Strange day - I'll take it !
Yesterday I fished a new water and had no idea the fish species or bottom. It was cloudy with a bit of sprinkle during the day but no big deal. I surveyed the bottom contours and depths and noted the extent of flats and changes in bottom hardness as well as the deepest water.
Caught perch, sunfish, crappie, bass and one giant carp. All except the carp were on the small side, but interesting were a few things:
1. water temperature 55 degrees and fish that were found hit hard !
2. even with that cool temperature, fish were blasting minnows near the surface thereby indicating where to head the boat. Plus, when the boat got near an inactive school near the surface, they started to scatter near all around me. All I had to do was back the boat away and cast to them to catch fish.
3. the carp and others like it were moving a lot of water on a large 2' deep flat ! - the huge one was one of them caught there feeding on something. Never got to weigh it.
4. my lure got caught on something that had a flat surface when looking down 3' but in 7' of water. Pushing on it released a small oil spill to the surface. Turned out according a senior angler I spoke with on shore was that it is an overturned boat that'd been there for years. Strange to say the least, but also that perch were schooled near it.
A few shots:
https://i.imgur.com/dtvaM7t.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/gQK0taz.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/6pYuzeC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/vqbPtIa.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/o512O37.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ChtCWCc.jpg
One unfortunate thing happened - fell out of the boat flat on my chest when getting ready to leave. Man that hurt especially when sneezing or coughing. Thought I cracked a rib ! The only launch is a short steep bank with a narrow opening in the brush - not easy to launch a small row boat. I'll have to be more careful and never leave the boat except from the side and with an oar as a prop - never the bow.
The gent that stopped to ask questions how I did filled me in on the lake. He told me about the submerged boat and confirmed the poor quality of the panfish and giant carp that can reach over 25 lbs. He confirmed my depth readings and the lack of weeds in much of the lake. (Triploid carp ?)
Well worth the excursion !