Thursday, December 18, 2008

An hour of fun


Dec. 18th, 2008. Cloudy and cold, Water Temp 44* and stained.
Anthony called after lunch today and said he wanted to fish so we decided to go. He left Richmond at 2:30 , got to my house a little after 3 and we were on the water by 4pm. Threw the net a few times, caught 20 baits and put out a spread of boards and free lines. We had just enough time to pull a main lake point with our spread and had some fun reeling in a couple fish. We fished an hour after dark but all our hits came in a 1/2 hour period just before dark. Took a picture of Anthony holding 3 of the fish we caught , releasing them to fight another day.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Carl and Gary Brown


Dec. 2nd, 2008: Cloudy and Cold, Water Temp 42*.
Caught bait and set up where we caught fish last week but the water temp had dropped so much I believe it turned the fish off. We worked all day for 2 strikes, both Gary and Carl catching a fish each. I went to warmer water and pulled a couple miles without a hit also.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Josh

Here is a picture of Josh with his first Striper.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Jim, Alex and Rupe


November 26th, 2008: Cloudy and Cold, Water Temp 45* and Clear.
Picked the guys up at the dock at 6:30 and caught bait. Set out a spread of 10 Boards and two free lines. First fish Alex grabbed the rod and put the Striper in the boat. Had two more fish on before Jim caught a 12 pounder. Rupe was up next and after the 3rd hook-up he put his fish in the boat and then the fishing died. A cloud covered the sun and it appeared we would only get strikes the rest of the day if the sun was out which seemed like not very often. We went forever with just a couple hook-ups and then in the afternoon I hit a brush pile and we had 3 fish hook up at once. I turned and hit it again and popped another nice fish. Rupe was having issues today, seemed like every time he was up to reel in a fish he had to get 3 hook-ups before he would get a Striper in the boat. He was doing absolutely nothing wrong, some days that just happens. The fish were very lethargic today, I had 3 other good fisherman friends out today and only 1 of them caught a fish, the other 2 did not get a strike. Today we had 23 hook-ups and the guys got to take a few home for the weekend.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Zac Hammond


This is a picture of a future Striper Pro Zac which was sent to me by his father Bob. I took them out about a month ago and they have been trying weekly to crack the code to catching Stripers on the lake out of their own boat. This fish is just fuel to the fire in Zac's heart in pursuing the elusive Striper. Congratulations Zac!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Greg, Ed, and Will Whitlock


Sunday, November 23rd, 2008. Sunny and Cold, Water Temp 45* and Clear.
Woke up this morning , it was 18* out, I did not have a trip, rescheduled my trip from yesterday due to bad weather, had a good friend Anthony already out on the water catching fish so I moped around the house for a couple hours this morning and decided to call some friends up to go fishing. Left my house at 12 and went to the lake. Caught some "sweet baits" and put my spread of boards out right at the ramp. Before I got 4 lines in the water the fish started banging our baits. I had to move out of the boat traffic to put out the rest of my spread and once I did we had constant action for 2 hours straight. We had 20 hits in a couple hours this afternoon and kept these for an appetizer for Thanksgiving. The guy with the lights on his jacket is Ed, his wife Betty did not want him to be out after dark without being lit up.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Troy Hall and Father


November 21st, 2008: Partly Cloudy, Windy and COLD, Water Temp 49* and clear.
Met the guys a little after 6 and went and caught bait. Checked the area that I fished yesterday on a large school but there was no bait or fish in the area so I set up in the mouth of a creek that was full of bait. Before I got 4 boards out one got hit but it got tangled in another line and we lost the fish. I was seeing fish deep also so I put out some downlines and on the first pass we got 3 hits on them. I turned back and hit the area with my full spread, catching a couple fish but the fish were already moving for the channel [Stripers don't feed well or at all when they are over the channel]. The wind was getting up and it appeared a front was passing through. We fished the area and a mile around it only catching 1 more Striper. By now the wind was gusting to 30 mph so I went looking for a place to get out of the wind. Looked for about 2 hours, set up in a couple places and got blown off, decided all we could do to fish was to tie up to a bridge. After 4 failed attempts Troy decided it was useless to fish and we came in early. You may wonder why I did not warn Troy of the wind and possible bad day. I called him last night to advise him to reschedule but he said " every time I go fishing the wind blows and the weather is bad, last trip we took on the bay the waves were 15 feet high, I am use to fishing in foul weather". I told him I would feel good if we caught 3 Stripers tomorrow but he still wanted to go. I guess the day was successful, We caught more than I predicted!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

The Saghafi's


November 20th, 2008: Partly Cloudy and Cold, Water Temperature 48* and Clear. Went out and caught bait and picked clients up late at 7:30. Found some fish prior to picking the guys up nearby the ramp so I set up on them and started putting fish in the boat within 100 yards of starting. Second fish was this nice 14 pounder. We got right on the school with fish all around us , boards getting pounded and a boat runs right into the school. I make a turn to go back on them and another boat comes roaring in, sees a couple of boats fishing and thinks he's on the now and sets down and proceeds to fish. Well, two outboard motors turned that school off. We fished for awhile with no more luck, jump fisherman running all around so I decided to pick up and leave. We worked other areas the rest of the day, trying to stay away from jump fisherman, and caught a few more fish. A cold front is blowing in tonight, may have an interesting day tomorrow!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Earl Mielke


Nov. 17th, 2008: Cloudy, Windy and Cold, Water Temp 51* and falling.
With a major cold front just passing through [70's on Saturday, today upper 40's] and another coming in tonight [only 40* tomorrow and 20 MPH winds] Earl wanted to get out for a couple hours this afternoon so I picked him up, caught bait and went fishing. We pulled boards over points and humps, caught enough Stripers for him and Millie to eat for a couple weeks, put the boat back on the trailer and went home. It would have been a great few hours but on the way home a deer jumped out into the road, I avoided hitting it with the truck but the trailer got it and pulled off one of my fenders. Tis the season!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Travis, Bobby and Randy Via, Jeff Baskin and Jeremy Lisenby

November 14th, 2008: Cloudy, Water temp 58* and Stained.
Clients were a tad late this morning [ Travis grew a tail on the way to the marina] so we got a late start. Made a bunch of casts for bait and finally caught 30 by 8 and went fishing. Set up on shallow mainlake flats with a spread of boards pulling gizzards. Worked a 500 yard pull and hooked up 6 times without putting a fish in the boat. After almost throwing Bobby and Randy out of the boat we finally got one in to break the ice. We pulled another 1/2 mile and turned back too pick up a board we had lost, by 9:30 we had had 14 fish on and only put a few in the cooler. These fish were on, pulling the boards across the water! I could not figure out what was going on, the guys were doing everything right, the fish just not wanting to inhale the baits. We went and caught more bait, I found an area where I made 2 casts and caught over 40, and relocated further downlake. Set out the same spread and continued to get bit, catch ratios getting a little better. By 2 o'clock the guys were nailing the fish and everyone was able to catch their share. Today we had 30 Stripers on [only broke 1 off on the boat], the guys keeping 12 to take home. Naturally, the big ones got away, OK by me, my clients will catch them next week!

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Rick Chisholm, Dean and Derek Fyfe


November 9th, 2008: Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperatures 58* and Slightly Stained.
Picked the guys up at 6 am and went to catch bait. Checked usual deep places but the bait was not schooled tight enough so I kept looking shallower. Threw 40 times to catch 30 and went fishing. The day did not look too promising due to a 75 boat Bass Tournament . We set up uplake where I thought there would be little traffic but after pulling a 500 yard stretch we knew it would be tough fishing in a Zoo of maniacs. Every point we went to hit a boater would race to hit it before us. Before long every point within sight had a boat on it. I should have known to check before booking a Sunday in Tournament season. Anyway, we survived and caught a few fish up there and then moved downlake and set up over deeper water pulling Boards. Fish were defiantly spooked but the guys did well boating 10 of the 12 Stripers we had on today. By the end of the afternoon everyone was happy and the guys took home a few Stripers for some good meals.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Gil, Oren and Nor

October 31st, 2008: Sunny, Cold morning turning into Beautiful afternoon, Water Temperature 55* and Slightly Stained.
Picked clients up at their dock and went to catch bait. Caught 50 and started fishing right where we caught the bait. Set out a spread of boards and bobber and pulled shallow flats. Took about 20 minutes before we got hit and Oren jumped on the rod and put the Striper in the boat to break the ice for the morning. Pulled another 300 yards before all our bait became nervous again. I told the guys to get ready and soon thereafter a planner board went flying across the water with a nice Striper on the end of the line. Nor did well to get the fish in the boat. We only got one hit there but I knew there were other fish there so I turned and pulled it again. Although the fish were not aggressive today for the next 4 passes on the point we got hit. Around noon we relocated to the mouth of a creek and found another area that was holding a few feeding fish. We had 3 hits within a 30 yard area and caught a few fish but Boats kept running through the fish and spooked them. The guys had a great time today and kept enough fish for a BBQ on the lake this evening.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Richard, Bridget, Ronald Bergey and Haze Daw

October 27th, 2008: Cold and Rain, Water Temp 60* and Clear.
The weather station said this morning it was going to be 60* and Sunny, at daylight it was cloudy and by 10 it was raining and rained the rest of the day, and the temperature never got out of the 40's. Needless to say we were not ready for today's weather and my clients did get chilled somewhat. Went and caught bait this morning and set up pulling boards shallow since I did not see any bait or fish on the depthfinder. First fish hit next to the bank and Haze wrestled it in to start the morning off. Pulled a couple hundred yards more with a couple of hook-ups but we could not get them in the boat. Kept working the boards today and never saw any deep fish till later in the day when we found some breaking fish. They sounded and the depth finder lit up from 15 to 30 feet deep with fish. Haze even caught a Striper on a Sea Shad ! Although the day was cold and wet the crew hung in there and by quiting time we had a great stringer of fish. Bridget is pictured holding a 12 1/2 pound Striper, the largest of the day. We had 4 fish today over 30".



Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Ron Greenwell


October 22nd, 2008: Sunny and breezy, Water Temp 65* and Clear.
Picked Ron up at the dock at 6:30 and went and caught bait. Set up on a roadbed and pulled it with boards without a hit then moved to a 8 foot midlake flat and hooked up. While Ron was reeling the fish in several more Gizzards got swirled but the Stripers just would not bite the bait. Hooked up on the bobber, it was a pig, Ron actually thought it was hung on a log, he handed the rod to me to break it free, I yanked it and was sorry I did so fast, when I got it back to the boat the hook had huge scales on it! Made another pass on the flat and only got a swirl so I moved over to the nearest bank and put the boards on the bank, did not get bit. The bobber hooked up again and Ron got that fish in over 22 feet of water. Caught more bait and pulled another area that had previously been producing nice fish for my clients, only got 1 bite in 5 foot of water and Ron put the fish in the boat. Today we only had 5 hits, the cold frond killed us again.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

The Bob Hammond Crew

October 18th, 2008. Cloudy and cool, Water temp dropped to 68* and Clear. Was suppose to pick the guys up at the marina at 6:30 this morning but when I got to the marina at 6 they were there and chomping at the bit to go. I put the boat in the water and we took off to catch bait. Went to where I had been catching bait but it was really broken up due to the second day of this cold front. Finally by 8 I had caught 50 baits and we went looking for fish. This front was hitting hard and it was windy so I set up in an area where I knew there were nice fish but somewhat protected from the wind. Second day of major fronts can be brutal for Striper fishing and I was fishing for a dozen strikes today. We put out 8 downlines first and started pulling a 25 foot flat , primarily to see how the wind would affect the boat and to see how bad boat traffic would be. We worked 2oo yards without a bite so I put out 3 boards and a bobber and put the boards on a bank. After 5 minutes we got 2 hits but the fish did not hook up. Thirty seconds later both the same rods got hit and the boards went flying across the water. We had a mini fire drill for about a minute working the fish but got both of them in the boat. We worked up the lake a few hundred more yards with more boards without success so we turned around to go hit the area where we caught the Stripers earlier. By now I had out my full spread of 8 boards, a bobber and 8 downlines. We pulled the area full of anticipation but did not even get a strike. What a bummer! I knew then today would be tough. We continued to work in the general area catching a Bass on a downline and a few other Stripers on freelines. Had two other friends out fishing today that did not catch a fish and got bait from one of them and set up in the wind pulling an area where my clients caught some nice 30" fish this week. Put another Striper in the boat on a board and then the bobber got hit. Zac picked it up and fought the fish for 3 minutes before the fish simply pulled off. He had only gained on the fish half the distance to the boat! We sure wanted him to boat that fish but it just didn't work out. That was the last hit of the day. Today we had 11 strikes, Zac is pictured with his first Striper.




Friday, October 17, 2008

Paul Henon and Crew


October 17th, 2008: Cloudy and Rain, Water Temp 70* and Clear.
Picked the guys up at 6:30 at High Point and went and caught bait. I was concerned about the cold front blowing in last night and today's temperatures being 25* colder than yesterday. Bait was tough but once I had 48 I went to find fish. Only took about 5 minutes for me to find a school over 30 foot of water so we set up downlines on them and got 5 hits before loosing the school. Searched some more and found fish a little shallower and worked them till we ran out of bait. Went and caught more bait , found some single fish and fished downlines on them. Today we had 2 hits on boards and 19 on downlines. We saw only one school of Stripers busting today but 2 other boats were working them so we left them alone. After this weather comes through and the water temps drop 5 degrees Striper fishing will be out of control.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Jeff Fincham with friends Doug, Dwayne, Wayne and Scott


October 16th, 2008: Sunny and warm, Water Temp 72* and Clear.
Picked the crew up at their dock at 6:30. I knew it would be an interesting day today because not only were they new clients but when I got to their dock not only were they there but also 4 Large, heavy coolers filled with beverages for the day. We loaded everything up and went to catch bait. Caught 32 and needed a few more so I ran uplake and saw a friend throwing but he had only 3 baits. I saw some baits on the depth finder and made 3 more casts putting 18 more baits in my tank and giving Ricky about 25 to get started. I went looking for fish but could not find any on the depth finder so after looking for 15 minutes I decided to set up a spread of boards and downlines and see what the fish wanted. Our first hit was on a board over 26 feet of water and Wayne jumped on the rod. After fighting the fish for 2 or 3 minutes he started moaning , groaning, panting [this is not a sex novel, but his friends commented it sounded kind of like a porn flick], and landed the fish after a 5 minute battle. We all had fun with Wayne , but seriously he was hurting reeling that fish in. Before we hooked up again Jeff said he showed Wayne my web site last night and Wayne commented on a saying I have on my home page referring to your arms burning, ....., that that could never happen on Lake Anna. Well, the rest of the day Wayne complained how hard that 31" Striper fought. The next 6 hits came on boards and then we had 2 hits on downlines, all over 20' or more. I went and caught more bait, made 1 cast for 75 Gizzards, and relocated to another area fishing solely downlines. We would get hits about every 15 minutes for the rest of the day. Once all the coolers were empty we decided to call it a day. We had a lot of fun today and could have had a nice stringer if Jeff didn't loose so many! All kidding aside, we all had fun today, had a great crew, had 26 strikes today and the guys took home some fish for the grill and the freezer. Three of the fish today were over 30" long.

Friday, October 10, 2008

John Crawford with friends Phil and Mike


October 10th, 2008: Sunny and warm, Water Temp 69* and clear.
Picked the guys up at their campers at Christopher Run and threw for bait around there, only catching 16 pieces. Went midlake and looked for bait with no success but fish were breaking everywhere. We could not get on the schools of breaking fish, they would only be up for a matter of seconds before sounding so we went to catch more bait. I looked a couple of other places then found some, made a cast and caught 34 more, then went fishing. Set up on a 15' flat running 15 baits on boards and downlines with no luck, pulled a 25 foot flat nearby with no luck, then moved up onto a 5 foot flat running boards, still no luck. Pulled off to deeper water and caught a Striper on a downline, then got hit a couple more times. I got all the freelines in and just ran downlines the rest of the day. Most of the times we saw fish there were only 8 or 10 fish in a pod and we would catch only 1 fish from a pod. Towards the later part of the day the fish schooled a little better, had 3 lines go off at once, then just before we came in we hit Spaghetti and most of the lines went down. One of the guys on board did not bring much luck with him today [I won't mention his name], every time he would pick up a rod with a Striper on it Mike would loose the fish. The guys wanted to put him in the penalty box but he caught a nice bass so they let him fish the rest of the day. Today we had 18 fish on, put 6 Stripers, a Largemouth and 5 Catfish in the boat.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Jeff, Mark, Mike, Shawn and Jim


October 7th, 2008: Sunny, chilly morning, Water Temp 71* and Clear.
Picked the guys up at 6:15 and went to catch bait. Another cold front blew through and made bait collection difficult, tried areas that I had been catching it on previous trips with little success. Ran to the other side of the lake and tripped over a school ,threw the net and caught over 30 and went fishing. Pulled from Hunters up hitting the points and flats without getting a bite. Relocated to another area and put out 8 downlines and 7 boards and pulled various depths till we caught a fish. We made 8 circles on the spot and got hit every time till we ran out of bait. Looked for 45 minutes for more bait, could not catch or even find any, called it a day. I suggested to the guys when they booked the trip that fishing was not very good and they may want to pick another date, so instead of going out Monday they choose Tuesday! Duh! These guys had been with me before and needed a day away from work and knew how fishing would be, went out and had a good time. They all were happy with the results. If anyone needs a Ford, check them out at Universal Ford, maybe they will book another trip with me soon if you buy a vehicle from them.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Paul Barboza , Dave Ault, Bob Burleson,Ron Rheude, Rene Fonseca


Oct. 2nd, 2008: Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temp 72* and Clear. Picked the guys up at the Marina and went and caught 40 baits. Put out a spread of 8 boards, a Bobber, and 6 downlines and pulled some 20 foot flats. With the front coming through last night and the air temp being 47* this morning I was a little concerned how it would effect fishing today. We worked for 1/2 mile before getting our first fish but after putting it in the boat we had all the boards on the bank side go off. Talk about running around the boat, people were going everywhere, the fish were going everywhere, and the good thing was we got all the fish in the boat. Went a little further and nailed a few more fish then the fish turned off. We worked the area and similar areas only picking up a few more and some big Catfish. Went to catch more bait and from the time I caught bait this morning till noon, all the bait had left the creeks where I had been catching them and pulled out to the main lake over the channels. I knew the front finally got to the bait and the Stripers!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Berk Ellis and Brian Mohr


Sept 30th, 2008: Cloudy and Pleasant, Water Temp 72* and Clear.
Been away on vacation for a couple of weeks and wanted to go find some fish for my clients this week so I called a good client up and invited him and his friend Berk to go out with me today. He jumped on the offer and they met me at the marina a little after 6 and we went to catch bait. I checked a couple of places seeing a little bait but kept looking till I found what I wanted. Made 5 or 6 casts and caught 40 nice baits. The water temp has dropped 7 or 8* since I was out last so I decided to pull some very shallow flats, points and banks. I set up in an area and made a 1 mile pull, only to almost boat a turd-roller. We made a move to another area and I put out 10 boards and 6 downlines, covering 80 yards wide from top to bottom. Bert broke the ice with a nice Striper soon after we got set up so I decided to pull another mile to see what would happen. We got into some fish finally and put a half dozen fish in the cooler but ran out of bait so we went to catch more. No worries though, I was only 1/4 mile from where I located bait earlier, made 1 cast and put 40 in the tank, made another cast and we were set for the rest of the day for bait. We hit another area for awhile with no success so I decided to duplicate the same pattern that worked earlier and started catching Stripers again. This time the fish were Nailing the baits, some hits were so hard the fish would break the line on the hookup or bury the rod in the water. Poor Berk, he was having issues touching the line and fish getting off and also having problems getting the rod out of the rod holder when a fish would get on, but once I gently explained to him the proper way to avoid those problems he got a little better. Today we had 25 fish on, boated 15 fish, Brian taking a few home to eat.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Monty Walker with Angela and Jack Olinick

Sept 15th, 2008: Sunny and Warm, Water Temp 81* and Clear.
Picked clients up at High Point before daylight and went and caught bait. Caught over 40 very nice baits and set up in the mouth of a creek and pulled boards over the points and flats there, the only strike we got was Angela's Bass. After an hour of no fish I went looking for some fish to work with downlines, saw a bunch of schools of Stripers, mostly smaller fish. We worked 3 different schools with no luck. I then found some larger fish and pulled boards and downlines through and over them, still no hits. Monty caught a Bass on a point then we moved. We then went almost to the back of a creek and worked downlines and boards from the bank out to 25 feet deep, still nothing. We fished for 7 hours today, never getting so much as a strike from a Striper! I tucked my tail and went home to forget the day. Best thing about the day were my clients, they were understanding of the poor fishing and I invited them back to try again when the fish are more cooperative for half price.



Friday, September 12, 2008

Ken Wilson and Linda Ayers


Sept 19th, 2008: Cloudy and cool, Water temp 79* and Clear.
Got on the water at 4:30 and went to catch bait. That was my first mistake of the day. I went to where I had been catching bait but saw very little, lost 1 net and tore another. [A $200 morning]
Caught only 8 or 10 baits by the time I picked my clients up at their dock at 6:30 and went to catch more. I hit the areas that bait has been but it wasn't. Around 8 I went to a midlake cove and saw and threw for bait there but Stripers were all around the bait which made it even harder to catch. By now I had about 18, I moved about 100 yards out and tried to put downlines out but there were too many Stripers in the area. Clients were catching them casting and on the downlines as fast as we could get them out. I never had more than 3 out when we were on the school without them going down. Talk about confusion, my clients did not know what hit them! We boated 10 in 10 minutes then I had to go catch bait. To make a long story short, bait collection sucked today, I must have looked and thrown for 5 hours today, the guys caught plenty of Stripers to take home.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

John and Frank Guillard


Sept. 9th, 2008: Cloudy and rain, Water temp 80* and Clear.
Got a late start this morning, didn't leave the marina till 6:30 and it was already getting light. Went to a flat to catch bait but it was too light for it to be balled up well so I headed for another favorite place to catch bait. I came around the corner and saw a couple of acres of Stripers busting so I set up on them, only with artificial. As fate would have it, there were huge fish under the breaking fish and we didn't have any bait to put on them . We all picked up lures and hooked up 9 times in about 10 minutes , the larger fish hitting Spooks. I left the school and flew to get bait, threw about 5 times and put 36 nice baits in the tank, and went back to where we left the fish but could not find them. We fished shallow and deep without catching any more for a couple hours. We found some nicer schools later on in the day, fishing them with boards and downlines but the front must have turned them off somewhat, we would see hundreds of big arches on the screen, put baits in their faces and nothing. Then for some reason right before it started to rain the fish turned on and we had 8 fish hit within 10 minutes, I turned back around and hit the area time and time again, still seeing the fish but they would not bite. Today we caught 15 Stripers and 4 Cats, the guys only keeping a few for dinner and releasing all the others to fight again.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Gene Crudo and Gary


Sept. 3rd, 2008: Sunny and Hot, Water Temp 85* and Clear.
Picked the guys up at 6 and went and caught bait. Set up working 5 to 25 foot flats with boards and downlines. Pulled for 2 hours with no luck so we threw those baits away and went and caught more. Saw a couple of fish break over 30 foot of water so I set up with downlines once I saw fish on the depth finder. Worked that area for an hour, seeing nice stripers but only boating a couple, although Gene did have a very nice one on for awhile , but it got into a braided line and snapped off. Set up on numerous other groups of Stripers, running boards and downlines, seeing plenty of fish but they were not hungry today.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Joe and Alan Gray

August 29th, 2008: Drizzle and Cool, Water Temp 79* and Clear.
Picked the guys up at 5 at the dock and went to find bait. 3 hours later we had 40 pieces so we went fishing. Ran into a HUGE school of Stripers, had to be many thousands of them, about 6 or 8 acres at least. Things were pretty simple then, put some baits in their faces and hold on! The depth finder was covered from top to bottom so I tried to set out downlines but before I could get 3 in the water they kept getting hit. I scrambled to keep bait in the water but for 20 minutes all I could do was to keep 3 to 6 lines out before they would hook up. After less than an hour of fishing we had hooked up with 19 Stripers and Alan said he had enough so we reeled them in. They kept 10 to take home. What a difference a day makes!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Enoch Hord with Jim And Jimmy


August 28th, 2008. Rain, Wind, more rain, Water Temp 80*.
Picked clients up at 5 and went to catch bait. Checked out a dozen places for bait that had been productive but the bait had moved. With rain pouring down we looked and threw until we caught 30 and went to go fish. By now it was almost 7 and the wind was blowing 20 to 25 mph which made pulling boards a little tough. After getting blown around the lake for a couple hours I went and caught more bait and stopped by the marina to get a cup of coffee and change into dryer clothes. Only option now was to find a place to fish where I could deal with the wind. We fished for 4 or 5 hours more, only catching these 4 Stripers.
East Winds+remnants of Hurricanes = Poor fishing

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Kaci Price, Dad and Paw Paw

August 26th, 2008: Cloudy and Cool, Water Temp 83*.
Picked up the crew at 5 and went and caught bait. Set up pulling 10 to 25 foot flats this morning with boards expecting the fish to be shallow feeding before the cold front blew through. Wrong! Pulled for 2 hours for 1 Striper so I hit another flat and popped a Striper and a Bass, but only singles. Went and caught a little more bait and hit some deeper 30 to 40 foot flats where Stripers were stacked up, nothing. Went to the back of a creek, saw a nice school in the channel at 20 feet , nothing. While I was back in the creek I wanted to hit a main point and a Hump so I pulled over them, popped single Stripers on both, no other hits. The air temperature had dropped 10 degrees as a cold front blew through, cold enough to put on jackets [in August!]. I only had one more thing up my sleeve, I made another run and put the boards extremely shallow, up on the banks, and guess what? Yea, we jambed them in 1 to 4 foot of water. Go figure? Brad is pictured holding a Bass he caught, Kaci caught all the nice fish letting Dad and Paw Paw reel in a few Catfish.






Friday, August 22, 2008

Brian Mohr's inlaws Marc, Del and Dori Mautte


August 22nd, 2008: Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temp 83* and Clear>
Brian and I got out at 5 and caught bait and picked the family up at 6. Set up on a flat pulling 9 boards, a bobber and a free line, and 4 downlines rigged with all sizes of bait. About 30 yards before I hit the flat fish started busting all over it and my boards were about to come right through the middle of the school. As you can imagine, almost everything went off at once and the action commenced. Within 8 minutes we had 8 Stripers on plus a Largemouth that Dori caught. I re-rigged and circled back around but I must have zigged where I should have zagged cause we did not get hit there again. I pulled over to another flat and caught a keeper then went and caught more bait. Brian had to come off the water early to go to work so I made 1 more pull and when I hit a hump that I was targeting 2 more fish hooked up. Plenty of action for a few hours on the water this morning. The guys are holding diner for tonight!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Clarke Norman with guests Bill and Tom


August 21st, 2008: Cloudy and warm, Water Temp 84* and Clear. Picked the guys up and went and caught bait. Bait collection took a couple of hours this morning and we got started fishing at 7:15. I hit an area where fish were and popped a keeper Striper that looked like a pencil, it was so skinny. We worked similar patterns getting a few hits but the fish just did not want to eat. I can't figure out if it was the clouds and a small front moving through or just missing the major feed or what but they would not eat this morning. The guys are pictured holding a few that we did catch.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Amandda Crowley's friends Gavin, James, Charles, and Boo


August 16th, 2008: Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temp 84* and clear.
Went out early to catch bait but again collection was tough and picked my clients up at their dock at 7. Set up on a similar flat like I fished the day before and put out a dozen freelines on boards and bobber. James hooked up on a downline and within 30 seconds 4 other rods hooked up. Talk about a Chinese fire drill, it looked like the Olympics on the boat for awhile with people dodging each other, chasing and reeling in fish , jumping over seats, avoiding tangling other rods, you name it, it happened. After the commotion settled I made a turn and hit it again and again and again, every pass getting hits, some by Stripers, some Catfish and 4 hits by an Osprey that keep hitting our baits when the Stripers would roll the baits up. We were out just for a morning trip and the guys had plenty of action until the fish and Bird killed all of our baits.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Ken Wilson with Jack and David


August 15th, 2008: Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temp 83* and Clear.
Met the guys at 5 and went to catch bait. Threw about 50 times and caught enough to get started and went fishing. Caught a couple on the first flat we fished then moved to another flat and worked it for 2 hours getting strikes about every 20 minutes or so. The guys wanted to release fish today and kept only the ones that would not survive, keeping enough for a great dinner.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Bob Graham, family and friends

Gordie holding his first fish of the day. Picture I wanted to show of him and another fish did not turn out well, but I am working on it!









August 13th, 2008: Partly Cloudy and Warm, Water Temp 83* and Clear.




Got on the water this morning before 4 to catch bait but had little success. Picked the crew up at 5 and went and threw for bait for 3 more hours till I had what I wanted. We fished hard this morning for our fish but they all were nice ones and we released them all [although 2 of the biggest ones did not survive]. Pictured holding fish are Bob, Connie and Gordie {G-MAN} Graham along with Tom McCaunhen.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Earl Mielke


August 12th, 2008: Sunny and Pleasant: Water Temps 77 * to 84* and Clear.
Got back from my motorcycle trip yesterday and decided to go out this morning with a friend to locate some fish for this weeks clients. Caught some bait and pulled Planner boards and downlines over many different depths of flats trying to determine what the Stripers wanted. We fished only for about 2 hours and I established a good pattern then just looked for a couple hours at fish over 40 foot flats. Earl is holding a couple of the fish we caught this morning that he took home for diner. Hopefully this pattern will hold up for awhile, we released some pretty nice fish that I want my clients to catch.

Friday, August 08, 2008

Joe and Jim


John took Joe and Jim out for a 1/2 day morning trip , ended up with 3 keepers.

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Doug and Ian Leach


August 2nd, 2002:
Guide John Chadduck took Doug and Ian out for a morning trip and caught 8 Stripers today.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

2008 ROAD TRIP


Went on vacation from August 1st through the 10th. Took a bike trip to New England. Be back on the water soon.

Bill Shouse

July 30th, 2008:
Bill hired guide John Chadduck for a morning of fishing and had his hands full this morning, they caught 42 Stripers, releasing all but these to fight again.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Mike Holtz and friend Bill


July 25th, 2008: Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temp 88* and Clear.
Guide John Chadduck took Mike and Bill out this morning for a Striper trip and put the guys on some nice fish. Fishing was tough this morning for a lot of fisherman and John put the guys on some fish that he found later in the morning. Good Job guys!