Ralph and Bob

May 5th, 2009: Cloudy and Cool, Water Temperature 65* and Clear.

Picked the guys up at 5:30 , caught bait and went fishing. Set up over a 34 foot channel bend with the screen full of Stripers. Put out 4 downlines, 10 boards and a bobber and did not get a hit. Decided to pull up on the adjacent flats and try them but still did not get hit, only nervous baits. Relocated to another area pulling the same spread and started getting hits, but the fish were very lethargic. They would not touch downlines and would chase the baits on the planner boards up and swirl them for 50 yards or so, then sometimes hook up. After catching a few Bob hooked into a cow on a board, the boat was going in direction and the fish went the other. After a while I asked him if he was hung kiddingly and he said heck no, this fish has got Me. Well as sometimes things go, Bob could not turn the fish and it simply pulled off, didn't break anything, just pulled off. We hit another flat nearby and all the baits on the bank side started getting swirled and backing the boards up, but only hooked up on one nice one. Turned back around and hit it again and only got swirled, moved to another flat and started popping a few. This kind of action happened all day, the fish never feeding well but constant action. Our nicest fish Ralph caught and the fish followed and worked the bait for 60 to 80 yards before eating it. The guys had a great day, catching the best fish of the spring, a stringer well over 100 pounds.

These stripers have not spawned yet, the next month is going to be incredable.