This weekend

Tough weekend for me on Winnebago. I got out yesterday at 7am, the air
temp reading in my truck was 26 as I trailered the Ranger to the ramp.
I arrived on my first spot pulling a float and fly around the area, I
managed one 14" fish in my first spot. I then ran to my second spot
where I managed to catch a 15.5" smallmouth on a float n fly, then came
back through the area with my SWL twin spin and managed 2 smallmouth
measuring 15.5" and 16".

On my run to the next spot I had noticed the wind kicked up to a solid
20mph , but it was out of the West, which "usually" means calm water on
my side of the lake, but that wasn't the case. It was about 30 degrees
in the air now, and I had about 3' waves (not too bad), but I was
running across them and I got soaked, so I fished one more spot before I
got frozen out, almost slipped into the water off the back deck(going
back to change baits) 2 different times where the water had washed up
onto the back deck and froze.

And as for today, I only was able to fish from 8am till 10am, and I
managed one 16.5" smallie on the SW twin.

Chris

"Chris Rennert" wrote in message
...
Tough weekend for me on Winnebago. I got out yesterday at 7am, the air
temp reading in my truck was 26 as I trailered the Ranger to the ramp. I
arrived on my first spot pulling a float and fly around the area, I
managed one 14" fish in my first spot. I then ran to my second spot where
I managed to catch a 15.5" smallmouth on a float n fly, then came back
through the area with my SWL twin spin and managed 2 smallmouth measuring
15.5" and 16".

On my run to the next spot I had noticed the wind kicked up to a solid
20mph , but it was out of the West, which "usually" means calm water on my
side of the lake, but that wasn't the case. It was about 30 degrees in
the air now, and I had about 3' waves (not too bad), but I was running
across them and I got soaked, so I fished one more spot before I got
frozen out, almost slipped into the water off the back deck(going back to
change baits) 2 different times where the water had washed up onto the
back deck and froze.

And as for today, I only was able to fish from 8am till 10am, and I
managed one 16.5" smallie on the SW twin.

Chris


Lord @ 26 degrees I wouldn't have cracked the door to go outside!!! Hey, at
least you did catch a few. Yall got any running water there like a dam or
something?
The smallmouth love to congregate up and chase yellow tails,(skipjack), in
the current down here....That is if your brave enough to put enough layers
on and get out there.

I think when water was washing on the back deck and freezing, that would
have been my cue that GOD was telling me to get home.

The smallmouth love to congregate up and chase yellow tails,(skipjack), in
the current down here....

We used to catch a small fish that looked like a baby tarpon and we
called it a skipjack. We used them for cut bait to fish for catfish.
They seemed to just show up for awhile and then you might not catch any
for a year. I don't remember the time of the the year, but I am pretty
sure it was summer. You could talke a small bait like a beetle spin
and run it real fast near the top of the water to catch them. They
wouldn't be over 8-10" and looked and jumped just like a tarpon. Funny
you should mention that, I haven't seen one in many years.

I did some more research and it looks like it was a Skipjack herring.

Funny, but the picture doesn't look as much like a tarpon as I
remembered it. I know they were great jumpers when you caught one of
the little rascals.

It was on the Pearl river below the dam, so I guess they would come up
river and get stuck at the dam and stay for a week or so and then
disappear. You might not see them again for a long time.

wrote:
The smallmouth love to congregate up and chase yellow tails,(skipjack), in
the current down here....

We used to catch a small fish that looked like a baby tarpon and we
called it a skipjack. We used them for cut bait to fish for catfish.
They seemed to just show up for awhile and then you might not catch any
for a year. I don't remember the time of the the year, but I am pretty
sure it was summer. You could talke a small bait like a beetle spin
and run it real fast near the top of the water to catch them. They
wouldn't be over 8-10" and looked and jumped just like a tarpon. Funny
you should mention that, I haven't seen one in many years.

My partner at last weekend's tournament to welcome home the 101st from Iraq
was SSG Todd Stites. He caught three largemouth for the day, but as we
fished a shallow cove, he snagged a skipjack on his quarter-ounce Rat'l
Trap. The skipjack were hammering our spinnerbaits and crankbaits in the
shallow water, so if we'd thrown some little inline spinners, I bet we could
have caught scores of them.

Joe
wrote in message
oups.com...
I did some more research and it looks like it was a Skipjack herring.

Funny, but the picture doesn't look as much like a tarpon as I
remembered it. I know they were great jumpers when you caught one of
the little rascals.

It was on the Pearl river below the dam, so I guess they would come up
river and get stuck at the dam and stay for a week or so and then
disappear. You might not see them again for a long time.

wrote:
The smallmouth love to congregate up and chase yellow tails,(skipjack),
in
the current down here....

We used to catch a small fish that looked like a baby tarpon and we
called it a skipjack. We used them for cut bait to fish for catfish.
They seemed to just show up for awhile and then you might not catch any
for a year. I don't remember the time of the the year, but I am pretty
sure it was summer. You could talke a small bait like a beetle spin
and run it real fast near the top of the water to catch them. They
wouldn't be over 8-10" and looked and jumped just like a tarpon. Funny
you should mention that, I haven't seen one in many years.

"Joe Haubenreich" wrote in
message news
My partner at last weekend's tournament to welcome home the 101st from
Iraq
was SSG Todd Stites. He caught three largemouth for the day, but as we
fished a shallow cove, he snagged a skipjack on his quarter-ounce Rat'l
Trap. The skipjack were hammering our spinnerbaits and crankbaits in the
shallow water, so if we'd thrown some little inline spinners, I bet we
could
have caught scores of them.

Joe
wrote in message
oups.com...
I did some more research and it looks like it was a Skipjack herring.

Funny, but the picture doesn't look as much like a tarpon as I
remembered it. I know they were great jumpers when you caught one of
the little rascals.

It was on the Pearl river below the dam, so I guess they would come up
river and get stuck at the dam and stay for a week or so and then
disappear. You might not see them again for a long time.

wrote:
The smallmouth love to congregate up and chase yellow tails,(skipjack),
in
the current down here....

We used to catch a small fish that looked like a baby tarpon and we
called it a skipjack. We used them for cut bait to fish for catfish.
They seemed to just show up for awhile and then you might not catch any
for a year. I don't remember the time of the the year, but I am pretty
sure it was summer. You could talke a small bait like a beetle spin
and run it real fast near the top of the water to catch them. They
wouldn't be over 8-10" and looked and jumped just like a tarpon. Funny
you should mention that, I haven't seen one in many years.




Hey folks, and JS,
Yes, we call them freshwater herring. Awesome fish to use for bait and can
be caught in huge numbers on small panfish lures. A lot of people I talked
to when I use to live on Wilson Lake in North Alabama told me that a lot of
the locals, "knocked them in the head" and threw them back.
I use to catch them congregated up in the back of 6-mile creek and wear them
out on a rooster tail or a "pin" minnow.(A really small rapala type bait.)

Well its raining here finally and were off to Sevierville Tennessee to visit
the Smokey Mountain Knife Works and the Bass Pro Shop there so I wont be
around for a few days..

Damifino wrote:
A lot of people I talked
to when I use to live on Wilson Lake in North Alabama told me that a lot of
the locals, "knocked them in the head" and threw them back.

That seemed to be a common tactic for many trash fish like gasper goo,
gar, grinnel, etc.

Seems pretty stupid now.

wrote:
The smallmouth love to congregate up and chase yellow tails,(skipjack), in
the current down here....

We used to catch a small fish that looked like a baby tarpon and we
called it a skipjack. We used them for cut bait to fish for catfish.
They seemed to just show up for awhile and then you might not catch any
for a year. I don't remember the time of the the year, but I am pretty
sure it was summer. You could talke a small bait like a beetle spin
and run it real fast near the top of the water to catch them. They
wouldn't be over 8-10" and looked and jumped just like a tarpon. Funny
you should mention that, I haven't seen one in many years.



We have them reach 20 inches (actually average size is 20 inches) down
here, they are a BLAST to catch on an ultra light, we find them below
dam's in fast water in the spring and summer, we also have a large
number of them at the junction of two rivers, the point between them is
a favorite bank fishing spot, on any day there are 20 or more people
fishing for them from the bank, they will hit ANYTHING moving fast at
the surface. They are only good for cut bait, so 99% is catch and
release. 2 to 4 lb test line, a 500 to 1000 spinning real, on an ultra
or micro rod. Most people use two small white jigs tied about 18 inches
apart for them. It's more "fun" than catching bass for sure, because you
can catch a 100 a day. We call them "fresh water tarpon" because of
their jumping, and their HUGE under bite jaw

--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Mojo SpecTastic "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread,
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, and the EZKnot
http://www.ezknot.com

We have them reach 20 inches (actually average size is 20 inches) down
here, they are a BLAST to catch on an ultra light, we find them below
dam's in fast water in the spring and summer, we also have a large
number of them at the junction of two rivers, the point between them is
a favorite bank fishing spot, on any day there are 20 or more people
fishing for them from the bank, they will hit ANYTHING moving fast at
the surface. They are only good for cut bait, so 99% is catch and
release. 2 to 4 lb test line, a 500 to 1000 spinning real, on an ultra
or micro rod. Most people use two small white jigs tied about 18 inches
apart for them. It's more "fun" than catching bass for sure, because you
can catch a 100 a day. We call them "fresh water tarpon" because of
their jumping, and their HUGE under bite jaw

They are bigger than I first stated, but didn't want to exagerate since
I wasn't sure I remembered correctly.

You pretty much state it just like I remember it. I don't know why
they just show up here randomly, but they are not regularly there.

I remember that I was always amazed at how much blood poured out of
them when you used them for cut bait.

Jim

wrote:

I remember that I was always amazed at how much blood poured out of
them when you used them for cut bait.

I guess that's one reason people don't eat them as they are very bloody,
but them big cats love them,, I know some guys who use whole live ones
for fishing for flat heads

--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Mojo SpecTastic "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread,
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, and the EZKnot
http://www.ezknot.com