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KingCranky
Joined: 07 May 2011
Posts: 52
Location: North Haven
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 Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 4:04 pm Post subject: Opening day, not so slow here. |
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My goal on Saturday was to spend more time on the water than on land, but I came up slightly short. After a 10 1/4 hour day on my "home" lake, I believe the tips of my ears and my forehead are due for a few days off from the sun.
Got on the lake at 7:00AM, perfect foggy morning. Cloud cover that night keeping the atmosphere warm, barometric pressure dropping, along with a new moon? Opening day this year was the perfect storm of conditions and I really do feel for all of you who had trouble Saturday morning.
Here were my setups I put together before I went to sleep:
Casting
6'6" St. Croix Premier MM, 6.3:1 Quantum PT VI
10 lb mono
Damiki DC-200 in Blue Craw
7' St. Croix Premier MHM, 5.1:1 Quantum PT VI
10 lb mono
Revenge Colorado Willow in Bluegill with gold blades
Spinning
7' Shimano Compre MLF, Pflueger Patriarch 9530
20 lb braid, 2 foot 8 lb flouro leader
dropshot, 4" Strike King Elaztech finesse worm in Green Pumpkin
6'6" St. Croix Avid MF, Pflueger Supreme XT 9530
6 lb flouro
Megabass Griffon SR-X in GG Bass
Here's the lineup of the equipment:
I only use full cork handles.. personal preference.
The crankbait bite was on and it was evident at the very start. First cast, not even 10 feet from where we launched I hooked into a 2 lb pickerel. Unbelievable! Normally a very quiet lake, there must have been 25 boats on the water when we launched and they were scattered throughout the lake. Our plan was to head to the 4 foot flats and work our way down the shoreline to where we know of a nice 8 foot drop off. Got to our furthest point and my plan of attack was to finesse crank with the Megabass Griffon and really get a feel for this lure. My buddy decided to follow suit with a Luck E Strike Series 1 Rick Clunn squarebill in Sunfish. From 7:00AM to 9:00AM the lake was foggy and calm, ideal scoring conditions. Cranking the 4 foot flats with just those two baits, we absolutely killed it.
The sweatshirt was a birthday gift. The nickname was a blessing.
Didn't take many pictures, but there was no monsterous fish to write home about. Just an abundance. I'll take quantity over quality any day. I've already caught my 6 lb LMB this year 3 weeks ago; it's all just fun and games from here on out.
Now, our friend was supposed to meet us there in the morning, but he can't seem to resist the bottle. It's a whole 'nother issue but needless to say he wasn't there at launch time. Just for the hell of it I started texting him of how we were doing, keeping him updated and letting him know how much he's missing out.. here's how our day played out:
8:25AM - 6 LMB, 2 pickerel, 3 lost LMB.
8:54AM - 8 LMB, 2 pickerel, 1 perch, 4 lost LMB.
9:14AM - 9 LMB, 2 pickerel, 1 perch, 2 crappie, 4 lost LMB.
9:48AM - 10 LMB, 3 pickerel, 1 perch, 2 crappie, 4 lost LMB.
10:26AM - 10 LMB, 3 pickerel, 3 perch, 2 crappie, 5 lost LMB, 1 lost perch.
11:50AM - 11 LMB, 3 pickerel, 3 perch, 2 crappie, 5 lost LMB, 1 lost perch.
12:44PM - 13 LMB, 3 pickerel, 3 perch, 2 crappie, 5 lost LMB, 1 lost perch.
1:44PM - 14 LMB, 4 pickerel, 6 perch, 2 crappie, 5 lost LMB, 1 lost perch.
He finally shows up at 2:00PM, so we had an opportunity to use the bathroom, grab a bite, all that fun stuff that we forget the professionals have to deal with on a weekly basis. Put the second boat in the water and I decided to man mine solo. Headed back to the 4 foot flats that we had been fishing all morning into afternoon. The bite was still on but they were a little more finicky. The weeds were just starting to come in in the shallows, most noticeably in the areas with rock and sand, not just sand. Water clarity was at an all time high, I could see the bottom at 8 feet with my polarized glasses on. Surface water temp was at 63° in the morning and warmed up to 65° as the day went on. Ended up catching a short SMB, maybe 10 more LMBs and another pickerel. Only ended up catching one fish not on the Megabass Griffon, and that was when my mind grew tired of 4 feet of clear water and I needed to see if I could find something else. Tied on a Damiki DC-300 series in Blue Head and cranked this stretch of 12 foot flat since it was bluebird skies and the wind had picked up - maybe I could pick off a guy who went deep since there was not enough cover to go around? Ended up hooking into a 1.5 lb LMB, making this new lure I picked up this winter a winner as well.
Continued on with my tradition of taking photos of cannibalism (thank you Koppers for all the good times!)
The fishing slowed to a crawl from 3:00PM - 5:00PM and truthfully I was done. I didn't expect to get sunburned (was expecting more cloud cover.. bad mistake) and when we switched boats I left my sweatshirt in my truck (bad mistake) so I was freezing. At one point we were all so delirious we were waxing poetic about the crappie species and I'm not sure I've laughed that hard all year. It really is an apropos name, isn't it?
All in all, 2012 has started off with a bang on our lake. |
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PECo
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 5203
Location: Avon, CT
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| Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 4:27 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the report, especially the explanation of photo of you in the sweatshirt! When I saw the photo, I thought, "He has a sweatshirt with his screen name on it?!?!" 
I'm glad to know that the crankbait was working for you. I didn't switch over to crankbaits until the end of the day on Saturday and, after they produced fish, I regretted not having tried them earlier. I'll probably pick up some of those koppers LIVETARGET yellow perch lures, soon. BTW, how did you get the walleye in your avatar photo, anyway?
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KingCranky
Joined: 07 May 2011
Posts: 52
Location: North Haven
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| Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 5:16 pm Post subject: |
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The nickname came well before the username. In our crew we also have a Captain Hookset, among others. I can't make this stuff up.
That 5 lb walleye was at Saltonstall on May 21, 2011. Suppose I should have brought it to the shack so I could have a polaroid taken of me to show off to the locals, but I couldn't care less what those stoners think to be honest. They can take their fish stories and continue to tell it to any gullible first timer willing to listen. Caught it on a 3/8 oz. gold shiner War Eagle Gold Spinnerbait Colorado / Indiana blades. Took a left off the docks, was slooowww rolling it through the heavy weedline, toward the outside half, on a 5.1:1 reel, taking up as little line as possible. To this day, first and only walleye I've ever caught. |
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PECo
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 5203
Location: Avon, CT
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| Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 8:51 pm Post subject: |
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Well, if you could get only one, that was a heck of a fish to get. 
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Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter! |
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Michael
Joined: 28 Jan 2012
Posts: 3823
Location: Bridgeport
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| Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 9:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Excellent fishing! |
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anointed130
Joined: 28 Apr 2009
Posts: 592
Location: Hartford,Ct\Springfield, MA
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| Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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Is there a certain time that you use crankbaits over other lures or is it just preference, they seem to work well for you.
Still trying to learn new stuff
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"Come after Me, and i will make you to become fishers of men"
Can i be a fisher of fish too?
~Tony~ |
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DirtyDawg10
Joined: 27 May 2009
Posts: 2238
Location: Granby, CT
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| Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:19 am Post subject: |
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| Nice job catchin' em! |
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TurtleKiss
Joined: 09 Mar 2010
Posts: 1200
Location: central CT
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| Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:34 am Post subject: |
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Nice report KC!
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Kira
*~ "Not everything about fishing is noble, reasonable and sane..." -Henry Middleton ~* |
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KingCranky
Joined: 07 May 2011
Posts: 52
Location: North Haven
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 5:51 pm Post subject: |
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| anointed130 wrote: | | Is there a certain time that you use crankbaits over other lures or is it just preference, they seem to work well for you. |
A130, absolutely.
Before I even decide which crankbait to tie on, I go through the proper protocol.
1) Will the fish be shallow, midrange or deep depending on the water/air temp and seasonal tendencies?
2) What would a bass be eating right now depending on the season?
Once I determine those two things, I have nailed down what depth I want to crank at and what color choice my lures will be. There are some pretty important (to me anyways) reasons I typically start with a crankbait besides the fact that I am most comfortable with them.
1) It allows me to cover a ton of water, very quickly, to locate fish.
2) It helps me determine if the fish are passive or aggressive.
3) It allows me to determine what type of cover I'm looking at in the depth finder (seeing what species of weeds is stuck on the trebles).
If the bite is on, the fish are aggressive, I stay with it. Fishing with two exposed trebles can be a pain sometimes and it took me a while to really get a grasp of fishing a crankbait through / over / around the weeds. For me, the depth finder is the key to all of this. I'm able to see exactly how high the weeds are growing off the bottom and if they are scattered slightly or in a large clump covering the entire bottom like a lawn.
Here's an example of when I would stick with my setup and one where I would change it up. Say I come to an area of 5 foot flats that looks like it will hold fish. I would tie on a 4-5 foot diving crank and cast it as far as I could. If within 10 turns of the handle I'm stuck in some weeds, I'll give the lure a good solid rip to see if I can't keep the trebles clean. Continue reeling it in and maybe this happens only once or twice more, I'll stay with this diving depth and continue to rip the bait through the scattered weeds (since it's only hanging up 2-3 times per cast we can make an assumption it's scattered throughout the area). If we're at the same 5 foot flat weeks later and the weeds have started to come in more, I'll switch up to a 2-3 foot diver and tickle the top of the weeds and continue to rips through any clumps I may come in contact with. Something I do is after I rip a crankbait through the weeds, I let it sit for 2 seconds and give it another softer rip. Doing this helps me know if the weeds are off the trebles or if I have to keep at it until they are clean. You have to get a good understand for what a clean running crankbait feels like in your hands. I can not stress rod sensitivity enough. Know if you're reeling it in clean! Don't guess, actually feel it. Don't bother reeling in a crankbait unless the trebles are mostly clean or else the action on the lure is negated and it isn't going to produce the desired results.
I'm still debating what my strengths are, power fishing or finesse, but I suppose it's best to be as well rounded as possible. The fish will tell you what they want to eat, we can't force anything on them. If you know for a fact the fish are aggressive but aren't getting bites, change up your color or running depth until you find the right combination. If they don't want a crankbait of any persuasion, go to something that moves at a slower pace. It seems like such a simple yin-yang philosophy but it works for me. |
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slim2043
Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 446
Location: Plainville CT
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 10:43 pm Post subject: |
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Nice report! Keep Crankin!
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