Thursday's fish

AllenOK

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Joined
Oct 27, 2014
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1,080
Location
Jackson, MI
Got out from work early again.  Decided to go harras some fish :)

View attachment 7

Nice Smallmouth that took the jig spinner as soon as it splashed down. Actually thought I was hung in some brush until I felt the headshakes.

View attachment 8

Same stream, different spot. Nice hammer-handle pike that took the same jig spinner. Unhooking this thing was fun; I didn't have my lip-grips or my forceps with me, and I prefer to keep my fingers intact....
 

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Hawnjigs

KISS
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Mar 23, 2010
Messages
4,226
Location
Ogallala, NE
Upsizing your presentation bumped your catches up, eh?

Whatever, its all fun. I appreciate stocker trout when the menu is limited.
 

toadfrog

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Jun 28, 2010
Messages
2,811
Location
OKLAHOMA
Made a lot of lures for those toothy critters but never caught one . Guess maybe that is cause I never went any where to get one . Still stranded in Okla. Nice fish any way you catch them . Would have liked to been a little bird watching you figer out how to unhook that beady eyed dude.
 

Hawnjigs

KISS
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Mar 23, 2010
Messages
4,226
Location
Ogallala, NE
Learned to lip fish when I first started fishing the mainland starting with bass & crappie. First walleye was an unpleasant surprise.
 

AllenOK

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Oct 27, 2014
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1,080
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Jackson, MI
Well, I ended up dropping the Pike before I got it unhooked. Slimy, squirming, started thrashing around. Got it picked up, and managed to get the hook out. Probably need to start carrying the forceps whenever I get a rod out (they're currently clipped to my fly vest), just put the fish on the ground, hold it down, and use the forceps.

Going to be really interesting this year, hopefully. I want to start drifting shallow weedy flats in the local lakes, and fan-cast around for Bass and Pike. Either plugs, spinners, large flies, and maybe even live bait. Gotta find a few places where I can catch minnows, or preferably, creek chubs.
 

AtticaFish

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Mar 22, 2010
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Attica, OH
Looks like fun to me! Pike do love those stinky chubs. If you have any small creeks or even drainage ditches from fields near you, they will likely have chubs. Drop a cage in with some toast and you should get some.
 

AllenOK

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Oct 27, 2014
Messages
1,080
Location
Jackson, MI
This part of MI of primarily SWAMPY! All over the south and east side of the county! Lots of areas were drained 150 years ago. Little drainage ditches everywhere. The southern part of the county, the northern areas of the two counties to the south, are the headwaters area for the four major rivers that flow from southern MI. The Grand, the Kalamazoo, The St. Joe, and the River Raisin all start around here. I have to drive for at least 30 minutes until they get big enough to be a decent-sized river, although I can practically catch fish at my doorstep. Both of the fish pictured were caught out of the Grand River, within a couple miles of home.

I've been playing with my minnow trap the past couple weeks. Been using cheap dog food and a piece of bread for bait. Not having much luck. I might need to switch over to cheap cat food; that's what I caught all the chubs on a couple weeks ago. However, that spot has high numbers of chubs, so it might just be location. I've seen a few videos on youtube from a guy up in the UP that swears by Gees minnow traps. Of course, I'm using a Frabill. Always had good luck with it back in OK, but up here has been mostly non-effective. I'd buy a Gees trap, if I could find one. Nobody local has them. I've looked online, and found some there.

I also like to do a "bait cage" inside the trap. Used to use a cricket tube, which fits nicely. It keeps the bait from floating up to the top of the cage, forcing the minnows to enter the trap to get to it, instead of picking at the bait from the outside of the trap. Only problem with a cricket tube is that the end caps aren't glued on very well, they tend to pop off. Also, the end caps are a bright yellow color, which makes the trap highly visible when it's in the water. I've done what I can to "hide" the trap, using 40 lbs test mono for the line, and a water bottle with no label for a marker, attached to the line. No one's going to pick up an unlabeled bottle for the deposit.

I haven't replaced my previous cricket tube. They only cost a couple dollars at Wally World. I could go to Menard's and get a roll of 1/4" hardware cloth, and make a tube from that, and spary-paint the tube a dark color (did that for my crawfish trap).
 
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