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]

20160809- ...----~~<")))))><(--------------------------

[Slip Sinker]

hopefully i'll be able to go out later for some more physical therapy.... what other better therapy than fishing! got me off the couch when i was down...

i feel there is a Master Angler B.Crappie waiting for me and the timing is close... maybe today!!

sunny and somewhat cooler today... cant believe im always fishing in the tough part of the day.. in the heat!

[Slip Sinker]

really slamming them this afternoon!

[Slip Sinker]

The hot summer period continues with the hot bite….

Timing my kayak trip with “Fishing Points” for the late afternoon lunar peak I hit the bridge straight away finding few numbers of fish. I then continued hitting my known hot spots. These spots failed to disappoint. The fish hit the UL swim jigs with passion. Varying the pattern of retrieve I was able to dial in b.crappies or b.gills it seemed at will.

A great tip is to vary your retrieve if the response is slight. B.gills today wanted a dropping jig as well as a bottom bounce to the jig. At one point I was just dead sticking the tiny jig resting on the bottom and picking up b.gill activity. Trust your senses and vary that retrieve.

The “Spring Cricket” accounted for the BFOTD!! B.Gill at 9.75” or 10” class … swimming the jig in a weedy flat in about 3 FOW.

I’m finding the old modus operandi and theory of following the b.crappie to the depths during the hot summer periods is not exactly true… the good sized crappie I was tagging came from tight cover in 1-6’ FOW.

A few b.gills were tagged with the ice jig tipped with a waxie lowered vertically into the wood laydowns and log jams. Gotta love the kayak for the stealth in enabling this approach… very tough to do with a jon or bass boat.

At one point I got caught in an unexpected short downpour… I paddled under some heavy tree cover nearby to wait it out. I decided might as well make a few casts and tagged a nice 9” class b.gill. the slip/float/fly/waxie was pitched next to a stick up and went down immediately… other than that the slip/float/fly/waxie was silent most of the afternoon. The fish were screaming SWIMMING JIGS!

The fish activity … catch and release was off the charts… the picture count was 127 snaps on the camera for the afternoon!!

BFOTD!!

Some of the fish caught and released today…

[Slip Sinker]

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[Slip Sinker]

between fishing, posts and picture i feel like i need to hire a secretary lately... lol

[Slip Sinker]

20160811- ...----~~<")))))><(--------------------------

[Slip Sinker]

20160811— Bite was way off today... absolutely could not locate the fish today. i left the sonar at home so i decided not to go ahead and look for them old school. one decent b.crappie at 12" class on the 2" Power minnow clipped to 1.75".

the b.crappie are well above last years and previous avg size... after literally tagging and cpr'ing tens of hundreds during that period could this be a positive result of that action?...

(3) CPR'ed fish worth showing...

[Slip Sinker]

20160812- ...----~~<")))))><(--------------------------

[Slip Sinker]

20160812—rain shortened trip with a couple b.crappie one at 11” class and a feisty r.bass honorable mention on the “Spring Cricket”. Jigs have been the number one technique for lately.

By the time I walked down to the access, launched, thru a few casts and caught a few fish 45 mins have gone by and the sky grew dark. Looking at my Minutecast I noticed I had eight mins to the time it was to start raining. Minutecast also showed the rain was over a 2 hr period long. I cut the trip short.

(3) CPR'ed fish worth showing...

[Slip Sinker]

20160813- ...----~~<")))))><(--------------------------

[Slip Sinker]

...i'm rigging up a short ice rod to do some vertical jigging in the weed pockets... the set-ups i now bring on the kayak is my 4-0, 4-6 and 5-6 rods... they have been getting a strenuous work-out lately in these summer patterns with numbers of fish. the short rods have been used so often the 5-6 ft'er seems like a long rod.

all i need is a break in this rain in the forecast.