Thread: My DIY Projects and Great Adventures

Let her watch Lake Placid

Very nice. The water looks great!
Bob

Well today was a repeat of yesterday, with fewer fish but some nice ones in the mix. We left far earlier than we did yesterday because it was much hotter. Three or four hours in that bright hot Sun is just too much. It is why I like to go early and come home early. Once again the new pole position was most productive. Had some nice fish on those.

When we got home I fried some crappie in my enamel covered cast iron pot. It did very well for me and she really liked the result. Easier to clean up than cast iron. IMO because you can dose it with detergent. Drained filets on wire rack and sprinkled with salt.

I hope to do some more fishing soon, but I think it is time to try another lake. There is one much closer and is said to be full of trophy crappie. I want to test my new style there and just see what happens.

Finisged painting the new jig heads.



GLOw yellow with a dip into the monster green. Just a hint of green. I wanted to try Herring Head jigs again and you can see I skipped the under wire mold that Do-It produced. Used my design. The small jig is a FreeStyle in 1/16th oz with 1/0 Victory hook. The Bat Jig in 1/4 oz Do-It’s 60 degree Whacky hook size #2. I really like the way these two hooks match up with my plastics. Again today I had to free the fish from the jig.

I wish I better understood why the fish want the jig so close to the boat.

Cast iron, and a wire rack to drain on sure makes those fillets crispy and tasty

I have a cast iron pot that is dedicated to just frying fish.

Well I was out there again yesterday. O-Dark Hundred only boat at the ramp. Launched and set sail for the middle of Lake Hydrilla. Man I could see a definite path where all the boats ride through that stuff. Amazing.

There was very little wind but there were some small waves in places. I setup all 8 rods and sat back and watched the Sun rise.



Managed a small bass.



But the bite was slow and the heat was rising, so I needed to find the stupid fish. Finally started getting a few bites. Later I discovered a much better area and began reeling in my catch. They were all about a lemon/lime color with a blade. So much so I had three or four of them on lines and stayed fairly busy. Lemon/lime no blade no fish, and other colors and blades no fish. Hmmmmmmm

The limit here is 25 and I kept about 22 or so. Threw back the little guys so I count the trip as a limit. Them little ones are so cute I have to pitch them back. I bought a cheap cooler to replace the nice five day cooler I had been using. Loaded with fish and water bottles, ice and water, that thing is a bear to hoist off the back deck of the boat when I get home. The new light weight cheap cooler much better. Who knew.

Again, even though a different lake altogether, the rods set right next to the boat did the most damage. 1/4 oz jig heads right in close and shallow. The long lines out the back with 1/16th oz heads did pretty well, but nothing like the close in jigs. The depth was about 9 feet and I cannot understand why the fish want to bite that close to the hull of a 20 foot boat. The trolling motor isn’t quiet and sometimes waves smack the hull, but nothing seems to deter the little guys.

I saw some shad on the surface and they were in tight little meatballs. Ah Hah !

They were about an inch or so long it appeared. I knew my net would not gather them as the weave is 3/8”. Besides they would have died within seconds anyways. Thought about tipping my jigs with dead ones, but why bother when the jigs are working. I felt sorry for those fish as everything was probably taking swipes at them. I could not imagine the horror of it all. Watching huge fish gobble up your buddies, knowing you are next. Gruesome stuff.

I saw others slowly trolling about for crappie. One kind of small boat had four people on it and man they looked uncomfortable. Hot and crowded kind of uncomfortable. I didn’t notice if they were catching any fish but they had out a ton of rods.

It got hot hot at about 11:30 so I motored back through the hydrilla highway and landed the boat.

Little things irritate me sometimes. Screws loosened on the mount for my depth finder, then for the grab railing. Xpress should hire wee little itty bitty people to reach in there and mount bolts with lock washers or something. The boat also has three drain plugs in the deck at the rear. Ostensibly to drain water should I take huge waves over the top or fish in monsoons or something. Sucks because they are connected one to another, to one drain tube to the back of the boat. Well they hold water and as I head out fishing puddles will form next to the drain. Perfect spot for a flopping fish to utilize to dash nasty water in your eyes. Poor design for sure. I might even just seal them off and forget about them. Pull the cover, cram a Nerf ball in there and replace cover so it looks like I am able to take large waves over the bow or fish in monsoons.

I also do not care for the storage boxes in the back of the boat. They placed the large live well under the bench seat. Perfect location if you wish to prevent it being accessed in any meaningful manner. They put two small jump seats back there, which I thought I would like but don’t ever use. The storage boxes under them are lined with carpet and it gets soaked somehow. Still I am able to place six Maxwell House coffee cans down in there and load them up with junk I insist on carrying, and then that stuff at least is dry. I want to strip away the carpet and look to see how water is getting in there. Carpet on boats…..hmmmmmm.

Looks like my next day will be Saturday. Very light winds and lots of hot sunshine. Be an early start day for me again. I think I will fish this same lake again as it has a higher rating with the fish department people. That other lake has a muddy bottom. They say that makes fish taste nasty. I am unsure what kind of bottom this one has, but with all that salad the fish have to be oxygenated pretty well. Probably should jump ship and feel around a little myself to see for sure.

I made up some more jigs utilizing that lemon/lime color scheme. It seems popular at all the lakes I fish. Others also claim it best for them as well. Paddle tail, flapper tail, doesn’t seem to much matter. I wonder if it shows up better or reminds them of that day way back in their early childhood, when they found them really good tasting minnows.

Nice pics.

Some times the minnows will hang out in the shade of a boat and crappie like minnows. Even though the crappie don't usually get that close they will swing in for a quick meal and then retreat. That is why some of those fish bites are bang hard, it's because that crappie wanted to eat and run.