the rock monster this week.

I'm equal opportunity when it comes to losing lures. I can lose a single hook lure just as easily as I can a treble hook lure. As a matter of fact, I lost one of each on my lunch break today. Brand new lures that had never been in the water before. Now I have to feed the bait monkey again.

Welcome, and good luck to your team.

That should be enough for a few of those good looking fish tacos.

No parent is perfect. We all make mistakes (I know I have). No kids are perfect. They make mistakes too (I know I did). You’re right that they see influencers all around them all the time. We just have to do our best to teach them how to choose which influence to follow. If we spend time with them and let them know how much we care about them it will have a big influence on them throughout their lives. Keep fighting the good fight my man.

Do you just do this for fluorocarbon, or for all types of line?

To me it seems logical that if the cold water temps cause the primary food source to die off that competition among the bass would go up due to a lower food supply. I know that’s an oversimplification of how the food chain works, but it might contribute to the appearance of more aggressive spring bite.

Fascinating info. Thanks for sharing that. I’ve been trying to learn about winter/cold water fishing, and your post summarized it as well as anything I’ve seen. I’ve read that shad start dying when the water temp falls below 45-ish degrees. According to the chart, that’s the temp where bass need the least amount of food. As opportunistic predators, do bass aggressively seek out dying shad in cold water, or just passively eat what falls right in front of them?