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I got a chance to sneak away to the lake for 3 hours of fishing with my 2 year old daughter. The high point was snapping a picture of her next to a small pike that was worthy of use on our Christmas Card. In addition, it's hard to beat a 60 degree day in November.

The low point, on the other hand (fortunately not mine), was a hook in the finger of a fellow fisherman. Shortly after they began, this fellow netted a small pike that his wife landed on a #14 floating Rapala. As he was preparing to unhook it, the fiesty weed rocket did the "gator death roll" in the net and threw the middle treble into his thumb. It entered near the base of his thumbnail and exited through the tip. As the pike thrashed, the split ring must have torn out, leaving the hook through his thumb. Ouch. He called me over and I was able to pinch the barb with some slip-joint pliers I had, and he was able to reverse and remove the hook himself. Maybe I will invest in some side cutters for the onboard toolbox. It was a truly gory and memorable scene, and a gruesome reminder that pike can sometimes be more difficult to manage after being netted than during the in-water fight.

Fishing was not particularly fast, despite the presence of insects and baitfish. The pike were buried in thick, healthy weeds in about 7-8' of water, and not on an edge. I watched one small pike spit my rubber swimbait quicker than I could believe. I missed a second pike on a jointed hard swimbait that was a lot better fish, looking to be at least 10 lbs if not bigger. The one I did catch was only 24" but was actually looking to eat something.

It was a nice few hours on the water, but the fish weren't inhaling lures. The other couple stayed out longer than I did, but on the way in the guy with the sore thumb reported only the one pike.

buc

11/18/2012 10:25:00 PM

Your daughter is a quick learner her thumb is tucked inn, smart! lol Cute pic

afk

11/19/2012 6:31:00 AM

Cute! Thanks for the report.

Mark K

11/19/2012 5:18:00 PM

Very nice! Your daughter looks like she had a blast!

AJ's Dad

11/20/2012 6:37:00 AM

It's good to see someone other than myself is out there putting a few pike in the boat. I'm guessing they can still be caught, but after my day on Sunday I'm thinking they will be found in the main lake bays made up of clearer water than where I have been fishing. My spot was getting pretty murky. I think the fish were there, they are just easier to catch when they can see the bait.

Nice job getting the kid on the water!!

farmer_aa

11/20/2012 8:51:00 PM

Thanks for the nice comments! I was hoping to get on the water a lot this month, as last year was great during November. But it's been hard to catch a break in the rain lately! I certainly haven't given up on open water yet. Not for a few more weeks, at least. I'm betting there's going to be plenty of murky water coming into the lake with this runoff. I'm with you on guessing that the main lake bays will be clearer. We'll see. Hopefully I'll get a little time on the water this weekend. Reading your (AJ's Dad) reports, you've really slaughtered 'em this fall! Respect! As for my daughter having her thumb tucked in, that's very observant. I didn't even notice that! She's a sharper kid than I give her credit for. All that time I was dealing with that poor fellow's injured thumb, I thought she was just playing with the rope I use to tie to the dock. Turns out she was taking notes! I'll check back in when I get out on the water again... last year I finally gave up on Dec. 10th when the water was 35 degrees, though I did catch a small one on a swimbait that day.

AJ's Dad

11/22/2012 7:45:00 PM

X-Raps will do the trick if you get back out there. Jerk and pause!!
I'm not throwing in the towel just yet. I will be watchcing the weather reports to see if I want to get back out there.

Farmer, what area of the lake have you been fishing? The south end has been working for me.

Happy Fishing

farmer_aa

11/24/2012 3:12:00 PM

Sounds like I'll dress warm and head up on Sunday. I expect to fish the south end, most likely. I might run up to Harlow point, but I'll probably fish the flats across from Conkling, maybe a few spots in Chat. I haven't tried an X-Rap yet, but maybe I'll throw a new Glidin' Rap I picked up. Sounds like you're fishing slow these days. It appears that the water has come up about 8" since its low point five days ago, so the clarity might be an issue near any rivers. We'll see! I have to keep an eye on the level so that I don't get dry-docked in the boathouse at Rocky!

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