Author Archive
Sunday, May 18th, 2008 by Lead Jig
The bite at Reelfoot this past weekend was rough. We pulled in twenty one gills and crappie on Friday which was much better than most people at the cleaning stations. We would have had at least 40 but we threw back anything that was not worth messing with. Saturday was even tougher as we ended up with nine between the two of us. Nobody was catching them. Back at Samburg, most people had cats caught on crickets. In fact, three crappie were caught in the last hour, just before we drove back in.
We had a few factors working against us. Just before we came in to town a bad storm had hit which lasted two days. After that a high pressure system rolled in which cleared away all of the clouds by Saturday morning. To top it off, we found out they had been draining water from the lake through the spillways to bring it closer to pool. Some said as much as three to four feet.
Even though the bite was slow we had a great time. Two purchases were made however that turned our Saturday around. One was an 11 foot jigging pole I picked up for $22 at Walton’s gas station. This made jigging around stumps without a bobber much easier. The other was a $9.99 tape-playing AM/FM radio. It is a little know fact, but sleeping crappie are easily sent into a frenzy by the sounds of modern country music. Who knew.
Check out the photos of the trip. Also a few updates have been made to the awards section. Check out Smallest Catch and the two new awards Biggest Redear and Biggest Drizzum.
Posted in Reelfoot Lake | No Comments »
Thursday, May 15th, 2008 by Lead Jig
We are on the eve of another Reelfoot trip so I have been packing my gear over the last few days. After I was done I looked at the neat pile I had created and remembered the mound of junk I used to bring. What follows is not a complete list of all items, but rather specific to the gear I take along.
On my first few trips to Reelfoot I foolishly packed any and every lure and tackle I had. I figured if the crappie weren’t biting I could switch to bass. If bass weren’t biting the cats may be. At the end of the day I ended up losing sight of what I was there to do, catch crappie and gills, and subsequently was out of the water tying new lures. I ended up catching much less fish than I should/could have.
With each trip I learn a little more and have stripped down my gear to the (almost) essentials. I still add a few things just to mix it up, for instance this year I’m going to bring a 10” telescopic crappie pole so I will always have a live minnow rig ready. The core gear items however stay the same. The first 9′ spincast combo is rigged with a slip bobber and cricket hook for wax worms and cricks. The other 9′ auto-fly is ready for straight lining grizzly or other jigs around visible cover. The ultra-light with a slip bobber rig is great to have around when you are shrouded in trees and where a quick jerk up could cause all sorts of chaos.
You could argue that this is too much gear, but in my opinion this not only gives me the tools I need to fish Reelfoot, but also enough variety to keep myself entertained or to try new things if the bite is slow.
The bus for Tiptonville leaves soon!
- Rod and Reels
- 9′ with spincast (4lb high viz)
- 9′ with auto-fly reel (4lb high viz)
- Ultra-light spincast combo (4lb high viz)
- 10′ crappie pole with (17lb clear)
- Tackle Box (aka crappie purse)
- Hooks (assortment of cricket/goldies)
- 3/0 sinkers
- BB sinkers
- BPS cheapy bobbers (love the cheap)
- Slips (tokens only)
- Flys (gotta be Grizzlies)
- Jig bag full of tubes
- Extra line (4lb Mr. Crappie high viz)
- Live Bait
- Minnow bucket
- Cricket tube
- Wax worms
- Booty
- Electric knife
- Ziploc bags
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, May 12th, 2008 by Lead Jig
Yes, I was one of them. I used to think fishing Lake of the Ozarks was a lost cause. I figured that being the hot-spot that it is that there was no way this lake could produce decent fish. I was wrong. This past weekend was proof that there is excellent fishing to be had at “The Lake”. Party Cove aside (which serves its own special purpose), much of the development on the lake has helped the fishing. With each new development, up comes a dock or two. In fact, there is a plethora of boat slips, docks, and other structure within each and every one of the lake’s fingers and inlets.
Minnows gave us the most success by fishing docks without bobbers just a few inches off the bottom, but by far the most fun was had with a Smithwick Rogue crankbait. When they were biting, it was on like, well you know. We caught quite a few bass over 14 inches and surprisingly enough a few crappie that pushed the one pound mark. Truth be told however, my fiancé skooled us all with a smaller sized (1/16oz maybe?) crank that mimicked a minnow. The only thing that did not work was the frozen shrimp for cat idea. Only one cat was caught on a minnow.
On Saturday before heading to the local establishments we fried up the catch. We used a live-well to keep them for the day instead of keeping them on ice. I’m absolutely convinced that ice makes the meat more al dente when it’s cooked. That’s right, I said al dente.
Side note, I need to find a better fish batter. The products sold at the Schnucks and BPS are awful.
Posted in Lake of the Ozarks | No Comments »
Friday, May 9th, 2008 by Lead Jig
Lake of the Ozarks - land of drunken boat wrecks, STD infested coves and what could have been a sunken pontoon boat (more on that in another post). It is one of the few places in the world where the production and selling of hillbilly wallets still thrives. Not to mention the place where a few PVC crappie beds were installed around a dock owned by a friend’s father.
Because of this we are off to the lake we all love to hate - and to fish. I am taking a variety of gear from 12′ graphite crappie poles to an Ambassadeur 5000 rig for cats. According to my top-secret inside sources, the bite was on last weekend. Simple slip rigs with minnows did the trick.
The weather appears to be wet and rainy all weekend with chance for a break Saturday AM. I guess I will pass on the sun screen. .
Posted in Lake of the Ozarks | No Comments »
Thursday, May 8th, 2008 by Lead Jig
Enormous Carp Shot With Bow And Arrow Could Be World Record
This was sent to me by a friend of mine who fishes this area. Not only did he shoot it with a bow and arrow, but wrestled with it on the shore. There are some great quotes in the article such as:
“I threw the bow down and in the water I go. And I grabbed him by the gill; bear hugged him and started fighting him against the rocks.”
and of course there is…
“‘Oh good Lord, oh good Lord,’ they said. I heard that 500 times. I was kind of hoping to hear, ‘You need some help?’ You know, but I didn’t hear that one, you know.”
Darin Opel - LAB hero of the week.
Posted in News | 1 Comment »
