Slip’s 2016 LOGS, STATUS AND STRATEGIES

[Slip Sinker]

The past few seasons it’s been season outdoing the last. Knowledge base on top of knowledge base. Building on some great info from this site and time on the water. I’m anticipating and looking forward to even better results with more citation fish. Anyway that’s the game plan.

Last year was the season of fishing TINY. Thin UL Lines loaded on tiny 50 series reels and light UL rods tossing tiny baits in front of fish targets…quantities of quality panfish and trophy SMB. Tossed the baits into thick cover with reckless abandon. Tiny presentations under slip bobbers thrown next to thick weed slop and weed pockets. Mid day fishing out of the kayak in less than two feet of water and tagging quality fish. Never really had another fishing boat come close to me fishing. it was like i had the lake to myself. looking forward to making some more good memories in the upcoming season.

Looking forward to any hints suggestions or comments from the BBG membership… sharing is the best way to learn and progress!

hope everyone a successful "2016 Open Water Season"

[Slip Sinker]

20160911- ...----~~<")))))><(--------------------------

[Slip Sinker]

...looking forward to fishing some "Dirty Water" today with the M-UL spinning rigs... i have a decent fish activity day forecast after reviewing the "Fishing Points" app at 36% with the uptick starting at 12:00 pm. i need to be fully vested on my spots at least 15:00 pm!

[Slip Sinker]

20160911—getting ready for a kayak trip i discovered I left the tackle crate in Earl’s vehicle from the trip previous!... UHHHGGG!!!... I had no gulp waxies or jigs and jig heads to take. I still had my rods loaded with one wore out Lil Minnow. I glued up the tears and reglued to the jig head. Repair looks good as new. This should last a short panfish outing. I also had a few nite crawlers left over so I headed out short tackled.

I dumped the kayak in the lake and discovered I left the anchor at home! Start to a good trip! Double UHHHGGG!!

Once out on the lake and at one of my spots I settled the kayak on a mound of slop that positioned myself nicely in the mild winds.

I ended up tagging a couple nice B.Crappie one at the 12” mark… NICE! Then tagged a nice P’Seed over the 90% MAR… these two fish made my day and were tagged in the Minor Lunar slot time frame. Caught a few nice B.Gills on the slip/float/nite crawler some nearing the 8” mark providing some nice tugs.

Glad I ended up going!

Nice P.Seed

.

Segment collage of today's CPR’ed tags…

.

[Leo Nguyen]

Salad is getting a bit yellow. Did it impact on quality catches or just low count for the day?

[Slip Sinker]

the slop thats floating on top is a combination algae, weed clippings from boat motors floating and caught on tall coontail. the fish just love this spot. tough to fish though with short flips along open channels or pockets and vertical jigging.

the p. seed was over 8" which puts it in that nice 90% master angler rating. the b.,crappie was 12" class which is real nice in my neighborhood.

I just couldnt get the numbers that day because of the old spine... some days i just cant tolerate sitting in that position for periods of time. if i was out on the jon boat i probably could of stayed out longer.

[Slip Sinker]

20160912- ...----~~<")))))><(--------------------------

[Slip Sinker]

20160912—made a last minute decision to go out on the lake for a few casts before dark. White caps were on the main lake body and battering our intended spots. Fished it without a bite for a few and decided to hit some very protected coves and canals. Fish were basically absent due to persistent weed control… we however tagged a few stragglers long casting the Lil Minnow jig. Its bound to happen a variety of factors could affect a fishing trip. Weather is key as everyone knows … I have been extremely blessed this 2016 with some great weather for the sport allowing me to get out there and do what I do best. Bad days are bound to happen … its part of the sport! I report the bad days too!

Here’s a few of the little guys found in the coves and canal.

[Slip Sinker]

20160913- ...----~~<")))))><(--------------------------

[Slip Sinker]

20160913—today starts the post summer period of fishing season… signaled by a cool drop in temperature from shorter days and cooler nights. It was a fantastic summer period that I have experienced! Personal Best quantities and quality of fish tagged.

Waited for the t’storms to slide by and I eased the kayak into my home lake. The agenda for the day is b.gills in the shallow weedlines as well as some b.crappie along the deep weedline edge. My baits of choice is what has been hot for me lately with all species is the 1/64 oz Lil Minnow rig.

Water temp is in the low 70’s after a cool drop since the weekend this ends the Summer Period and starts the Post Summer period of fishing for those that follow the In-Fisherman Calendar Periods. The surface of the water has also been cleared of debris after yesterday’s major southerly winds. Great for long casting the little jigs.

As I approached my waypoint I started casting the Lil Minnow and tagging some mid-sized perch and small gills. I anchored in and started throwing the slip/float/waxie and nite crawler rigs. My first couple Y.Perch resulted in 2 casualties from swallowed hooks and ended up as seagull food. That very rarely happens with me… it just seems these Y.Perch were just on a ferocious bite. I swapped out hooks with a #10 eagle claw circle and the problem vanished. Not one gut hooked fish after that.

The outside edge gave up a couple crappies of decent size on the long casted Lil Minnow and some small b.gills. the inside edge seemed to be occupied by mainly schools of Y.Perch of various sizing. My largest topped out at near 11”

Looking into the short range forecast my kayak fishing days are numbered for the rest of the year. Really had a great time with it this open water season.

Segment of today’s CPR’ed tags

[Slip Sinker]

20160914- ...----~~<")))))><(--------------------------

[Slip Sinker]

brrr!... feeling that chill in the air. what will be the effect on the bite?

[Slip Sinker]

20160914—we decide to use the jon boat on a private lake in Gladwin county. It’s a lake with a good base of panfish that the association protects with reduced bag limits. Good property values are linked with the lake’s good and well managed fishery. Not the just the numbers of fish in the creel but quality as well.

Strategies of the day include the typical arsenal of long casting jigs, slip/float/crawler or /waxie and drop shot rigs.

We started scanning the depths to note any thermocline (none) and any activity of fish schooling. We noticed many targets schooling in the depths past the 9’ break into deep water. I scanned a large area and marked a few waypoints with the sonar. The schooled fish were identified as above avg sized b.gill tagged on the vertically jigged Lil Minnow with a few b.crappie mixed in.

After experiencing a consistent bite for a good period time we decided to hit the shallows so Connor could experience a bite on the slip/float/worm setup. We found em in tight to cover near docks, laydowns and weed beds. Connor was casting and tagging some quality Lepomis at a great pace… enough to keep him focused for the trip. Earl maintained casting the Lil Minnow and I switched between slip/float/waxie and Long Casting the Lil Minnow.

Fish were flying over the gunwales for the whole trip!

I missed a trophy hybrid trying to hoist over the gunwales on a slip/floated pink waxie...should have used the net!.

Many fish were caught near their 90% Master Angler Rating… which is a great day!

Dbls and even triples were common during the trip…

.

Some of the fish tagged and CPR’ed during the trip…

.

.