Ya never know unless you try

[Spoonminnow]

Windy days and bright sun aren't my cup a tea anytime of year, but you can't judge a day by that alone - especially in fall. The forecast, as usual, didn't mention wind gusts up to 25 mph! At the house there was only a mild breeze before setting out. But as many of us know, winds that strong mean a front is moving through and fish get mighty irritable biting like crazy.

The water in the different lakes I fish now averages 48-49 degrees and you might expect a bit of a slow down. But as I've found in the last three days and 100 fish caught, you find them you catch them. Yesterday I figured I may as well go to the sheltered south end of the lake seeing as how I left the dang 15lb anchor at home and only brought the 10lb! Small rowboats have a habit of drifting, dragging light anchors when the wind is over 15mph.

At first yellow perch and bass were caught right up against the shore. Before calling it a day, I figured why not cast near this long rock ridge far from shore? Casting parallel to it, a crappie hit. Casting to deeper water, more hits. Making long casts with the wind, many more struck. I sat anchored in one spot for 4 hours and caught over 40 nice size crappie - a few less than 10", most 11-12"; I lost over 20. Better yet was testing different lures I made. Here are a few examples:


The gills and perch weren't too bad either:


Different lure shapes did well:






I tried the float but only a few nips.

A day of firsts to say the least!

[jay the baptist]

Spoon, you da man. Always like reading your post.
Was the crappie you caught up shallow?

[Spoonminnow]

Thanks - appreciate your appreciation.

The lake averages 7-8' and 14' near the dam (black line). Rock ridge is shown and the X is where I was anchored, with me casting in the directions shown by the dotted lines.



The depth is around 7' where I was anchored but the giant school was north of me to the n. and n.e. in 9'" - no where else:


The lures were allowed to drop to mid depth - around 4' and worked horizontal to the bottom - slowly. The strikes were weird in that they felt like double hits - i.e. fish doing a taste test before committing to the serious bite. Hooksets had to be a gentle raising of the rod tip or the hook set missed and then a few rod tip jerks to insure the fish was hooked good.

[Timbertodd]

That turned out to be a good day indeed!

[DockShootinJack]

Nice fish. That is one big yellow perch

[BobC]

Nice catch of fish. Yes, that perch was a nice one.
Bob

[BuckeyeCrappie]

Nice catches, thanks for sharing

["D"]

That is the most awesome sharing of info. You are a good man. Congrats on the catch and the baits looked great.

[Spoonminnow]

You guys are AWESOME! Wish at least just a few local anglers were less secretive when it comes to sharing. I've never cared for one-way streets.

But one thing just ocurred to me: I see fishing as a mystery to be solved whenever I venture out. Number one is fish location; number two is lures that can catch fish in those locations. Ruling out both is a top priority and based on past experiences on those waters leading to a build up of a knowledge base concerning them. Lakes are unique in many ways but similar in other ways. But as usual, luck comes into it and we always hope lady luck is on our side whenever we fish.

Example: two lakes that fish differently because of significant differences in each:
One has pads, is much larger with wetlands; yesterday's lake - no pads or wetlands.
Shallow water fishing is a must in the former, open deeper water fishing in the latter.

Luck allowed me to catch this large pickerel in 4' on a wetland flat two days ago around dying pads (especially considering the fact that the jig snagged its outer lip!):


Yesterday luck resulted in me making the first cast to deep water I would have never thought held crappie. When I felt a faint strike and then another, I knew I wasn't going anywhere! At the same time I was reminded that that end of the lake last month held over 30 fish, though more to the right of where I was casting.

Curl tail grubs were not as effective as a straight tail in either water because of differences in how each design is retrieved. Lure color may have been important but chosen based on confidence and the many fish caught over the years. Regardless, I know that lure contrasts draw strikes via action and color by tickling the fish's senses just right.

Pre-frontal conditions (15-20 mph wind) gave me hope that fish would be super active in the 49 degree water somewhere in the lake, which was also the reason for 40 fish caught on the shallow flats in the lake with pads the day before a cold front.

Clues, gentlemen, are discovered; luck leads to their discovery which results in fish netted. At the end of the day, there's nothing like the feeling of having been lucky on the water. For me, luck means adding to my knowledge base - even when few fish are caught.

(Man do I still wish I lived in Texas for so many reasons and especially for the fishing buddys I made on and off the base I was stationed at! Hope all my fellow vets had a great Veteran's Day!)

[BobC]

That was a great post, Spoon. I like your comments and views on how to approach water. Enjoyable and gives a fisherman something to think about.
Bob