The Bait Shop Guy
05-17-2013, 11:12 AM
Well, day two of the walleye and C+R bass season was much better for my dad and myself.
Dad started the day fishing off the south side of Gladstone at the "crack of noon," and was back at the shop by 3pm. In that time he caught 7 walleyes, keeping a limit of 16 to 22 inchers. He got them drifting floating jigs and slow death rigs, tipped with leeches.
After work, I picked him up and we went to the Ford River for some smallmouth fishing. I had heard that the access on the Ford River was silted in, but was not expecting the sight that greeted us when we got there! There's a sand bar sticking WELL out of the water on the downstream side of the dock! I was just barely able to get the boat in on the upstream side. I'd say most of the rigs in the parking lot were under 17 feet. Somebody tried going out with a bigger Lund while we were fishing, but they turned around and left before they got to the shallow water at the mouth.
Disappointment about the access situation was quickly forgotten because the Ford River smallies were crankin'! Dad started with a crankbait and I was using an unweighted Texas Rigged Senko. I had 3 or 4 fish in the boat before he switched over, then we both were catching. We boated around 20 fish, and lost or missed nearly as many. Most were around 17 inches, with our biggest being a 19 incher. Most of the females were still full of spawn.
A few pictures from last nights trip.
Dad started the day fishing off the south side of Gladstone at the "crack of noon," and was back at the shop by 3pm. In that time he caught 7 walleyes, keeping a limit of 16 to 22 inchers. He got them drifting floating jigs and slow death rigs, tipped with leeches.
After work, I picked him up and we went to the Ford River for some smallmouth fishing. I had heard that the access on the Ford River was silted in, but was not expecting the sight that greeted us when we got there! There's a sand bar sticking WELL out of the water on the downstream side of the dock! I was just barely able to get the boat in on the upstream side. I'd say most of the rigs in the parking lot were under 17 feet. Somebody tried going out with a bigger Lund while we were fishing, but they turned around and left before they got to the shallow water at the mouth.
Disappointment about the access situation was quickly forgotten because the Ford River smallies were crankin'! Dad started with a crankbait and I was using an unweighted Texas Rigged Senko. I had 3 or 4 fish in the boat before he switched over, then we both were catching. We boated around 20 fish, and lost or missed nearly as many. Most were around 17 inches, with our biggest being a 19 incher. Most of the females were still full of spawn.
A few pictures from last nights trip.