I had hoped to find some slightly active fish in the shallows, but the lake nearest me allows for a quicker drive, even though it is a little deeper than the other one.
I know from experience that the time of day is pretty crucial for this interim period. It tends to be more of a daylight bite, although twilight can be especially good if you hit everything just right. And I know guys that swear by a night bite although according to my records on this specific lake, that bite doesn't happen for a few more weeks...for me and the techniques I tend to use. Still, I had a whole bunch of new things I wanted to try and felt that maybe I could get on some fish quicker by trying them.
While I was slightly optimistic, I still had doubts. And rightfully so. The first week of open water has been nothing but brutal.
I fished about 8 different spots every night that according to my records on this lake are typical producers this time of year, albeit it daytime and twilight producers.
No dice. If I could sing and sound like anything other than a cat in a bag getting beat by a stick, I would have belted out some blues. But then again, thats exactly why I don't sing and fish instead.
It would have been easier to hang it up for another week or two, but if I am anything, I am a persistent bastard. I shifted the hours I went out, downsized/upsized offerings, went through proven and established lure types, fished different structure... All in an effort to figure the fish out.
One thing I noticed was an increasing number of panfish moving into the shallows. Bluegills and sunnies...even a few smaller bass.
Always a good sign because where the food goes, so do predators.
By this point, having been out fishing 20 times for the year and only having about 12 fish to show for the effort, I was really starting to doubt my ability to figure this out.
The reason for this is that I feel fish become patterned to the offerings that come out of the box stores. Its what readily available and people throw those colors and patterns all the time. Its one of the reasons the firetiger pattern, which should be a given with the murkiness on this lake, fails repeatedly. I love that pattern and it works for me everywhere but this lake and one other lake that is heavily pressured.
Taking the ultra cool water temps into account, I figured it was a safe bet the fish were bottom orientated and relatively close to the shoreline. They were also not going to be terribly active. This typically leaves a very small strike window as they were not going to chase down anything. Thus a jig was definitely called for.
Let me be clear. I had used jigs and soft plastics a number of different times during this first week. Different retrieves, longer pauses, different colors and different weights. All had drawn a blank up to this point.
The night before this happened, I was out tossing some husky jerks and using long pauses, upwards of about 30 seconds between slight twitches. I snagged up on some of the rocks on the retrieve. So I flipped on my headlamp and was greeted by a set of eyes staring back at me. There was a walleye, roughly about 22 inches long, laying on top of the rocks in less than a foot of water. Probably no more than 12 feet away. And even with the light on, he didn't bother moving.
My jerkbait however, was still snagged in the rocks behind this fish. I drew the line tight and tried the old bowstring trick and it worked. The jerkbait popped free. I turned the headlamp back towards the fish and he is still sitting there. So I worked the jerkbait as seductively as a I could towards him. He moved up right next to it, within an inch or two of the bait and followed it sideways towards shore, almost like a sidewinder. When his back broke the surface of the water, he shot back out towards the deeper water, leaving me nothing but frustrated.
But that experience told me one thing. The walleyes were in the area. Nothing huge, but pretty nice sized fish.
So fast forward to the next night when I tied on a quarter ounce ball head jig and slapped on the two tone twister grub I like to call the Missouri fathead color. First cast out the jig never hit bottom. A nice bass about 15 inches popped it on the fly and minutes later, I had him beached, unhooked and released back into the water.
I felt damn good. That dry streak had ended, but I wasn't out after bass. I wanted some walleye. Keepers and not anything too big. Since this is a small lake, I limit myself to a few limits per year, so anything over 19 inches goes back unless its the cold water period of fall and I have to get my wife some limits for the winter months.
A few casts later, I felt a familiar tick just after the jig hit the bottom and I set the hook. At first I thought it was a bass, given the way it fought, but as I flipped on my headlamp, I caught the glaring orbs of a nice keeper walleye heading my way, my jighead readily apparent in its open maw.
As you can see from the intro photo at the top of the page, the fish was a nice fish, but nothing the size of the walleye I had seen the night earlier. For some reason, I felt very generous and immediately released the fish back into the water, despite looking for keepers. I just had a hunch it was going to be the only one I caught the rest of the evening. And sure enough, about 15 minutes later, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped, the smell of rain became prevalent and the fish developed lockjaw.
But that experience told me one thing. The walleyes were in the area. Nothing huge, but pretty nice sized fish.
I felt damn good. That dry streak had ended, but I wasn't out after bass. I wanted some walleye. Keepers and not anything too big. Since this is a small lake, I limit myself to a few limits per year, so anything over 19 inches goes back unless its the cold water period of fall and I have to get my wife some limits for the winter months.
A few casts later, I felt a familiar tick just after the jig hit the bottom and I set the hook. At first I thought it was a bass, given the way it fought, but as I flipped on my headlamp, I caught the glaring orbs of a nice keeper walleye heading my way, my jighead readily apparent in its open maw.
As you can see from the intro photo at the top of the page, the fish was a nice fish, but nothing the size of the walleye I had seen the night earlier. For some reason, I felt very generous and immediately released the fish back into the water, despite looking for keepers. I just had a hunch it was going to be the only one I caught the rest of the evening. And sure enough, about 15 minutes later, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped, the smell of rain became prevalent and the fish developed lockjaw.
The point I am trying to make with this is that I really had to work for those fish. It took me a week to get into them and this was after a prolonged warming trend, and beating the shoreline like a mad dervish. Since then, the temperatures have once again plummeted, the rain is forecast to last at least three more days and the winds have put a nasty bite into the even air that magnifies its teeth upon wet clothes and skin.
I don't feel the fish will move out to far from where there are now given the proximity to spawning and the forage that has moved into the shallows. That doesn't mean they are going to get any easier to catch either. At least not for another week or two.
I will still go out after them on a daily and or nightly basis depending on my work schedule and days off, hoping to learn even more about their habits and behavior in inclement weather. And the reason for this is quite simple. One can never count on the weather being "perfect".
Its up to us to adapt as the weather changes on us in order to stay on active fish. And the more experience one gathers from fishing in crappy weather, the better one can adapt to when the weather does change. You have a base of experience to draw upon, change your tactics and increase the odds of your angling success. You increase those odds again by fishing as often as you can. I've mentioned before it is easier to make adjustments and fine tune your presentations when you know where they are at and stay on them.
Does it suck to fish in 30 degree weather, in the rain and wind, at night, with nothing but artificial lures (by choice) and come up empty handed? Yeah, but with that experience You are also developing the ability to ignore the weather and concentrate on the task at hand instead of being miserable and thinking about how cold or uncomfortable you are. Its a mental game, mind over matter....if you don't mind, then it doesn't matter. And there is a lot of truth to that.
Anyway, get your gear ready people. Open water is here and the fishing is about to get really good soon. No sense in waiting until the last minute to get your gear in order. Make it count.
Until next time.
I don't feel the fish will move out to far from where there are now given the proximity to spawning and the forage that has moved into the shallows. That doesn't mean they are going to get any easier to catch either. At least not for another week or two.
I will still go out after them on a daily and or nightly basis depending on my work schedule and days off, hoping to learn even more about their habits and behavior in inclement weather. And the reason for this is quite simple. One can never count on the weather being "perfect".
Its up to us to adapt as the weather changes on us in order to stay on active fish. And the more experience one gathers from fishing in crappy weather, the better one can adapt to when the weather does change. You have a base of experience to draw upon, change your tactics and increase the odds of your angling success. You increase those odds again by fishing as often as you can. I've mentioned before it is easier to make adjustments and fine tune your presentations when you know where they are at and stay on them.
Does it suck to fish in 30 degree weather, in the rain and wind, at night, with nothing but artificial lures (by choice) and come up empty handed? Yeah, but with that experience You are also developing the ability to ignore the weather and concentrate on the task at hand instead of being miserable and thinking about how cold or uncomfortable you are. Its a mental game, mind over matter....if you don't mind, then it doesn't matter. And there is a lot of truth to that.
Anyway, get your gear ready people. Open water is here and the fishing is about to get really good soon. No sense in waiting until the last minute to get your gear in order. Make it count.
Until next time.
Keep those lines wet, those hooks sharp and the fish afraid.
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