Trying Out New Toys. Oh, and catfish...

Location: Shoals Creek, Wilson Lake

Time: 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Air Temperature: 55 Degrees in AM, High of 70 Degrees
Water Temperature: 52 Degrees

Lake Level: 506.97 ft - Looks like it hasn't really started to fall yet on Wilson.
Weather Conditions: Moderate winds from the South 12-14 MPH

Today was an excellent day! I haven't been fishing a lot lately - only a little goofing off while putting out crappie beds, but nothing very serious.  Today, however, I set out to spot some fish and put them in the boat with the help of a new gift from my amazing wife.

After more than a year of lusting over a new GPS Chartplotter/Sonar Unit, my wife surprised me with a new Lowrance 9" Elite-Ti.  I've spent several evenings after work installing and setting it up, but today was the trial run.  All I can say is WOW.  This thing is amazing!

I put in over at Shoals Creek today and rode around playing with the new fish finder while scouting for a place to drop two new crappie beds.  I ended up dropping two cane brush piles in a location that I believe will do well. The images this new Lowrance unit took are unreal.  

After dropping of the my cane brush piles, I scouted the lake some more and found an area that used to be an old marina, but it looks like it was destroyed and part of it sank.  I couldn't tell initially if what I was looking at was debris or fish or a mix of both, but I changed my settings and realized there were suspended fish stacked among the debris. I dropped a line with a minnow and jig bottom bouncer and reeled up to where the fish were suspended and quickly realized I was on the catfish.  I spent an hour or two trolling this area and racked up around 15 blue catfish.  They were a little on the small side, but it was fun pulling these suspended catfish in.

After I had my share of catfish, I moved over the the rock bluff area to see if I could find some sunken beds or structure that might be holding some crappie.  I managed to find a blowdown holding some stacked fish that appeared to be a classic crappie signature, so I dropped a marker and circled back.  I quickly got some bites and withing just a few minuted I had pulled two crappie of the blowdown.

I've learned so much about these sonar units in the past few months, that I decided to adjust the settings on my downscan trolling motor unit.  Its a small, cheap unit, but after some adjusting, it was preforming very well.  In the image below, you can actually see the one of the crappie strike my bait and see me reel it towards the surface.

Below are a few other random screen shots I took today that had notable structure.  It is amazing to me to see how much information you can really gather about what is below when you have traditional sonar, downscan, and sidescan all working at the same time.

To end my day, I headed under the bridge to scan the pillars to see if they were holding any fish.  I was once again amazed at the results.

As you can see, the pillars were definitely holding fish!  I targeted one of these suspended schools and quickly picked up 3-4 white bass and a couple drum.  

Overall, today was very impressive.  I think I caught about 15 catfish, 2 crappie, 3-4 white bass, 4-5 drum, and a bluegill.  I wasn't counting, but I think those are close numbers. I can't speak highly enough about the Lowrance Elite-Ti unit.  I would highly recommend it or any Lowrance product.  I can only imagine how this will change my fishing approach as I continue to learn how to use all of its functions and get better at deciphering what it gives me.  I can't wait to get back out there again.

Holy Mackerel!

Location: Russell- Fields Pier - Panama City Beach, Florida

Time: 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Air Temperature: 91 Degrees
Water Temperature: 

Lake Level: 

Weather Conditions:

After the luck we had yesterday, Sean and I were eager to get back out today and try our luck. We decided to stop in the shallows first and try sharks. We stopped by Half Hitch takes again geared up with some more tackle and bait.

I hadn’t had a cigar minnow floating for 5 minutes when a shark hit me hard and started spooling off line. It was a hell of a fight! I got it close to the pier and Sean landed it with our net. It was at least 3.5 ft long. We again had a hell of a crowd around us watching and we let the kids take pictures and touch the shark.

We moved on towards the end of the pier and tried again for some gamefish. As we approached, fisherman had mackerel and Bonita on the line. We set up and I quickly lost my cigar minnow bait. I told Sean I was going to move and try the other side. I walked over and launched a cast. After about 2 minutes, I felt tension and reeled my line tight. As soon as I did, I felt pressure and set the hook. Fish on!! I’m not sure what it is at this point, but it is taking line fast and swimming like a torpedo. I’m not sure if I even have enough line on my reel, but I manage to slow it down and gain some line on it.  I fight to for probably 20 minutes and worked the whole end of the pier trying to keep it under control. Finally, it surfaces near the pier and we see that it is a very nice King Mackerel! Another fisherman comes up with a gaff and helps me hook it and pull it up.

We land it on the pier and Holy Mackerel! It’s nice. A 44” King weighing 17 lbs!! We pose for some more photos with spectators and let some kids touch the fish. What an amazing experience! After the crowd heads out, Sean and I head out to clean the fish. Dinner is on us!

SHARKS!

Location: Russell- Fields Pier - Panama City Beach, Florida

Time: 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Air Temperature: 91 Degrees
Water Temperature: 

Lake Level: 

Weather Conditions:

Decided to change things up a bit and fish outside my TN River Valley freshwater comfort zone. We’ve fished both inshore and offshore saltwater before but never surf/pier fished. Sine we were going to be in PCB, I thought we’d give it a try.

I packed my heaviest spinning gear I use for big cats and all my heavy tackle. I wasn’t really sure what I would need.  I met my brother-in-law, Sean, and we headed out around lunch to see if we could watch what the crowd was doing on Russell-Fields Pier.

We observed the crowd was using rod and reels much like we brought. Most were using cigar minnows and other caught baitfish and were targeting King Mackerel, Spanish Mackerel, Cobia, and Bonita. There were floating the bait on steel leaders with treble hooks and a trailer treble. There weren’t event using weights. We watched for about and hour and saw several mackerel landed and one sand shark. We were pumped and decided to head back for lunch and gear up at the pier tackle shop, Half Hitch.

Half Hitch is al excellent tackle shop outfitted with everything you need to pier or surf fish. We bought some steel leaders and trebles, some cigar minnows and squid, and a pier net and headed out.

We started out on the end of the pier fishing with one floating rig and one bottom rig. I quickly realized the bottom rig with squid was futile. The small baitfish were tearing the squid clean before any decent fish could find it. Sean was fishing a floating cigar minnow like most of the crowd. Shortly after we got there, people were landing nice mackerel, but the dolphins moved in and were ripping the mackerel off the hooks as fishermen reeled them in or left nothing but a head and carcass. We had a tough time catching anything after the dolphins moved in, so we moved back down the pier towards the shallows and spotted some sharks, so we set up again and targeted sharks.

We fished the same floating cigar minnow rigs and quickly started getting hits. Sean got a couple good tugs and then I saw a shark hit it and run. It put up one hell of a fight, but he managed to land it. I pulled it up by the line. It was awesome! It was about a  3 feet sand shark. We drew a crowd and let the kids take pictures and touch the shark’s sand-paper like skin. Everyone was amazed that we caught one.

Soon after, I got a good hit and a shark took off with my line and had my drag smoking. I reached up to try to tighten it down and was literally burned by it spinning so fast. I fought it for a good while and finally managed to get it to the pier. Another fisherman saw me fighting it and brought his pier net over to help me land it. It was about a 3.5 ft long sand shark! It has always been a dream of mine to land a shark, so I can finally check that off the list. We again let the kids take pictures and touch the shark and let it go again.

We decided we’d end on a good note and heard back in for the evening and try again tomorrow. What an experience!

Night Time Jug Lines

Location: Joe Wheeler State Park and 2nd Creek

Time: 5:00 PM - 2:00 AM
Air Temperature: 90 Degrees
Water Temperature: 85 Degrees

Lake Level: 

Weather Conditions: Slight to Moderate winds from the south.

Fished with Doug and Douglas Ainsworth tonight. I got there early to try to catch live bluegill to use to target flatheads. I fished blown over tops with worms and a bobber and managed to catch 14 with Doug’s wife, Shirley.

Douglas dropped 16 jugs at dark along the south shore of Wheeler with fresh cut shad. I dropped 6 along the north west bend then we headed to 2nd creek to drop the rest. We went north of the boat landing at 2nd Creek and dropped 8 more jugs in 8-12 feet of water as the creek narrowed just before the bend. All of these had live bluegill on the bottom hook and cut shad on the top. We dropped 6 more off the rocky point out from the boat landing and baited these the same way and returned to Wheeler.

After a couple hours, we checked my first 6 in wheeler and found a 4 ft long gar, but no cats. We ran back to 2nd Creek and ran the group of 8. We caught one nice blue and found one jug had run away from the others. When we pulled it, it had been tangled over and over around a sunken tree. We managed to pull the entire tree up and untangle it. I can only imagine a flathead did this. We ran the other group of six and caught one more small cat. We also found one more jug had a broken line.

We headed back to Wheeler and pulled Douglas’s jugs. We caught one more small cat. We found 15 of the sixteen pretty easily. We were watching the last one in the spotlight as it was pulled under and it never came back up. It had to have been a big fish. We searched for a good while but never found it.

Overall, it was a blast and a good learning experience for nighttime jug fishing. I think I would repeat the bluegill tactic next time, but concentrate a little more around the creeks and fallen structure. Will definitely do it again soon!

Jessica Showing How It's Done

Location: Browns Ferry - Wheeler Lake - Alabama

Time: 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Air Temperature: 90 Degrees
Water Temperature: 86 Degrees

Lake Level: 555.76' Strong current. 

Weather Conditions: Moderate winds from the south. About 11 mph

I took Jessica out this afternoon after work. I didn’t fish, but instead worked the trolling motor to try to keep us stable. Winds were very strong and the current was pulling hard, since we really struggled to keep the boat in position. Nevertheless, Jess fished with cut shad bouncing bottom with the new inline float rig I’ve been working with. We fished alongside the boils and submerged pipeline by the nuclear plant. 

She immediately caught a nice 6 lbs class blue literally on the first drop in the water. She quickly followed it up with a couple more on the next couple drops. She even pulled a double with cats in both hooks! She was slaying them and managed to land 7 in roughly an hour or less. It was a blast trolling while she was hammering the cats!

Jug Recover + Bottom Bouncing = Winning

Location: Browns Ferry - Wheeler Lake - Alabama

Time: 6:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Air Temperature: 74-84 Degrees
Water Temperature: 83-85 Degrees
Lake Level: 555.96'
Weather Conditions: Calm early, but turning very choppy.  Winds from the South.

I got up this morning with the main intent to try to recover my jugs that I left floating overnight.  I launched from the house and headed over to where I originally launched the jugs last night.  I knew they drifted, but figured I'd start there.  I had studied the wind and current last night and found there was little to no significant current.  The main mechanism for movement would the the wind blowing from the south, south east.  I expected the jugs to be drifting north to north west. 

There were no jugs where I launched them, as expected.  I turned on the Navionics app and set it to track my course and I began to ride in a grid-like approach beginning on the north shore in case any had washed ashore.  They had not.  I continued to ride back and forth from the south bank to the north bank, traversing a little farther west each time.  Once I approached the islands where the power lines cross, I checked the south bank of each island to see if they had washed ashore.  I spotted the first jug just off the east point of the southernmost power line island.  I dropped a pin in the app to begin plotting a drift pattern.  This first jug was one of the ones with the monofilament leaders and had a channel cat on it.

I quickly picked up several more jugs within eye sight and plotted each one with a pin.  I quickly began to see the drift pattern being plotted and headed along that course and spotted more jugs.  I pick 11/12 up pretty quickly.  The last one was not anywhere to be seen, so I figured either a barge pulled it away, someone picked it up, it broke loose, or a fish pulled it away from the others.  I began making parallel runs along each side of the drift pattern.  On my final pass, I was going to head back towards the nuclear plant.  Along the way, I spotted and picked up the final jug, which had a channel cat on it, too.

I was VERY happy to have recovered all the jugs.  Navionics said I covered 25 miles in 1.75 hours during my attempt to round them up.  In the end, they had floated 3.5 miles over night.  The results of the monafilament vs. nylon experiment was interesting.  Of the 6 with monafilament, I caught fish on two jugs and a third showed one had been on, but had thrown the hook.  I had zero bites on the nylon.  I will be changing the others over to monofilament.

It was only about 8 AM and the weather was nice.  I had about 4 shad or 16 pieces of bait remaining from my trip last night, so I decided to bounce bottom with my new rig over in my normal spot at the nuclear plant.

The action was as hot as it had been the previous night.  I immediately begin catching good fish.  I fished here for about 1.5 hours and literally ran out of bait.  I caught 14 catfish on my 16 pieces of bait.  It was a very good morning! With rod and reel plus jugs, I caught 16 total and took 14 of them home. 

ThunderCats. Lost Jugs.

Location: Browns Ferry - Wheeler Lake - Alabama

Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Air Temperature: ?? Degrees
Water Temperature: 83-85 Degrees
Lake Level: 556.03' - A bit high
Weather Conditions: Calm to choppy, winds from the South.

Decided to night fish tonight.  I got up this morning and headed down to Wheeler Dam to try to catch some bait.  I was very happy to find the threadfin shad running hard.  I threw a casting net one time and literally caught so many that I had difficulty lifting the net out of the water.  I brought a 2.5-3 gallon bucket and filled it overrunning with shad in a single throw.  I headed back home and divided the shad into Ziploc bags.  I filled each bag with 15 shad and had a total of 18 bags.  I froze these for future trips.  Very successful bait trip!!

I launched at the house at around 7 PM.  I used shad as cut bait from the morning trip to the dam.  I launched 12 jugs on the south shore on the Decatur side just off the island outside of Mallard Creek in about 12-14 foot of water.  I had retied 6 of the jugs with monofilament leaders and left 6 with nylon leaders as a trial.

I headed back over to the nuclear plant and began fishing my normal spot alongside the boils.  I was bumping bottom with a new rig that I was experimenting with.  I've heard a lot of positive feedback from the Demon Dragon product line.  This is basically an inline float to keep your bait suspended in the strike zone and keep it from falling to the bottom or hanging straight down.  I had an idea to rig my bottom bouncing rigs up with small 3/4 size floats inline on each of my 2 leaders.  These really small slip floats actually worked very good to offset the weight of the hook and bait and kept the cut bait suspended nicely.  I dropped the down and bumped bottom like normal.

Immediately, I was on the fish.  The depth finder visibly had fish stacked up along the drop off of the pipeline.  This was nice to see.  I started getting strong hits immediately and began catching fish.  I stayed in this area and continued to fish my new rig for about an hour or hour and a half with very good luck.  Ended up catching 10 in this time on rod and reel.  The last one I caught was a very nice blue weighing around 25 lbs.  

I would have kept fishing, but there had been pop-up storms all day.  A storm cell came out of nowhere and the wind picked up and cloud to cloud lightening began filling the skies over both Decatur and Athens.  I grew pretty nervous and decided I better play it safe and pack it up.  I headed over to where I dropped off the jugs.  It was dark by this time and I made several passes but could not locate the jugs in the dark with the choppy water.  My spotlight also just wasn't as powerful as I remember.  After a few attempts, I thought it was best to cut my losses and head home.  I will try to find the jugs tomorrow morning.

Overall, other than abandoning the jugs for the night, it was a very successful trip.  I wish I could have stayed longer, but the storms just didn't cooperate.