Last Few Days On The River.......

[NorthJerzyG]

Spent my last few trips checking out some river spots I hadn't seen in a while. River was in good shape. Not to low, and not running muddier than usual!! Found some good action at each spot.

Spent one trip chucking assorted lures for some pike. Pops caught 2 in the mid 20s and I got a slab crappie, one around 20" and lost one much bigger to a spectacular airborne headshake...... Saw the whole fish, and the then the lure come flying out of his mouth!!! Spinnerbaits and crank baits did the damage. Crankbaits drew more strikes but man they're a pain with the weeds and debris!!

The next few trips I was "inspired" to tangle with a decent catfish Took a night trip out on the boat with extra batteries and high expectations. Bug spray kept the skeeters at bay while we cranked in bullheads. Finally hooked up a decent fish and, due to a failed knot, never got to see it....

Next day I had some livers left over. Hit the river again and anchored up in a shady spot and sunk some meat. Real slow going for a while and was about ready to pack it in when one of my rods folds over. Knew right away it was a decent fish. Had 10# mono pretty tight on the drag and the fish was pulling the boat, with the anchor out!!! After a great battle I netted a 8-9# channel!! Fought even better than the 29" pike I caught on chicken livers , lol!!!! Good times!!!

[NorthJerzyG]

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[FASTEDDIE29]

Awesome mixed bag fishing buddy! Great looking fish all around! Those cats are some strong predators! They'll eat just about everything in the rivers! Good catching dude!!!

[bunker dunker]

nice mixed sack!!!!!congrats on some good fishing

[Skunk City]

Maybe, just maybe, this will be the summer I actually target cats on the river lol. Nice river crappie!

[kcritch]

Nicely Done...the rivers have been good lately.

[Eskimo]

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Nice catches.
"Dead-baiting" is an under-utilized method of fishing for pike.


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[tycomps]

good fish, great report! do you use your lowrance in the river? if so how effective is it? was thinking of picking one up for my river ride for lo-vis murky waters. lmk, thanks!

[NorthJerzyG]

Thanks all!! Skunk, definitely give it a shot. You'll get an epic slay ride, lol!! I've toyed with the idea of chumming and waiting or going to find them. Haven't found a method that works better yet but this guy was caught at a second location downstream of where I was chumming. Also wanna give cut and live bait more of a try but livers were readily available......

Tycomps, my lowrance is like MasterCard, never leave home without it!! In the river though, when most hole are less than 10ft, it's more for depth and temp than "fish finding". It's a cheapo unit but I've had times trolling bait behind the boat in a lake where I see a fish on the screen and than catch it. But in the river it's more for depth than anything else. When I see the depth go from 8ft to 1 or less, I know to adjust the motor so I don't drag it. Plus, it's scanning directly below me and I'm casting to the banks, it's not an accurate reading..........

[tycomps]

Originally Posted by NorthJerzyG

Tycomps, my lowrance is like MasterCard, never leave home without it!! In the river though, when most hole are less than 10ft, it's more for depth and temp than "fish finding". It's a cheapo unit but I've had times trolling bait behind the boat in a lake where I see a fish on the screen and than catch it. But in the river it's more for depth than anything else. When I see the depth go from 8ft to 1 or less, I know to adjust the motor so I don't drag it. Plus, it's scanning directly below me and I'm casting to the banks, it's not an accurate reading..........

thanks, just what I thought. was gonna pick up a cheapo for this boat for depth and temp when I'm fishing in muddy water. hopefully it'll show the depth change before it takes out the transducer!