I caught so many heavy fish this morning that my right arm is actually sore this afternoon. What a thing to complain about:-) I ended up catching 18 fish in total with a big variety; striped bass, hybrid bass, white bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and spotted bass. I also caught fish using varied fishing techniques. I caught top water fish using my Zara Spook, used a spoon vertical jigging for deep fish and also caught fish on live thread fin shad for deep fish. At one time I had 4 fish on at once, 3 on live bait and one on my spooning rod. I did get to land 3 of the 4. All three fish landed were hybrids.
I started out from my dock around 6AM and headed to the mid lake area. I first stopped at a main lake point and was marking fish. I set out 4 down rods, but after about 15 minutes of sitting on my trolling motor because of the high winds I decided to move to other areas. I headed back into a creek along a deep bluff line and started to mark feeding fish. I dropped 3 down rods with live bait and was vertical jigging with a spoon. I hooked into one after another white bass with my spoon on. These were monster whites about 2.5 - 3 pounds. One of my live bait rods started to sing and I ended up landing a striper. A few fish started coming up to the surface so I grabbed my top water rod and casted out and after two twitches a nice smallmouth hammered the spook. I ended up landing another smallie and a hybrid bass. I was fishing in about 50 - 60 feet of water and the fish were mainly in the 25 - 40 feet depth range with some on the surface. I was fishing close to the bluff wall. The fish in the area disappeared around 9AM, so I headed across the bay toward the opposite side following the creek channel. I got to about the middle of the bay and a live bait rod started singing. I fought this fish for 15 minutes before the line broke. I was disappointed because this fish felt much larger than the first striper. I continued following the channel and came close to the opposite bank when I saw all the feeding fish on my graph again. I hooked into one with my spoon, then 3 of my live bait rods took off at the same time. What a dilemma! I picked up each rod with one hand, set the hook and set it back in the rod holder. I landed a hybrid on my spoon then started on the other rods. I was really fortunate that none of the fish tangled with each other. I continued fishing this area until about 11AM and was catching hybrids right and left. It was a really fun morning. The wind started to howl even stronger and started to blow into the bay so I headed for home even though the fish still were biting. Fun fall fishing morning, hopefully many more to come!
I also fished last evening for crappie. A boat was on one of the brush piles close to the resort where I have been catching many 13 - 15 inch crappie on so I decided to head the opposite direction closer to the 101 bridge. I started fishing brush in 30 - 35 feet and only landed a couple small bass. I moved closer to shore in about 20 feet of water and the crappie were stacked. They weren't the huge ones, but respectable 10 - 12 inch fish. I caught 5 and released all. I was using a 1/4 oz green and white spoon.
White bass are being caught back in creeks and also on main lake flats. Look for the bait fish and watch your sonar for feeding fish. Vertical jigging is working great.
I also have word that the night bite has started. The evening before last a friend caught a nice striper, hybrid and walleye. Slow rolling a Rogue is the preferred technique. Some of the best places to fish are main lake points that are shallow out into the lake, but still have deep water close by. I guess I will need to get out there soon.
The Norfork Lake level is currently at 548.68, with the surface water temperature in the high 50's to low 60's. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves stained. Minimal water generation lately.
Happy fishing and see you on the lake.
No comments:
Post a Comment