Short evening trip, 8-7
The days are definitely getting shorter, folks. Pushed off for a short trip ( long day working and I was tired) at 5pm under mostly cloudy skies and a light southerly breeze. Air temp at 81, water temp at 74. I clipped on a Roadrunner with a Stinger tail, a green and white stinger and a live minnow colored BG Swimm'r. Trolled up along the edge as usual and less than a minute after tossing out the lines and getting under way, the first of many bluegill came over the side. It would take about 20 minutes to get the 1st crappie, a nice 11" fish.
I trolled back and forth along the first stretch of the weed line, never making it to where I had actually planned to fish. The bite was good right where I was working so I stayed in that area all evening. Here is a few samples of what kept me busy.
That BG Sunrise colored baby shad in that last picture was a hit with the yellow perch tonight; I had 3 big perch hit it hard, along with quite a number of 'gills and a couple of crappie. Very active night, changed out colors and styles if it seemed to slow down but stayed busy all evening. Last fish in the boat tangled 2 of my 3 lines and I called it night to get them straightened out about 7:30.
All told, I'd say about 2 dozen bluegill and pumpkinseeds were landed,mostly average size and smaller than usual. I think 4 perch, 3 of them very nice and perhaps 14-15 crappie, ranging from about 8" up to 11". I did lose a couple on the lift in to the boat.....you'd think I'd know enough to use the net on all of them by now. Also had a couple slip off boatside just before I could get the net to them.
I actually stayed longer than I'd planned to as the action was so steady. Saw a big black bear cross the road just a couple hundred feet ahead of me on the way up, numerous great blue herons around the edges and had an osprey winging around overhead for a while as well.
Yes, I was talking to myself; sometimes even I have to ask for expert advice.