Do you love big bluegill?

Swift Park, 7/19/2013

You never know what you’re going to catch……

Decided to try my luck a little closer to home this time. I arrived about 6:30, and found a 2-man boat and a couple float-tubes already fishing. They were all older gents, and I found out later they were after catfish.

Once I launched, I started trolling a minnowbait in Firetiger. I figured that color would show up in murky water better. I started paddling out, and within minutes, got a hit on my trolling rod. I pulled in a nice Sand Bass / White Bass, but it spit the hook at boatside.

I turned and started following the north bank. I got about even with the launch, and got another hit on my trolling rod. I had a nice, hard, tussle with said fish. Once I got it to the boat, I realized it wasn’t really something I wanted to keep:

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img545/3339/uk37.jpg[/IMG]

Once I released the Drum, I tossed out that minnowbait and started back on my path. I was trying to stay in the channel, about 20’ off the bank. I got right to the start of a series of islands, and got another hit. This one also kept digging for the bottom. I was rather surprised to pull this up:

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img838/4315/lmxp.jpg[/IMG]

Too bad it wasn’t “keeping size”. I let this one go, and continued on.

I started marking bait and fish in the channel. The fish signals were just above the bottom, while the bait was closer to the surface. I could SEE some Shad doing the Shad flip. I even started seeing a few predators ambushing bait on top. About this time, my trolling rod goes off again. I pulled in this:

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img689/6964/31ja.jpg[/IMG]

About that time, all heck broke loose. I had Sandies busting bait all around me, but I couldn’t get a cast off as I was busy dealing with the fish I already had. About the time I got that one unhooked and in the cooler, things had quieted down.

I went back to trolling. I decided to change colors to a sexy-shad colored minnowbait. Had a rather quiet paddle, interrupted by some more fish:

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img197/1361/pz6.JPG[/IMG]

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img843/4803/a8gj.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img23/553/ejai.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img577/5340/bcfy.jpg[/IMG]

Caught a nice LMB out of the river as well. Gave me a nice surprise when it jumped clear out of the water:

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img40/9412/i8l.JPG[/IMG]

Also saw some floaters. All Gar. Here’s one that was close to the launch:

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img607/5579/iu8o.jpg[/IMG]

Also did some exploring. Tried heading up to the dam, and got about half-way there before I ran into water that was too skinny for even a kayak. I didn’t really feel like getting out and portaging, so I just backed up, turned out, and threaded my way through the rocks until I hit open water again.

Dropped my lure into the water, started paddling, and saw several Gar surfacing in front of me. Didn’t really think much about it until a few minutes later, when I’m pretty sure one of them grabbed my lure, as the pole was bouncing around like crazy, pulling drag, and then just a second or two after it started, nothing. Managed to catch another Sandie, but it was small. Didn’t even get a pic of it.

Realized it was getting close to lunchtime, so I packed it in and took off.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Vince Fusco on July 19, 2013 at 3:15pm

A good day on the water for sure, Allan! Your pictures show that you never know what might grab your lure.

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Permalink Reply by Allen Morgan on July 19, 2013 at 6:20pm

There's a big dam about a mile upstream. Flatheads, and big ones, at that, hang out there. Only I can't get up there by water unless the turbines are one and generating. I can, however, fish from the bank up there.

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Permalink Reply by Rex Robinson on July 19, 2013 at 7:02pm

Allen, sounds like a good outing on the water. I had to beg for four small redears to come join me in the boat this evening, water temps are getting on up there.

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Permalink Reply by John Sheehan on July 19, 2013 at 8:44pm

Great account and some fine fishing !! So a Sandy is a White Bass ? What's a better fight Allen ,a Flathead or a Channel Cat of the same size? Never caught a Flathead .White Bass, Gar, Flathead ,all on my bucket list .

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Permalink Reply by Allen Morgan on July 20, 2013 at 2:16pm

Most Okies, and some folks from northern Texas, refer to White Bass as "Sand Bass" or "Sandies". I think it's because the prefer a sandy bottom in rivers. I use the "Sand Bass / White Bass" description because I write my post out in a word processor, then cut/paste that post into several different forums, as well as a couple different Facebook pages.

As far as the "fight" of a Flathead versus a Channel, Flathead cats hand's-down!!! Flatheads are described as the "tractor-pull" of catfish. They just keep digging and digging for the bottom, and once you get an really hacked-off Flathead on the surface, they go berserk, thrashing and spraying water everywhere, trying to get back down. I've only caught smaller ones, 7 lbs or less. They get HUGE! OK State record rod-and-reel Flathead is 89 lbs, IGFA World Record is 123 lbs, although many people believe that fish was not a legitimate catch. Just to give you an idea of they're growth, the minimum legal length here in OK is 20". A fish that size is going to weigh about 5 lbs.