The Fishing Thread!

Hi there, got a question for the masses...

I lose a lot, and I mean a LOT of minnies to sauger/walleye via them chomping behind the head and leaving me with a minnow head. I don't liphook, I generally go in the mouth as far as I can, and bring the hook out behind the head. It kills the minnow pretty fast, but the current makes 'em look alive. Anyway, I'm poor enough that losing minnies that cost $3.50 a dozen...hurts.

Last time my buddy had some rig that went in the mouth and out the vent, and then the hook attached there, but we got about CRAP for bites last time, so that much was a bust.

I've tried some various stinger rigs, but generally they've just gotten me snagged. I followed someone's advice and used #8 treble hooks...and I lose 'em after about 3 casts. So anyway, what I did tonight was to make 5 stinger-leaders with..I think they're #6 plain shank hooks. They've got just a couple inches of leader, say 2.5 to 4 inches, with a loop on one end and a hook on the other. However, what I don't really know is what would be the best way to rig 'em?

Someone told me the loop goes right ON the primary hook...that doesn't seem like a good idea. Someone else told me on the eyelet of the primary hook, well that seems to screw up the presentation. Someone ELSE told me to add the loop to the swivel that's connected to the primary hook, which seems like the best option to me. Whaddya think?

Also, where should the HOOK go? Embedded in the tail? Under the dorsal? Trailing in the water behind?

Oh, and btw I just switched to circle hooks and already I'm catching more fish, unfortunately the ONLY circle hooks available in this town are the Gakamatsu Octopus Circle's, which are SHARP and NICE, but EXPENSIVE. I'm using #2's as my primary hooks, but I also have a container of #6's.

Oh...and to recap. Here's a sampling of what I've pulled out and/or seen people pull out in the last month from this spot (all on minnies!!!): Rock Bass, White Bass, Striped Bass, Hybrid Striped Bass, Flatheads (mud cats), Channel Cats, Mullet, Small Mouth Bass, Large Mouth Bass, Walleye, Sauger, Muskie, Longnose Gar...and I've probably forgotten something.

We've finally gotten some good rain, so I'm hoping to get down there sometime in the next couple nights to take advantage of having some current! As always, THANKS!

 

I always hook my minnows through the tail. The last big chunk of meat,before you get to the tail.

Keeps them alive,they try to swim,and last longer.

I never messed with circle hooks. Usually the eagle claw snelled hooks.

If weather cooperates, I'll give it another try this evening. 2 days off from fishing. I'm getting withdrawals, LOL

3 days of work left,and off for another week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Reading this thread is making me look forward even more to my vacation in two weeks... Instead of sitting at a desk, I'll be sitting in a boat with a beer, fishing . Man I can't wait!

 

I'm still slaughtering the saugeye!

Got 210 keepers in the boat since memorial day weekend.

Here's todays fine catch of myself and my dad:



1-20"
2-18"
1-17"
1-16"
4-15.5"
1-15"
1-14.5"
1-14"

Here's my stats:

210 saugeye,totaling 3246.5 inches. Avg= 15.46 inches.
Overall length= 90.166666 yards of saugeye! Almost a football field!

I have another week off-4th of july shutdown, Yippeeee!

Lets have an AD fish fry!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

@Nephilim

Ever been to Elephant Butte resevoir south of Albuquerque? That where I wet my first line camping with my Dad 55years ago. I can still see it. We left there when I was in second grade.

 

That sounds like a nice place garmoon. Probably crystal clear water and deep?

My local lakes,not so. Avg- 6 ft deep.On a clear day you may see 1 foot down, LOL

Some other nearby lakes look like chocolate milk.

Here's my catch of the day folks, 16 saugeye and 2 channel cats and the finest mess of fish so far.They are getting bigger,and still chunky:



I took a buddy and his wife out this morning. They had a blast. Would you believe they take Lake Erie walleye charters for $60-$80 each,and bring home 12 walleye if they are lucky. That's not including the gas to drive 140 miles each way up there, LOL

I helped get them these 16 saugeye and 2 channel cats and they gave me $20 for gas. They had a blast. Got wet,got lucky and 2 storms missed us in both directions, LOL. They've got some fine dining ahead of them.

Biggest went 20.5 ". 1 at 19.5",3 at 17",2 at 16.5",5 at 15.5",and rest between 14-15".

I'm having a problem neph. Dad's freezer is almost full and his 2 gardens are plumb full of saugeye guts, LOL

Total: 226. I should have well passed the 100 yds of saugeye!

 

Yeah, Elephant Butte Reservoir was a beautiful place 50 years ago when my Dad would take me on a friend's house boat. We would camp out. It was wonderful. Clear blue cold water. Dam on Rio Grande created lake. We lived in Albuquerque for 3 years. Not long enough. Been a fisherman ever since. And am in the Sportsman's Paradise now, where fishing is a way of life.

 

I'm still tearing up the saugeye. The overall total is 270 keepers.

Dad got a hook in his finger last week after a saugeye thrashed in the net.Ouch!
That put him out of commision for a couple hours,but when he came back-I caught 3 in the 3lb range and he didn't catch anything, LOL

I gotta go back to work today,UGGH!,but I got a few evenings to fish for them until they go into hiding shortly.

Tear those crappie up neph. I've been getting some nice 12-13" ones trolling and they taste great.

 

The saugeyes are slowing down now. Only got 5 this morning,but 1 went 21.5" and about 3 lbs. Another went 17.5".

Everyone else was getting the small ones, LOL



That puts the total for my boat at 284 saugeye keepers,2 dozen crappie,2 dozen catfish, half a dozen white bass,150+ dinks,and lost about 50+ keepers.

Lost about 20 baits/50 yds of spiderwire/[bold]1 timex watch[/bold],but found 5 other baits and 200 yds of line attached, LOL.

The best year by far!!! I'm getting pretty famous on the lake, LOL.

When you run a huge white mast on the front end,everyone the passes by gazes at me, LOL

How ya going to cook those crappie up Neph?

Pan fry with beer batter?

My dad want's to try some saugeye on the grill. I've eaten so many of them that it feels like I'm growing gills.

I got 3,quart size freezer bags that are plum full of saugeye cheeks. That is some of the finest eats there is!

Anybody else ever cut out and eat the cheaks of saugeye or walleye? Probably sauger as well?
Very Tasty-just like eating shrimp!!!!!

 

Me thinks I'll stick to my shrimp crab and crawfish. LOL The little lady's in K making stuffed crab for tonight. Can't wait. Talked to my brother in law last nite and it's getting so expensive to go out from the coast now @$3.00/gal. His son and friends tanked up with 500 gal for a grand total for about $1,500 fuel nothing else. Fish get real expensive at that level per pound. You have to have 5 or more fisherman to be able to afford it. It's almost too damn hot here after noon to do much fishing anyway. Real football starts soon. I think the pros have preseason games in 3 or4 weeks.

 

Holly Moly!

It costs me about $20 per trip.
3 gals for the truck
1-2 gal for the car-to get to dad's
2-4 gal for the boat,depending if I use my efficient 4 stroke,or gas guzzling 2 stroke and how many hours trolling.


For $20,2 people: 12 fish limit would only run under $2 a fish. Even a low output like today's 5 fish is still a bargain at $4 a fish.

I haven't had too many solo trips this year,thank goodness.Lots of help,and the valuable 2 extra rods we can use to help find the right color! 2 rods just don't cut it.

Dad chips in for the gas,new crankbaits,and some other buds would chip in for gas money as well.

Last week,I went through $180 + for gas. Had about 80 keepers for those 9 days. Worst day was 4 fish.


3 final days of saugeye fishing remain!

Those people up at lake erie are hurting. Those boats suck up the gas $$$$. They'll troll 12+ hrs a day!

Older reply,but I ran across something to go with that. I hang out at the Ohio gamefish forums,and looked through the nasty carp room. One person talked about his trip from ohio to chicago for Carp! Uggh!Another carp newbie wanted to know how to catch them. Can you believe that crap! It's more like,how not to catch them.
June's angler of the month was a guy holding a huge carp. Go figure!

I'm sorry,but carp are pretty nasty.Dirty,bottom feeding,mud suckers!
If I catch a carp while catfishing,it goes back in the water belly up, LOL! I've even thrown them into our camp fire.
15 of them in 1 night! They are fun to catch if you want a good fight.

Edit: Had to throw that pic in, LOL!

 

I've had a couple bad weeks here.

First, it was raining EVERY DAY for like 2 weeks, horrible. Flooded and everything.

Then, just over a week ago, we went out and had a good day. Girlfriend got about a 5lb channel, together we 2 keeper sauger, and at least 3 keeper sauger that got away. I got another maybe pound-and-a-half channel before we stopped, all in all a very good day.

So the next day we went again...shouldn't have. I've gotten good w/ my cast net, so I was casting it on a boat ramp (clear of debris) and got some minnies, a 7 inch sucker (good for the flatheads, or so I hear), and a 28 inch sucker! Lol...thought it was a log. Next cast...I got a tree or something....now I don't have a cast net. Also lost several nice Gakamatsu hooks that night, and got soaked because it started to rain, HORRIBLE.

All this week I was DYING to go fishing...so I went on Tuesday w/ my brother. He missed something big, but besides that we got nothing, so we moved to a different spot. I got 2 smallmouth using crankbaits, but it was nothing to write home about, so we gave up. I was expecting swiftwater (because it flooded again that morning), but the lock and dam had all but one gate CLOSED, so...yea, blowed up.

So friday, I'm like "I'M GOIN FISHIN!". So I go buy 5 dozen minnies, a new minnie flow-thru-holder, some new hooks, a drink, and a bag of chips. I get to the dam...and they have EVERY GATE OPEN...I'm like...wtf? The problem w/ this scenario is that the place where you stand is UNDERWATER when they have the first gate open...so I went to the spot where I lost the cast net. Didn't even get a bite. People all around me fishing for stupid ass carp. One feller got a 12 pounder, and was tellin me how someone got a 54 pounder a couple nights before. I'm like "why bother?".

So yesterday, I'm STILL determined, STILL have about 4 dozen live minnows. So I go to this place where I've heard there are lots of creek chubs, and in about 30 mins we got about 2 doz of 'em, between 3-8 inches long. Should be PERFECT sauger/walleye bait I'm thinking. Same guy who told me where the chubs were told me how to get to a DIFFERENT tailwaters, promised lots of walleye. So...off we go. We got there in the heat of the day...kinda stupid I guess, but w/e. It's a weird place, because there is ALWAYS some flow (hydroelectric dam), but there is debris on the bottom. Probably big rocks, but whatever. You can't let it bottom bounce...but if you don't, the current's fast enough that your minnow/chub skims the surface or about 1 foot under it. UGG...

I did catch a decent striper and something else, I think it was a rockbass. Between the two of us, we DEFINATELY missed at least 3-5 other BIG fish. She missed something that left only the head of a 8 inch chub, I got back several chewed up minnies. I put on a stinger...and snagged on the first cast. DAMMIT.

Anyway, we left before it got dark-ish, but I think we'll be going back there. It's beautiful there, and I know there's some biggens in there. I gotta get more slip weights tho...the egg sinkers give me too many snags.

So yea.. CRAP.

 

There's some major flooding to the north of me, In hardin county. Not really affecting my lake. It rose about 6",and you can still see down about a foot. Perfect saugeye clarity-nice and murky.The lakes around Columbus oh is greatly affected by all the rain.

We just get a T-storm here,and there. No rain the last 2 days.

Dad and I got 4 saugeye this morning. A nice one at 17.5" and others 15-16.I got a nice 11" crappie,still full of eggs. I threw back 2-16" channel cats.

Definitely slowing down-water temp is rising with this 90+ degree temps,and 90%+ humidity. I'll try changing tactics tomorrow.

TomMelee: With the debris on the bottom,how about a floating jig head,with slide sinker? Weight would be on the bottom-hopefully not snagged,and the floating jig head with minnow would be a foot or 2 above the bottom. I never had any luck with large rivers and dams. Only 1- cumberland river in Ashland city TN. I'd be tightlining,then they would release the water every 15 mins,and away goes my hooks and sinker. A very strong undertow. The only thing I caught,was a sheephead, UGGH! I've caught enough of them at lake erie.

 

mmmmmm cheek meat can't be beat.

It's supposed to get up to 102 today...if im going out in my boat today,it will be to ski,or tube,or just cruise.

To hell with the fish

 

You wouldn't want to swim in the lake I go to. Water is stained,mud bottom,and stump city. You can't even dive in it. A couple years ago.Someone bought a condo and boat on this lake. First time taking the boat out with his son,his son dove in the water and never came up. He jumped in after his son,and never surfaced. Probable dove into 3 ft of mud and couldn't get out?

It's been in the 90's last 2 days,and suppose to be mid 90's all week! UGGH!

I hate the heat. I'm ready for snow!!!

Maybe even a little ice fishing?