Re: Sometimes it pays to read fishing reports.

Great story Ronnie ! What lake were you on?
"Ronnie Garrison" <fishing.guide@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:eJXFe.29412$sJ4.24610@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>I blog about 10 fishing articles each day on my site - mostly fishing
>reports from
> newspapers. Last Friday I had gotten most of my stuff ready for a night
> tournament,
> had a black spinnerbait, Mann?s Loudmouth crankbait, three Texas rigged
> worms
> and two Carolina rigged worms ready.
>
> I put in a link to an article about Texas fishing and it mentioned they
> were catching
> bass at night on a jig and pig at Toledo Bend. I usually don?t fish a jig
> and pig much
> after April here, using worms instead until about October, but that
> article got me to
> thinking. I went out and rigged a black and blue Rattleback jig with a
> black Fat
> Albert twin curly tail trailer.
>
> We were fishing from 7 PM to 2 AM Saturday night. I got to the lake at
> 6:15 and
> put my boat in and tied up to the dock. The area was amazingly crowded -
> almost
> nowhere to park and people everywhere. I took up entry fees while trying
> to stay in
> the shade - it was in the mid 90s and high humidity. My shirt was soaked
> with sweat
> within a few minutes.
>
> At 7:00 when I let everybody go I ran about 200 yards to the rocky ridge
> at the dam
> where I won the tournament last year. I was surprised nobody else went
> there first
> since I am the last boat out. Being tournament director has its
> disadvantages!
>
> I started working the ridge, casting a Texas rigged Mag 2 Junebug red
> worm. The
> water was heavily stained but better than Monday when I could not see the
> skirt on
> a black buzzbait as it came by the boat. There was still a lot of wood
> floating, from
> sticks to whole trees. I planned on staying on this ridge all night since
> my motor
> still was not getting good water pressure and the floating stuff made it
> dangerous.
>
> Almost immediately I started getting hits on the worm - and reeled in half
> a worm
> four or five times. I guessed it was small spotted bass and finally
> hooked one 11
> inches long. It was strange - they would hit the big worm, but when I
> tried a six inch
> U-Tail in the same color they ignored it.
>
> I caught three short spots. That told me there was food here for bass, and
> some bass
> were using the area even if they were shorts. Maybe keepers would run in
> shallow
> after dark. That was kinda the pattern last year - I caught five bass
> weighing a
> whopping 5.95 pounds, all on this ridge on Mag 2 worms. I hoped to catch
> some
> keepers tonight - eventually.
> At 8:30 I worked way out on the ridge where it dropped off from 10 to 35
> feet deep.
> Dragging a Carolina rigged black/red Trick worm, I found the rocks out on
> that end.
> About that time I noticed a ski boat idling straight toward me. There were
> skiers and
> skidoos everywhere but since I was sitting near the dam kinda in the
> corner nobody
> was riding right by me. But this boat was headed right to me.
>
> As they passed I cast and almost hit the boat. They ignored me and kept
> going,
> idling right over rocks in a few feet of water. Then I saw the rope. They
> were
> dragging a log up to the corner of the dam. While they were untying it, I
> felt a thump
> on my worm and set the hook. It was a strong fish and fought good. My
> heart was
> racing as I got the net and pulled up. The lead cleared the water then the
> fish came
> into sight. It was a big yellow Charlie fish - about four pounds. Got
> slime all over
> my line. I let it go, calmed down, cleaned up my worm and line, and kept
> fishing.
>
> I had noticed a big deck boat idle up to the buoy line at the dam earlier
> and then
> leave. I saw it coming back - towing a log. He idled up near the drums
> blocking the
> dam, untied the log and left. I saw him do this six times before dark.
> All those logs
> he untied at the dam started drifting back into the main lake since there
> was a
> current on the surface moving away from the dam. The water was going out
> the
> penstocks at the bottom of the dam but the surface current had the buoy
> line bowed
> away from the dam - kinda strange. I wondered if someone hit one of those
> logs he
> dragged up could he be sued?
>
> Apparently people were dragging all the driftwood to the dam to get it
> away from
> where they wanted to ski and away from their docks. Georgia Power keeps a
> backhoe at the dam and cleans up the stuff that washes in - and we had a
> flood here
> two weeks ago that filled up the lake with debris.
>
> Right at dark, a few minutes after 9:00 PM I was casting to the rocks in a
> couple of
> feet of water right where the ski boat had idled a few minutes earlier and
> got another
> bite. When I set the hook another small spotted bass came to the top. I
> got it in the
> boat and it looked a little longer than the others. On the Golden Rule it
> just barely
> touched the 12 inch line. I had a hard time measuring the fish, it kept
> bowing up, so
> I put it in the livewell. That would be a great one to cull!
>
> For the next hour I fished out and back on the ridge. At 10:00 PM I
> worked to
> where some lights from the dam shone on the water and got a thump on my
> jig and
> pig. When I set the hook a small largemouth fought to the boat. It was a
> solid 12.25
> inches long! I finally had a comfortable keeper. Since I am in first
> place for the year
> in this club I really wanted to catch a keeper. With only 14 guys fishing
> I knew I
> would get some points with just one keeper.
>
> I fished all around the dam area I could reach that was not buoyed off and
> caught
> another short spot during the next hour. At 11:00 I was way out on the
> ridge, near
> where I caught the catfish, and I cast the jig and pig back toward the
> shallow ridge.
> A thump and another spot that was 12.25 inches long. I had two or three
> keepers
> now, depending on the first one, and I guessed all three together would
> weigh about
> 2.5 pounds. They were skinny!
>
> At midnight I had fished around the lighted area again and back out on the
> ridge. It
> was getting late - only two hours left to fish. Near where the small spot
> hit earlier I
> got a bite on the jig and pig and when I set the hook I could tell it was
> a pretty good
> fish. When I got it to the boat it was not as big as expected, but it was
> a 2 pound
> plus spot. It fought hard but all spots do. Now I was pleased - I would
> have close to
> five pounds if the little spot measured.
>
> For the next hour I fished back and forth, and got two bites but missed
> the fish. At
> 1:00 out on the end of the ridge I got a bite and set the hook. I was sure
> it was a
> little fish, came to the boat easily and did not fight much. When I
> started to lift it out
> of the water I was shocked at its size. Managed to get it in the boat and
> in the
> livewell - turned out to weigh 3.32 pounds.
>
> The very next cast to the same place I felt a thump and set the hook. It
> was like my
> line had been cut with a pair of scissors. There was no resistance at
> all, just slack
> line. I thought maybe a gar grabbed my jig, then I remembered lifting the
> 3 pounder
> over the side of the boat. It was a miracle I landed it.
>
> I sat in the same place for the last hour and cast a new jig and pig to
> the area where
> my best fish had hit. Not another bite the last hour.
>
> At weigh-in I pulled the little spot out and it easily touched the 12 inch
> line - maybe
> 1/16th inch over. I guess it was more relaxed but I was surprised -
> usually fish seem
> to measure shorter after being in the live well awhile.
>
> My five weighed 8.22 pounds - better than I expected. Second place was
> four
> weighing 7.99 and he had big fish of 4.04. My 3.32 was second biggest
> bass of the
> night. Third place was four at 7.31 pounds and fourth was 3 weighing
> 4.54. We
> had 7 zeroes out of the 14 fishermen and I had the only limit.
>
> I surely am glad I read the article about the jig and pig! Those bass
> might have hit a
> worm, but I will never know.
>
> Ronnie
> fishing.guide@xxxxxxxxx
> http://fishing.about.com
>


.

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    ... put my boat in and tied up to the dock. ... At 7:00 when I let everybody go I ran about 200 yards to the rocky ridge at the dam ... casting a Texas rigged Mag 2 Junebug red worm. ... It was a strong fish and fought good. ...
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