DaubsNU1 Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 Brother and I are taking my Dad (80 years old) to Francis Case on Monday. We will be fishing near the d**n. Breaking in Brother's new 18' Lund Alaskan. Thoughts / suggestions on lures? Presentations? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User FryDog62 Posted May 21, 2021 Super User Share Posted May 21, 2021 If not spawning yet, try Jerkbaits for sure, also paddletails, 1/2 oz Dark Sleepers, maybe spinnerbait/Chatterbaits in mid/shallow depths. If they are in spawning, then find beds and throw plastics like Ned/craws, flukes, worms. On the rivers, depending on water clarity, I have had some good luck with both the Haze and Mutsugorou colors of the 3 inch (not 3.8 inch), 1/2 and 3/4 oz Dark Sleepers for smallmouth. Might be an easy lure for dad to cast if there is wind, waves, etc. They sound heavy but are actually very compact - and they work and track well in current! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassh8er Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 Big Bend or Pickstown? That is my favorite lake and we usually find smallies near Platte Creek along all of those rocky areas. good luck and let me know water temps. We’re headed up for Memorial Day and then again on June 9th. I’ve caught the most smallies on a Ned Rig and TRD. Caught our biggest walleye (24”) last year the 2nd week in June throwing a TRD up against the rock bluffs in 2-3’ of water. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaubsNU1 Posted May 21, 2021 Author Share Posted May 21, 2021 4 hours ago, bassh8er said: Big Bend or Pickstown? That is my favorite lake and we usually find smallies near Platte Creek along all of those rocky areas. good luck and let me know water temps. We’re headed up for Memorial Day and then again on June 9th. I’ve caught the most smallies on a Ned Rig and TRD. Caught our biggest walleye (24”) last year the 2nd week in June throwing a TRD up against the rock bluffs in 2-3’ of water. Pickstown. Appreciate the words here. I'll post up pics and details on our return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vilas15 Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 Unrelated: I helped with structural inspection of all the light poles across the dam at Pickstown years ago. Hopefully they've been replaced because quite a few had cracked welds on the arms! Wish I could have done some fishing out there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaubsNU1 Posted May 27, 2021 Author Share Posted May 27, 2021 Water Temps low 60s...been a great two days so far...caught 72 smallies yesterday, Dad had biggest, 3lbs Fishing the dam...Dad and Brother lindy rigging minnows, I'm throwing Ned rig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted May 27, 2021 Global Moderator Share Posted May 27, 2021 5 hours ago, DaubsNU1 said: Water Temps low 60s...been a great two days so far...caught 72 smallies yesterday, Dad had biggest, 3lbs Fishing the dam...Dad and Brother lindy rigging minnows, I'm throwing Ned rig. Good gracious!! Nice job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaubsNU1 Posted May 29, 2021 Author Share Posted May 29, 2021 Wow, great trip to Frances Case. Here are more details and a few pictures... Monday: Got off work, Dad and Brother were at my house, ready to roll. Brother's new Alaskan all hooked up to my Duramax, ready to roll. Always great to spend time with my Dad...this was our present to him for 80th birthday. We stayed in Spencer, Nebraska, at hotel we frequented when turkey hunting up that way back in the day. Tuesday: Got on the water around 8 AM, Dad was none too interested in getting up super early. Water temps were right around 60 above the dam. Air temp @ 63 degrees and sunny, climbed in to the 70's. Dad landed the first fish of the trip...small walleye on rocks right next to the launch, using lindy-rig with minnow. We fished some rocky points and landed a few Smallies on weightless senkos, cranks, and minnows. Tried to fish the dam, but the wind was blowing pretty good and it was tough going. Brother still trying to figure out his Ulterra and new boat. So we opted to get below the dam and out of the wind. Ended the day with 53 fish in the boat...mixed bag Smallies (x23), white bass (x8), crappie (x6), walleye (x6), and one each of pike, carp, saugeye, rock bass, mud-rocket. Wednesday: water temp was 62 @ 8 Am when we hit the water...sunny and the clouds started rolling in around 3 PM. Winds were north 8-15 MPH...and blowing right down the dam. We fished rocks near and on the dam pretty much all day...drifting down the face of the dam staying around 10 ft. mark. Dad and Brother catching them with minnows on lindy, Nephew and I using Ned , small cranks. Decided to only log Smallies over 14" on the fishing log...those smaller than 14" were just a tally mark. Dad had a BLAST! We boated 72 Smallies, and a 4lb/4oz. Carp. Twenty one smallies over 14", and Dad ended our day with a 18", 3lb/2oz bronze back! Got off the water at 6 PM...tired and happy. Thursday: Slept in as it was rainy and over cast, and we were tired from two long days on the water. Got on the water around noon, water temp 60.5 degrees, air temp 52 and drizzling. Winds NNE 15-25 MPH. Brother was soo excited to get fishing he forgot his Gore-Tex at the hotel. I had backup frogg-togg set in my truck...so he stayed dry. We tucked in around back of cement near spillway to get out of the wind...and immediately put five smallies in the boat on Neds, cranks, senko and minnows. Nothing showing on the radar...but intermittent periods of drizzle and rain the whole day. We drifted the dam face, then trolled back up...ended the day with 49 smallies and a nice 19" walleye. Fourteen smallies over 14". Friday: Packed our stuff and checked out of the hotel, and got on the water around 9 AM. Brother wanted to try fishing a hump near Svatos Point...when we arrived there were 12 boats in the area, all looked to be fishing for walleye. Water temp was 59.2, air temp 43 degrees...winds were NE @ 5-10. I had been fishing Ned exclusively after trying a bunch of different presentations on day #1. Now we were in 9-10 feet of water, and no rocks to cast towards...so I put a jig and minnow on and caught my largest smallie to date, 3lbs/5oz. We started catching fish and taking pictures, fun stuff for my Dad! The locals fishing walleye slowly fished near to see what we were catching, and when they realized it was smallies and not eyes, one by one they headed out. We fished for three hours on the hump. In addition to my fish above, we netted the following: 3lb/11oz, 3lb/10oz, 3lb/8oz, 2lb/2oz...total of 13 smallies, all on minnows deep. I threw on the Ned and landed one that way. Totaled 188 fish in 3-1/2 days fishing. Dad had a GREAT time! This was the first big fishing trip in Brother's new Alaskan...we had never fished this lake or for smallies exclusively. Learned a lot...and ate a lot of hard salami, ****-ton of deviled eggs, and had a blast. A few pictures: And one pic for my Sister...we are a super close family...we texted and sent pictures her way all week. Good fun : ) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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