Thread: Rathbun It Is

Originally Posted by prchjerker

We had really good fishing wed, Thurs. and Friday.We had alot of 12 to 14 inch fish going.Brush in 4 to 8 foot was key.The cold front that came through shut them up on Sat.Took just under 9 pounds to win the tournament, my son and I ended up 12th.At least we qaulified for Grenada.Then wouldnt you know it Sunday went to the same brush piles and the big fish went on a tear.Itll be awesome down there the next week and a half.

I think that was our biggest problem, not being able to locate the brush piles. Spent alot of time watching the graph while trolling, but never marked any brush. Talked to one guy and his wife (team) Sat., he said 80 percent of his planted brush was high and dry. I'll get back up there and try it again next year. Hey prchjerker, how's the night fishing (with lights) in the summer at Rathbun...izzy

Izzy
I dont do much night fishing, but I got to tell you it should be fantastic.Alot of the fish suspend open water in the summer time.A guy get anchored just off the river channel , should be able to tear em up.Let me know if you make it back up maybe I can steer you in a direction or two.

We made it down late Fri. eve. and got on the water from 7-8 and caught the crap out of them on jigs in 6' less water with water temp being 72 where we were.We got on the water around 7 am Sat. only to find water temp. had dropped to 62.7 and they weren't on the jigs much at all.So we moved to 6-15' of water slowed trolled minnows while casting jigs and begun to pick up the craps like crazy.We were done fishing by 5 pm Sat. with the total for the day being around 250 crappies.We only kept about 30 that were over 10" and 5 walleye's out of 16.Once again Rathbun didn't let us down and by the looks of the tourney result's we should of been fishing in it.

Congrats prchjerker. Good luck on Grenada. I kept my eyes open for your boat but I didn't see you.

We really struggled to find fish Fri. and Sat. Like most novices, we ended up in crappie cove and caught some keepers but it was difficult.

I'd like to go back there again but I want to go with someone more familiar with the lake and more experienced at crappie fishing. I've got a cousin that goes 3-4 times a year, I'll hit him up. If anyone else would like a fishing buddy at Rathbun for a day or two, I'd be interested. We could even use my boat if you want. It's about a 3-1/2 hour drive for me.

Originally Posted by skunked_again

Congrats prchjerker. Good luck on Grenada. I kept my eyes open for your boat but I didn't see you.

We really struggled to find fish Fri. and Sat. Like most novices, we ended up in crappie cove and caught some keepers but it was difficult.

I'd like to go back there again but I want to go with someone more familiar with the lake and more experienced at crappie fishing. I've got a cousin that goes 3-4 times a year, I'll hit him up. If anyone else would like a fishing buddy at Rathbun for a day or two, I'd be interested. We could even use my boat if you want. It's about a 3-1/2 hour drive for me.

Seen a several boats with ILL. tags, i was probably right next to ya but did'nt know ya...izzy

If you ever get back over this way let me know.I try to get down there most Sundays.Ill do what I can do to get yall some fish.Summer can be better fishing than what it was last week, with the fish moving daily it was hard to pattern them.Not to mention the awesome walleye fishing we have during JUne and July.PJ

Originally Posted by izzysfishin

Seen a several boats with ILL. tags, i was probably right next to ya but did'nt know ya...izzy

Izzy - my boat is easy to recognize because it has no markings on it. Essentially, it's a tan 17.5' G3 aluminum bass boat with a black Tracker 75 on it.

PJ - We had to change plans at the last minute at my house right before we left. We had to use my vehicle to tow instead of my buddys Explorer. You may have seen a lifted dark blue Jeep Cherokee with a big brush guard on the front. And I will take you up of the offer of hooking up (pun intended) at Rathbun. Let me know if you want to hit the Mississippi river sometime. I've got a buddy teaching me how to pull big walleye off the wing dams.

Izzy,

Sorry to hear the big fish were not biting for you. I looked at the results from Tourny and it looked like there were some nice fish caught. How did people do down there from this forum? A buddy of mine usually finishes in the top five however for some reason he did not fish it. I will have to call him and find out what happened.

Izzy, we will have to hookup down there sometime and do some fishing there. Where all did you try?

Later,
John B.