Previous Next

Couldn't pass up the opportunity to get the boat on the lake for a few hours with this fantastic weather we’ve had. As our nighttime temps have been dropping so have the surface temps and the thermocline. I made a quick run to some open water north of I-90 and drug a white shrimp fly around for a couple quick hookups. I had one taker at 40’ and another at 60’, both around 18” in length and both very lethargic until they were close to the boat. After the second fish I decided to see what was going on down south and ran down to the mouth of the Cedar. I tried several different rigs at various depths without a strike the rest of the day. I guess the south end wasn’t the place to be today. The sonar pic was taken near South Point and the area really looked like it would produce at least one fish for me, perhaps they were a bit pre-occupied to notice what I had to offer. I did manage to find a mark another snag that looked like a submerged buoy marker and fortunately I was able to retrieve my downrigger weight. So far the fall season has been good and with all the bait that I’ve seen, it looks like the fishing will stay that way for at least a couple more months.

MotoBoat

11/12/2012 7:19:00 AM

Mr G. What is the pinkish or purple colored item, appearing a couple inches up the line, from the squid? Of the many cut's, you have caught. Is it common for one to jump out of the water, multiple times during the fight?

G-Man

11/12/2012 9:23:00 AM

That purple device is a miniature smile blade. As for jumping during the fight, I find that the fish are more likely to jump when I'm using a flasher or dodger in front of my lure. As for jumping multiple times, if they jump once they usually jump again by the time they get to the boat, unless of course, they shake the hook on the first jump.

MotoBoat

11/12/2012 12:12:00 PM

After stating what I was seeing was a smile blade. I went back to the picture, and still could not tell it was a smile blade. How long is your leader from flasher/dodger to shrimp/smile blade? What is your range of trolling speed? Any bait or scent preference?

G-Man

11/12/2012 2:55:00 PM

The reason it is difficult to tell that it is a smile blade is that it has moved up the leader a few inches from the lure and one side of the blade is flat against the line. For leader length on hoochies, I stick with the same criteria as when fishing for salmon, 3 to 4 times the length of the dodger/flasher. Trolling speed is from as slow as my kicker will move me to around 2.2mph, most of my time is spent at a speed in between the two. As for bait, I really don't think it matters as long as the bait you are using is fresh/unspoiled. My fallback is shrimp if I don't have peamouth or squawfish on hand and I can verify that worms, herring, perch and Gulp maggots also work.

Leave a Comment:

Login

Flag

×

Why is this comment inappropriate?

Close Submit

Delete this comment? Provide reason.

No Yes

Edit

×

Cancel Save