It's not salt, But

seeing those reports from the salty side of fishing make me want to wet a line.

The tracker has been under going some up dates, and I thought that she was ready to get wet. So I loaded up my gear and headed down to my favorite lake to test out my "new" long line set up.

Well I make my first pass through the old hunting grounds with nothing to show for my efforts. Pointed to bow of the boat towards my next targeted area. Just made the turn to start the new run when I noticed that one of the lines was running just a little off to the side. I lift the rod and there is a little weight to it. I start to bring the line in and as it gets close to the boat, the rod bends way over. I grab the net and it's a good thing that I did. That slab threw that hook right after I got the net under him. But first fish in the boat and in the box.

It was just one of those days out here today. The bites were light. I needed to watch the lines to see if they moved off course or did something odd. The next three fish were shorts and all got to swim another day. But the next one had some real weight to right from the first lift of the rod. Yes it was one of those "light bites" but he was just heavy until he got up close to the boat. Then he exploded in the water and the fun was on. I had 10 rods out and I was playing with a 4ft gar. I got him to the side of the boat without tangling any of the other lines. A quick flip of his head and he was gone.

I made 4 or 5 passes through the area getting one or two hits each pass. Then it all stopped. I looked at the fish finder and it showed that the water temp was 95 deg. It was hot out and I had fish in the box. I headed in.

Attachment 408132

Six nice fish made it home with me. Not bad for the dog days of summer in open water.

Until next time, tight lines and full nets

see you on the water

Jim

That one one the bottom left has definitely been eating go. That critter is thick

A little salt on some fillets should fulfill the need for the salty. Great job, thanks for sharing.

Good job. Can you show the new rod setup ?

Wow. You are still the Crappie Master.

Darn nice trip for the heat we've been dealing with, whew 95 degree water temp:yikes

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Micanopy

Good job. Can you show the new rod setup ?

---

the new set up is not much different than my old set up. Just some new pieces parts to use with it. I am running three rods off the back-sides of the boat. The rods are a 6 ft, a 9 ft, and a 12 ft. each rod is spooled with 6# test mono. I use a different color line on each rod to help tell them apart when I get a tangle. I run one 6ft rod off the very back of the boat.

Attachment 408255

Now for the new changes. I switched from fixed floats to release floats on the side rods. I have three different color floats . This way I can vary the how much line there is behind each float, but will be able to get the float out of the way when playing a fish.
Attachment 408256
Attachment 408257

If the black rubber gripper is set right, the fish will pull it free when it hits the lure and the float will slide down to the swivel and bead stop.

Attachment 408258

I have about a 3 to 4 ft leader from the swivel to the jig.

The back rod is set out as a free line set up. A 1/32 oz jig cast out then a sweep of extra line for good luck. I use this as a control rod to see how things are working.

I have been playing with different size jig heads , 1/16 and 1/8 and some time two jigs in combo to see if I can shorten up my lines for faster/ easier turns. Running depths are harder figure out. I like using the float because I can see where my lines are and I feel that I can control the fish better around the other lines when I bring them in.

that is some good looking fish :biggrin

Good fish Jim. You and Paula ate good off of those. Looking forward to seeing them in action.