Who's Been Fishing?

[bandchaser]

Went out this morning before the winds got too bad. Been catching a lot of shorts which is a good thing. Ended up with 8 mixed bag of whites and specs. A beautiful day for a late July day.

[KiK]

+1 on the beautiful day for late July. Sitting up here looking down on Herrington on the patio & I'm rethinking my short britches. Breeze is a little chilly on my hairy leg.

Nice fish pic.

[M R Dux]

Seems like every time I plan to sneak off to go to the lake, the wind is forecast at 10+. With 10+ winds and little current I figure I'll stay at the shop and hope for dog days with no wind and lots of current. I can't say I'm not enjoying the coolest summer on record for theses parts.

I've not been hearing much from Al Gore lately?

[Quackrstackr]

I went Saturday and did okay for trying out a new area and fighting 15 mph winds.

[M R Dux]

Well the weatherman let me down again. The 3-5mph winds ended up being 8-10 from the north with 2 foot rollers. I was surprised my wife was as tolerant of the conditions as she was. Trolling from south to north was out of the options so we made the best of it. Ended up with a few keepers and several lost on the way back to the boat. The wife hasn't gotten over her excitement and wanting to jerk a crappie to the boat. Getting one on the top and "skiing" it to the boat is taking her a while to perfect. She'll get there when we can get some calm conditions. She's also learning that sitting on the back of the boat surfing Facebook on her phone will cost her lots of fish. It did!

Here's one I caught on one of my experimental c55 patterns. Every keeper was on the c55s, most on dark green and pink combo. Lots of bait balls starting to show up as well as a lot of minnows jumping right before dark. I wanted to net some to see if they were shad or Asians. Wasn't able to catch any.

[CrappiePappy]

Lots of bait balls starting to show up as well as a lot of minnows jumping right before dark. I wanted to net some to see if they were shad or Asians. Wasn't able to catch any.

Dux ... you sure those weren't Brook Silversides jumping right before dark ?? Were they literally jumping out of the water, or just flipping/splashing on the surface ??

If you were trying to catch Silversides with a cast net, you're doomed to failure for the most part. They can, however, be caught with a wire mesh screen net ... after dark, with a bright light hanging over the side of the boat & easing along rocky banks, scooping them up as they follow the light. They make excellent Crappie bait, and may even be better than minnows or Shad.

Brook Silverside minnow (sometimes called Ghost Minnow or Pin Minnow)



... cp

[M R Dux]

Pappy, I saw several of the minnows up close and they were the shape of shad, wider body profile than in that pic, and up to 4 inches long. I have heard that the Asian carp minnows look very much like shad until they get a certain size. They were jumping completely out of the water but were not being chased by game fish that we could see.

[Monark King190]

Mrdux what size split ring and trebles are you using

[M R Dux]

Mrdux what size split ring and trebles are you using

The c55s are just a bit larger than a 300 Bandit. I use #2 split rings and #6 or #4 hooks, depending what I happen to have in front of me when I have the split ring pliers in my hand. Some times I use a #4 on back and #6 on front. With both being #4s, they will tangle if you are not careful. I really like the Matsuo red sickle trebles but they are hard to find in bulk and costly.

[Monark King190]

Ok thanks. Per your recommendations I bought alot of c55's and have painted them and clear coated with devcon. Not the greatest paint job but I think they will hunt.