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Author:
KingCranky
Date:
Apr 24, 2012
Subject:
Opening day, not so slow here.
Message:
My goal on Saturday was to spend more time on the water than on land, but I came up slightly short. After a 10 1/4 hour day on my "home" lake, I believe the tips of my ears and my forehead are due for a few days off from the sun. Got on the lake at 7:00AM, perfect foggy morning. Cloud cover that night keeping the atmosphere warm, barometric pressure dropping, along with a new moon? Opening day this year was the perfect storm of conditions and I really do feel for all of you who had trouble Saturday morning. Here were my setups I put together before I went to sleep: [u:866ef1976d]Casting[/u:866ef1976d] 6'6" St. Croix Premier MM, 6.3:1 Quantum PT VI 10 lb mono Damiki DC-200 in Blue Craw 7' St. Croix Premier MHM, 5.1:1 Quantum PT VI 10 lb mono Revenge Colorado Willow in Bluegill with gold blades [u:866ef1976d]Spinning[/u:866ef1976d] 7' Shimano Compre MLF, Pflueger Patriarch 9530 20 lb braid, 2 foot 8 lb flouro leader dropshot, 4" Strike King Elaztech finesse worm in Green Pumpkin 6'6" St. Croix Avid MF, Pflueger Supreme XT 9530 6 lb flouro Megabass Griffon SR-X in GG Bass Here's the lineup of the equipment: [img:866ef1976d]http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/582708_3145100908253_1286935808_32436618_843210225_n.jpg[/img:866ef1976d] I only use full cork handles.. personal preference. The crankbait bite was on and it was evident at the very start. First cast, not even 10 feet from where we launched I hooked into a 2 lb pickerel. Unbelievable! Normally a very quiet lake, there must have been 25 boats on the water when we launched and they were scattered throughout the lake. Our plan was to head to the 4 foot flats and work our way down the shoreline to where we know of a nice 8 foot drop off. Got to our furthest point and my plan of attack was to finesse crank with the Megabass Griffon and really get a feel for this lure. My buddy decided to follow suit with a Luck E Strike Series 1 Rick Clunn squarebill in Sunfish. From 7:00AM to 9:00AM the lake was foggy and calm, ideal scoring conditions. Cranking the 4 foot flats with just those two baits, we absolutely killed it. [img:866ef1976d]http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/530456_3145101108258_1844569741_n.jpg[/img:866ef1976d] [img:866ef1976d]http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/399143_3145101468267_1286935808_32436620_1733997530_n.jpg[/img:866ef1976d] The sweatshirt was a birthday gift. The nickname was a blessing. Didn't take many pictures, but there was no monsterous fish to write home about. Just an abundance. I'll take quantity over quality any day. I've already caught my 6 lb LMB this year 3 weeks ago; it's all just fun and games from here on out. Now, our friend was supposed to meet us there in the morning, but he can't seem to resist the bottle. It's a whole 'nother issue but needless to say he wasn't there at launch time. Just for the hell of it I started texting him of how we were doing, keeping him updated and letting him know how much he's missing out.. here's how our day played out: 8:25AM - 6 LMB, 2 pickerel, 3 lost LMB. 8:54AM - 8 LMB, 2 pickerel, 1 perch, 4 lost LMB. 9:14AM - 9 LMB, 2 pickerel, 1 perch, 2 crappie, 4 lost LMB. 9:48AM - 10 LMB, 3 pickerel, 1 perch, 2 crappie, 4 lost LMB. 10:26AM - 10 LMB, 3 pickerel, 3 perch, 2 crappie, 5 lost LMB, 1 lost perch. 11:50AM - 11 LMB, 3 pickerel, 3 perch, 2 crappie, 5 lost LMB, 1 lost perch. 12:44PM - 13 LMB, 3 pickerel, 3 perch, 2 crappie, 5 lost LMB, 1 lost perch. 1:44PM - 14 LMB, 4 pickerel, 6 perch, 2 crappie, 5 lost LMB, 1 lost perch. He finally shows up at 2:00PM, so we had an opportunity to use the bathroom, grab a bite, all that fun stuff that we forget the professionals have to deal with on a weekly basis. Put the second boat in the water and I decided to man mine solo. Headed back to the 4 foot flats that we had been fishing all morning into afternoon. The bite was still on but they were a little more finicky. The weeds were just starting to come in in the shallows, most noticeably in the areas with rock and sand, not just sand. Water clarity was at an all time high, I could see the bottom at 8 feet with my polarized glasses on. Surface water temp was at 63° in the morning and warmed up to 65° as the day went on. Ended up catching a short SMB, maybe 10 more LMBs and another pickerel. Only ended up catching one fish not on the Megabass Griffon, and that was when my mind grew tired of 4 feet of clear water and I needed to see if I could find something else. Tied on a Damiki DC-300 series in Blue Head and cranked this stretch of 12 foot flat since it was bluebird skies and the wind had picked up - maybe I could pick off a guy who went deep since there was not enough cover to go around? Ended up hooking into a 1.5 lb LMB, making this new lure I picked up this winter a winner as well. Continued on with my tradition of taking photos of cannibalism (thank you Koppers for all the good times!) [img:866ef1976d]http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/540284_3145102108283_1286935808_32436623_922379744_n.jpg[/img:866ef1976d] The fishing slowed to a crawl from 3:00PM - 5:00PM and truthfully I was done. I didn't expect to get sunburned (was expecting more cloud cover.. bad mistake) and when we switched boats I left my sweatshirt in my truck (bad mistake) so I was freezing. At one point we were all so delirious we were waxing poetic about the crappie species and I'm not sure I've laughed that hard all year. It really is an apropos name, isn't it? All in all, 2012 has started off with a bang on our lake.
Author:
PECo
Date:
Apr 24, 2012
Message:
Thanks for the report, especially the explanation of photo of you in the sweatshirt! When I saw the photo, I thought, "He has a sweatshirt with his screen name on it?!?!" :lol: I'm glad to know that the crankbait was working for you. I didn't switch over to crankbaits until the end of the day on Saturday and, after they produced fish, I regretted not having tried them earlier. I'll probably pick up some of those koppers LIVETARGET yellow perch lures, soon. BTW, how did you get the walleye in your avatar photo, anyway?
Author:
KingCranky
Date:
Apr 24, 2012
Message:
The nickname came well before the username. In our crew we also have a Captain Hookset, among others. I can't make this stuff up. That 5 lb walleye was at Saltonstall on May 21, 2011. Suppose I should have brought it to the shack so I could have a polaroid taken of me to show off to the locals, but I couldn't care less what those stoners think to be honest. They can take their fish stories and continue to tell it to any gullible first timer willing to listen. Caught it on a 3/8 oz. gold shiner War Eagle Gold Spinnerbait Colorado / Indiana blades. Took a left off the docks, was slooowww rolling it through the heavy weedline, toward the outside half, on a 5.1:1 reel, taking up as little line as possible. To this day, first and only walleye I've ever caught.
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