...And Again

NumenOn the Water

Date:  1-31-16

Body of Water:  McEwen Lake

Boat:  None, Ice Fishing

With:  KS

Target: Panfish and Pike

Time:  8 AM - Noon

Conditions:  Overcast, calm and above freezing; rising to near 50 degrees F before raining

Today's experience was very similar to yesterday's, except it was less crowded and so there was more room to roam, I had a friend along, and we added some tip-up action to the mix.  And while the panfishing was tough once again, another meal or two was provided to my friend's family, and all in all, it was a more pleasant experience. 

We arrived to a lake apparently without suspended panfish.  We scouted a few holes in the basin and generally came up empty.  We therefore took our time setting four tip-ups targeting pike in 7 to 25 feet or so of water (half suckers, half shiners), and when we returned to base camp, some fish were now beneath our feet!  I immediately enticed the highest fish to eat a small gold Pimple with maggots, and once again, it looked like it might be easy.  Of course it wasn't; while I fished over fish for most of the day, they were generally difficult to fool.

By running and gunning over a milk run of a dozen holes or so from 30 to 39 feet of water, and by concentrating my efforts on the highest visible fish (and not wasting too much time on visible fish lower in the water column), I pieced together a decent catch of a dozen panfish.  All but one were crappies to over 11 inches, the other was a nice suspended bluegill.  The gold Pimple was by far the best producer, although a teardrop with maggots produced two bonus fish in quick succession.  The Jigging Rap was an obvious turnoff today; it resulted in firm rejections.  KS was unable to land any fish on the slab spoon.

While all this was going on, we entertained six flags.  Four were "empty" and probably caused by small fish harassing the baits; the others produced a 14-inch bass and a 20-inch pike.  Both of these ate shiners suspended about half-way down over 11 feet of water, right on the edge of some nice green cabbage.

At this moment, the possibilities are unlimited; this could be a 45-incher!

OK, it wasn't 45 inches; it wasn't even 24; but it did provide that initial excitement!  Note too, no gloves!  Baseball cap instead of a knit cap, and no coat!

I'll remember this trip for the fish I didn't land.  I lost a very nice (14-inch class) crappie at the hole.  It became entangled in my transducer; I should be more careful, and I know it!  The fish totally obscured the hole; it's nice to know that there are some even larger crappies out there.

What do I have to say about this?

This is one of KS' childhood lakes, and so he always enjoys his time out there.  I enjoyed his company, but I also appreciated songbirds and a bit more solitude than the previous day.  Plus, I was able to cover more water today, and if there was a secret for today's "success" it was to find as many fish high in the water column as possible, and to focus on those with a bait they would eat.

2016 Off to a Crappie Start

NumenOn the Water

Date:  1-30-16

Body of Water:  McEwen Lake

Boat:  None, Ice

With:  Alone

Target: Panfish and Pike

Time:  8 AM - 1 PM

Conditions: Mild and mostly sunny; light southerly winds and about 33-38 degrees F; 5+ inches of solid ice

This was my first excursion on the ice for the season; I'd chosen to tie hair jigs last weekend rather than test our first available ice.  This week things firmed up nicely, and the crowds were on Reeds Lake; so I knew that conditions on this lake would be safe.

I arrived to a crowd, and while I was able to set up for suspended panfish in my location of choice (the deepest water I'm aware of in this lake), various groups had flooded my primary areas for pike fishing with tip-ups.  I was able to watch these groups chase flags all morning, but it didn't appear that anything of any size was caught; meanwhile, I scouted different areas with my tip-ups while I roamed the basin with my sonar hunting panfish.

My tip-ups (which spent most of their time in 12 and 25 feet of water, with live baitfish suspended 4-5 feet off bottom) were silent.  The panfishing was pretty tough!

It took me a few holes to find any suspended fish, and this hole (38 feet of water) produced most of the day's fish.  I fished other holes in 17 to 39 feet of water, but these produced no more than a fish each, with many zeroes, too.

Once I found the productive hole, it looked like it might be  productive morning.  While the first few fish did not respond to my array of baits (Jigging Rap, Pimple and Slab Spoon), an early drop was intercepted by a fish up high as the Rap descended.  This crappie inhaled the bait and was about as aggressive as I could ever want; it appeared to be Game On!

While the Jigging Rap obviously moved fish (I could see them on the sonar's screen), I was getting lots of rejections; and I was soon including a bare tear-drop (with spike maggots) in my presentation array.

Deep fish, for the most part, would not bite.  Shallower fish in the same hole were less abundant, but more likely to bite.  When these fish started rejecting the Jigging Rap I switched to Size 4 Rattling Rap, and this too was initially effective.  Occasionally I could get a few fish fired up and catch two or three in succession, but usually I was picking off individual fish, which for whatever reason, ate.  Surprisingly, most of these bites were confidently aggressive, too; when they went, they went.

I hope I never have to ice fish without a sonar again; and GPS on the ice (with waypoints from my boat) is awfully nice to have!

Not exactly The Most Dangerous Game, but ...

I finished with 10 or so panfish; mostly crappies with a couple of bluegills.  Average crappie size was decent, better than could be expected on most local lakes, and the biggest was about a foot long.  A select five were harvested for a meal upon request of a good friend.  This harvest gave some tangible value to these panfishing efforts.

What do I have to say about this?

These were nice, comfortable conditions to start my ice fishing season.  Even if a bit crowded, I enjoy this lake for the natural, generally undeveloped setting, and the crappies are worthwhile.  It was good to finally get a 2016 Fish, and I'm going back tomorrow, so I guess it was worth it!

Florida Bonus - End of 2015

NumenOn the Water

Date:  December 23-25, 2015

Body of Water:  Atlantic Ocean, Cocoa Beach and Port Canaveral, Florida

Boat:  None

With:  Alone

Target:  Any piscivorous fish

Time:  Various

Conditions:  Generally warm and windy, especially for the season

We met in Cocoa Beach, Florida for a few days of relaxation prior to departing on a cruise, so of course I brought some fishing tackle.  In fact, I brought the tackle I could, which included a couple of travel rods and matching reels as well as a couple of small boxes of spoons, jigs and miscellaneous accessories.  I fished simply, where I could and when I could.  Any fish were welcome at any time, but secretly I hoped to run into some bluefish, Spanish Mackerel, or perhaps a snook, flounder or redfish.

After a few sessions of surf fishing in my new back yard, I realized the ESE winds had simply churned the water up too much for effective fishing.  There were mullet right behind the first breakers (I could see them jumping and I snagged a couple), but all the obvious life (porpoises and birds) were out beyond the last breakers and well out of range.  I relocated to Jetty Park at Port Canaveral's mouth for a couple of sessions on the afternoon of Christmas Eve and on Christmas morning, prior to breakfast.  The fishing here was a bit less intimate (I was on a pier some 6 to 12 feet or so above the water, depending on tide), but I felt like I had a better chance here.  At least there was more obvious life here; turtles, schools of mullet, pelicans and rainbait all paraded by, and very occasionally another fisherman would hook up.  (Almost inevitably this would turn out to be a ray.)

The surf was heavy and provided much whitewater cover for predators.  But after days of pounding, the water was too sandy to expect much success.

The morning's orange quickly transitioned to yellow each day.

My Diawa Pro Minnow seemed like a reasonable mullet imitation.  Mullet were running just behind the first breaker from the beach, and their presences buoyed my enthusiastic efforts.  Dolphins were visibly feeding on mullet in clearer water well off the beach.  Note the blue undertones; blue is a notably hot color for stripers when mullet are present.

 I tried various presentations from the pier, but settled in on covering water with a castable spoon.  My time was limited, and probing around with a jig or grub wasn't working, and the bait fishermen were hardly doing well, so why not focus on any available pelagics that might wander in or out of the port mouth with the tides?  I was lucky to catch a small Spanish on my first trip, but he seemed to be alone.  When a fishing neighbor indicated that the fishing had been better that morning (higher tide and lower light levels), I decided to come back the next morning.  

The only fair-hooked fish of this trip was a small Spanish Mackerel; my first ever from shore.  I swung and missed on another, too.

Just before 7 AM and well before sunrise, my third cast or so was briefly intercepted.  I swung and missed; but that was okay, because my line was 90% shredded just above the lure.  Had I connected, I surely would have broken off.  I gladly retied and cast again; but there were no more strikes to be had; and no more mackerel to be caught within my zone of awareness until I left to join the family for breakfast.

Port Canaveral Christmas Full Moonset.

Another beautiful sunrise unfolds, but only to reveal another slow bite.

What do I have to say about this?

This was all bonus fishing; the trip was really about being together with family and convening prior to a celebratory cruise.  I was simply pleased to have had a couple of bites, to have caught a fish, and to have done so in warmth and comfort.