Avid bowhunter, angler, Army veteran, husband and father. This is a blog about my exploits in the Midwestern US outdoors.
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Mixed bag. Six pound channel cat, a couple 12 inch crappie and hand size bluegill.
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Had a fish fry today as part of a family birthday party. Crappie from this spring and dill pickle.
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Here are a few from a recent early morning foray.
First bass of the day hit a Zara Spook.
Second (and biggest of the day at 6.5 pounds) hit a spinner bait thrown immediately into the spot where it swirled and missed the Spook. This tactic works almost every time. I captioned it after looking at the picture in the truck and seeing the bright rising sun behind my head.
Bite slowed as the sun rose higher. Caught several small bass. Ended the morning with a stout 3 pounder that hit a plastic craw tossed to a large stump on a shady bank.
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Middle of Summer Sucks
Ugh. The middle of summer sucks. It’s been farking hot for weeks. Little rain either. Water temps in the small lakes I fish are low to mid 80′s. Weather prophets on TV say we are experiencing a transition from El Nino to La Nina in the Pacific Ocean. This is causing a lot of clear high pressure days and little rain.
I prefer to fish at night this time of the year. The best action on are nights with a full moon. I like to get to the lake in the early evening so I can get my tackle ready and fish the last hour of daylight. This helps me to get acclimated to the surroundings so I’m not crashing into things during the night. Bright full moons are the best. Fish are usually very active and a bright moon allows me to see casting targets and land fish with little problem.
This year, however, I have a job that starts very early in the morning so I am unable to fish late. Instead I will get up early on days off and fish from dawn till maybe 9am. This tends to be the coolest part of the day (If you can call 80 degrees Fahrenheit with 75% humidity cool...). Its usually comfortable to be out on the water until the sun gets higher and temps start to climb. If it’s a cloudy day or better yet, threatens rain, I’ll fish till later in the morning.
Evenings on hot summer days can have quite good fishing too. The only drawback is that its the end of the hottest part of the day. Here in the midwest that can mean its 80′s to almost 90 degrees well after the goes down. To fish in conditions like this I make sure I have a good supply of water to drink and bug spray. Mosquitoes can be murderous if you don't spray down.
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This is my “bass boat”.
It has a wide beam for stability. Shallow draft and short length to get in those tight spots other boats can’t get to. Has ample storage compartments, aerated live well, fish finding sonar. Two leg power for speed lol
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Who needs live bait?
I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve used live bait to catch crappie, bluegill, catfish, or bass. In my opinion, lures are significantly more effective than live bait when fish are in a feeding mode. Far more efficient too. No mess. No worries about keeping your baits alive. No time lost rebaiting, etc.
It’s my experience lures out fish live bait when fish are neutral as well. You have to fish harder when they are not actively feeding but they will hit a well presented lure. By well presented I mean placing the lure almost literally on the fish’s nose. Fish that are in a negative mood are not going to bite anything.
All these examples were caught on what’s been my go-to bait for the last ten years when fishing small lakes and streams in the Midwest -- a small plastic grub on a 1/16oz jig head with a safety pin spinner attached. A jig spinner will catch anything that swims in fresh water.
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Bluegill are undoubtedly the easiest and one of the most fun fish to catch this time of the year. The males are an especially pretty fish. The almost iridescent blue coloration under their jaws and gill flaps is what gives the fish their name.
Caught these from a small farm lake in Missouri over the past several weeks.
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