Crappy Crappie report

Just like the title says, crappie fishing was well... crappy yesterday. Fish would SLOWLY approach bait, then quickly dart back down and away. Without a camera down there, my assumption is that these fish were spitting the bait faster and lighter than I could feel, thus their alarmed reaction. I did manage to catch a few, literally.

The highlight of the evening was the fellow in the winterized Supercub, skis and all, buzzing the shacks. The cherry on top was the sunset.

Ice Report: 1-26-2014

I managed to sneak out Sunday afternoon before the dreaded "Polar Vortex" struck again. Temps were dropping as I fished. Weather reports showed high teens but winds were gusting up into the 20's. I was fishing a lake in Waukesha County based on a tip from a friend. As it turns out, it was a good tip. Being an exploratory trip I packed light, no tip ups. I didn't have my shelter either, so it was a hood up, hunched over a hole kind of day.

I found bluegill. The smaller gills were about 25 yards closer to shore in 6fow. These fish were fairly aggressive. The larger specimens were in 7-8fow and were very negative. I did manage to get a few of the bigger gills to come in for a look and managed to hook a handful or two. Once a fish came to look at the bait, the technique was a dead slow, and I mean dead slow lift. If they had a chance to study a stationary presentation, they would swim away. If I moved quickly, they would just follow, but not bite. Using some ice that built up on my line as a reference, I would lift the bait as slow as I could until the slightest resistance was felt, then set the hook as usual. Sometimes, this technique did not result in a bite, so, using the same technique, I lowered the bait slowly to the bottom, beginning my ascent all over.

Fall report: Fish 2, Me...0

I managed to race home from work today and get some much needed time on the river. Water temps are definitely dropping and the river is still full of king salmon. Some are beginning to die off, while the moldys still spar and tail around each other in large pods.

I had a good smack a few casts in on the Quillayute. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of lifting the rod and pulling the fly out of the fishes mouth.

The sun dropped below the horizon and I switched it up to a white craft fur EP style bait fish which I ran grey prismacolor down the back of to mimic an alewife or shiner. My very first cast and I felt a tremendous tug on the rod followed by rapid head shakes. I figured it to be a smallmouth and began stripping the fish in... it was then that I felt the true weight of the fish. The fish took about 40 yards of line out as my click pawl screamed. The line went tight and I finally started to gain on the fish and it surfaced with a few big splashes. It looked to be a decent brown trout. It took another small run and began shaking its head fighting in one place, like brownies usually do. I side stepped to the bank on my left and began reeling the fish in when all of a sudden *tink!* my leader broke off. The loop connection failed. It didn't matter though. It was my first evening on the river and it just felt good to be swinging flies and casting to fish again. I know what I will be working on at the vice.

Quillayute produces!.....

...Just not the intended target, it was nice to feel something on the other end though!