Randy W
03-28-2009, 09:58 PM
After getting talked out of making the trip up to Mississippi River pool 7, I was mighty determined to stick some fish somewhere. Unfortunately, no one was able to go with me, so I made the descision to head up to the Fox River. Too bad no one took me up on the offer, I caught a lot of little piggies.
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee70/randyWN131/100_0671.jpg
2fow to 11fow 42.3degrees dropped to 41.1, then rising to 43.2 by 4:00pm
I started at day break on a small current break that was full of timber. First fish smashed a bomber as it rolled over a log in about 2fow. Beautiful female about 27 or 28 inches. Huge sagging belly on her. Between controlling the boat, river traffic, and the mess she made in the boat, a quick release was done before a photo opp. A few minutes later, I busted another pig off while trying to net her myself. I was bummed because she looked like she was a couple pounds bigger. That one came on a salt water bait I wanted to try - rigged weedless to slide through the timber.
I hit about 4 spots including in front of the dam (yep, I played bumper boats). In all spots, I targeted long current breaks.
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee70/randyWN131/Seamsorbreaks.jpg
I held the boat in the faster current, and swam/dragged baits from the slack water to the fast. Of the 30 or so fish I caught today, two things were common to each. They were on the very edge of the break, and they wanted a bait to sit in front of their face so they could take their sweet time in desciding when to hit. Not a single hit while a bait was washing down the current. All were slow drags of about 1-3 feet at a time and hold it still. Most of the time, you would go to drag it a bit more and just feel the extra resistance. Only kabout a half dozen actually thumped it.
I have been experimenting with some saltwater baits over the last few years. After seeing some of the baits used for redfish, I loved the actions they provided and knew they would be a ticket for success here. Pictured are the baits compared to a ringworm. http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee70/randyWN131/100_0673.jpg
I also got a sample of the Yakima Showdown blade baits. I caught some fish on them today, so I am confident in them working. Unique that they only have a single treble hook in the rear. No forward or front hook. The only complaint I might have is how frequent the blade fouled up when pitched to faster current. But for slow dragging up a current break, they have a distinct vibration and different style profile. IMO - something different for the fish to look at!
I settled with 4 eaters so I could take 1 of the minni-piggies back for someone to get a pic of for me. (Thanks to who ever you were, if you read this. Heck of a nice kid! After the couple pics he shot of me, just started to clean my boat.)
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee70/randyWN131/100_0686.jpg
One last note of something I found very interesting. I had a couple frogs in my livewell that had most definately saw their better day... All 4 fish I cleaned tonight had frogs in their stomach. I normally don't see to many frogs out when the water is in the low 40's....but this is something they are eating.
And finally KUDOS to all of you that look after the Fox/Wolf River chain. What a quality fishery that has been and continues to be. I fished that a lot about 20+ years ago. This was the first trip I made up to Eureka in about 25 years. All of the fish I caught today were very healthy. Also very impressive that I caught more 22-27" females than 16" and smaller males. Don't get me wrong, I saw guys catching dink males. I opted for a bigger bait to sort through a few of them.
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee70/randyWN131/100_0671.jpg
2fow to 11fow 42.3degrees dropped to 41.1, then rising to 43.2 by 4:00pm
I started at day break on a small current break that was full of timber. First fish smashed a bomber as it rolled over a log in about 2fow. Beautiful female about 27 or 28 inches. Huge sagging belly on her. Between controlling the boat, river traffic, and the mess she made in the boat, a quick release was done before a photo opp. A few minutes later, I busted another pig off while trying to net her myself. I was bummed because she looked like she was a couple pounds bigger. That one came on a salt water bait I wanted to try - rigged weedless to slide through the timber.
I hit about 4 spots including in front of the dam (yep, I played bumper boats). In all spots, I targeted long current breaks.
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee70/randyWN131/Seamsorbreaks.jpg
I held the boat in the faster current, and swam/dragged baits from the slack water to the fast. Of the 30 or so fish I caught today, two things were common to each. They were on the very edge of the break, and they wanted a bait to sit in front of their face so they could take their sweet time in desciding when to hit. Not a single hit while a bait was washing down the current. All were slow drags of about 1-3 feet at a time and hold it still. Most of the time, you would go to drag it a bit more and just feel the extra resistance. Only kabout a half dozen actually thumped it.
I have been experimenting with some saltwater baits over the last few years. After seeing some of the baits used for redfish, I loved the actions they provided and knew they would be a ticket for success here. Pictured are the baits compared to a ringworm. http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee70/randyWN131/100_0673.jpg
I also got a sample of the Yakima Showdown blade baits. I caught some fish on them today, so I am confident in them working. Unique that they only have a single treble hook in the rear. No forward or front hook. The only complaint I might have is how frequent the blade fouled up when pitched to faster current. But for slow dragging up a current break, they have a distinct vibration and different style profile. IMO - something different for the fish to look at!
I settled with 4 eaters so I could take 1 of the minni-piggies back for someone to get a pic of for me. (Thanks to who ever you were, if you read this. Heck of a nice kid! After the couple pics he shot of me, just started to clean my boat.)
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee70/randyWN131/100_0686.jpg
One last note of something I found very interesting. I had a couple frogs in my livewell that had most definately saw their better day... All 4 fish I cleaned tonight had frogs in their stomach. I normally don't see to many frogs out when the water is in the low 40's....but this is something they are eating.
And finally KUDOS to all of you that look after the Fox/Wolf River chain. What a quality fishery that has been and continues to be. I fished that a lot about 20+ years ago. This was the first trip I made up to Eureka in about 25 years. All of the fish I caught today were very healthy. Also very impressive that I caught more 22-27" females than 16" and smaller males. Don't get me wrong, I saw guys catching dink males. I opted for a bigger bait to sort through a few of them.