Pike In the Last Trophy Trip of 2016

Because the camera was being sketchy

25" D & M Baits Piranha w/Craw Fatty

3:00-5:00PM Loon Sex Bay and the Juice Flat
Conditions: 55-50℉, Partly Cloudy, Windy out of the SE,
Water Temp: 44℉

Loon Sex Point

I headed to Loon Sex bay first.  I had a hit by a pike on the bluegill Poison that I put a Zoom Swim Fluke on that I just won on Ebay in front of the boat house.  I went across to Loon Sex Point and got the 25" pike there on the Piranha.  I then got a 23.5" pike on the Piranha.  I missed something that hit the Hack at Jig as I was pitching into the reed edge.

Where did the fish go? 

At 4PM I headed to the juice, starting on the eastern side where the wind wasn't as bad .  I had a small pike hit the Flat Shallow that jumped off as I went to take a picture of it.  I got two pike on the Pure Poison with Swim Fluke.  I missed the last hit of the night on the Piranha. I packed up shortly after 5PM when I discovered the Craw Fatty no longer had any claws.

And so ended the season in the Trophy

  I tried to take a picture with me standing on the front of the Trophy, but the camera was out of juice when I was in front of the flag pole as I got ready to leave.
 

Playing With House Money And Went Topwater Or Bust

18" D & M Baits Piranha w/Craw Fatty

3:30-6:00PM West Point and the Juice
Conditions: 57-50℉, Partly Cloudy, Mod WNW Wind, but fairly calm at the juice,
Water Temp: 44℉

I finally tore myself away from the Internet.  I could have been fishing by noon today if I wanted.  The reel I messed up yesterday wasn't water ready, so I ditched the 6' 8" Avid and grabbed the 6'6" Med Fig Rig in it's place because it was getting late and I didn't feel like swapping out rods.  I brought 3 topwater rods, 1 crank rod, and 2 jig rods out in the boat with me.

I decided to start on West Point with the Flat Crank.  Didn't get anything on that.  On the second cast with the Piranha I got the skunk out of the boat with the 18 incher.

Same 18"

  I then headed across to the juice which was protected.

Looking across the juice flat to the East

Because I was now playing with house money I elected to die with topwater baits and die I did.  Not even a hit. I threw the BaitBall, Pop Max, and Slush Daddy.  Fish were occasionally busting baitfish, several times within casting range.  I just couldn't find one that wanted to go.  The view tonight was spectacular again.

After it got pretty dark I finally put the topwater down and threw the Piranha for a while and then the A.T. Jig.  I think I had something hit the A.T. Jig, but all it did was pull down the Craw Fatty.  Mom called and asked me to get home in time to tape NCIS, so I packed up at 6PM.  The drive back wasn't that cold.  I got to watch the super moon come up over the lake.

44° Water And Still Hitting Topwater

17" Pop Max

3:30-5:30PM Juice in the Trophy
Conditions: 51-45℉, Partly Cloudy, Calm, Water Temp: 44℉.

Where the Sun was at after I got the first fish

When I first arrived there was a slight NE wind blowing.  I started out fishing with a Tomato Jerk Shad, but didn't get anything on that.  After about 20 minutes it got calm and I switched to the LiveTarget BaitBall Popper.  There was a boil up by shore, so I went in Shallow.  I got a 15.5" bass on the BaitBall in the shallow cabbage.  It just sucked it in.

 The camera was on the Fritz/not warmed up, so I didn't get a picture of the fish.  I took a picture of the BaitBall and the two pictures above that one pretty much immediately after releasing the fish when the camera started working.

I moved to the East of the Flag and got a pike on the Pop Max.

20.5" Megabass Pop Max

Where the Sun was at after I got the pike.

I moved back West of the Flag out in in a little deeper water.  This was what I was looking at.  Spectacular!!!

I then got the 17 incher on the Pop Max.

17" Pop Max (same as fish at the top of blog) 

Where the sun was fight after the 17"

There were very few busting fish tonight, but there was a seagull flying around and landing.  I busted off one of the front treble's in the mouth of the 17 incher, right in the lower lip.  That didn't stop me from catching my last bite of the night.

15.75" Pop Max

Where the sun was at when I got that fish

 I was moving in toward shore and I backlashed.  After getting the backlash out in my haste to get the lure back out there I FUBAR'd my line in the reel.

Trying to get that situation straightened out pretty much ended my night.  I broke the line at the reel while trying to get it out at the Lake Place thus losing about 15 feet of line.  The line was still stuck in the reel.  I had to bring the reel home and take the handle and star drag off to free the line.

If only I had the camera to take this shot of the moon, the view was amazing

Looks like I've got two more days to fish before I pull the boat out.  Wind forecast doesn't look favorable for topwater, we'll see. 

Pike Only Tonight And A Few Topwater Misses

17.5" Pure Poison w/Craw Fatty

3:45-5:30PM Juice
Conditions: 65-52℉, Mostly Sunny, Mod to Very Light SW wind, Water Temp: 45℉

I finally pulled myself away from the Internet to go fishing.  I only brought a few rods out.  The light Mojo, Both 6' 8" St. Croix's, and the two TD with jigs on them.  I started out at the juice reeds and drifted my way toward the flag.  I picked up 3 quick pike.  I fished jigs to the dock getting nothing.  I started fishing my way back with the Poison.  I missed a fish that just nailed it.  A little while later I had a good fish bite the Poison off after a 5 second fight.

At that point the wind had died down some and it was getting close to prime time so I elected to not take the time to tie another lure on the Mojo and go to topwater fishing.  About 3 minutes later something large moved a bunch of water over by where I got bit off.  If it was the fish that bit me off, it was a huge one.

I started off throwing the red ear sunfish Slush Daddy, then switched up to a white one.  I had what I think was a small pike miss that.  It calmed down some more, so I gave the bluegill Megabass Pop Max a try.  I had two panfish like hits on that.  Then I could swear a 17 inch bass came out of the water and missed the Pop Max. I worked the lure on the spot slowly; I didn't set the hook.  I made another cast to the spot and worked the lure slowly again.  A fish hit it, but it wasn't a bass.

18" Pop Max

I think that was my last hit of the night, but there might have been one more.  The super moon came up and I bailed.

Good Night, Then I Lost The Bubble Walker😭

16.5" Bubble Walker

3:30-5:45PM The Juice
Conditions:  46-41 degrees, Mostly Sunny,  Calm, 46 degree Water Temp.

16" STX French Pearl

Calm and baitfish were all over the place.

It was on the cool side today, should have worn thicker socks and different shoes.  I started out catching 3 pike on the STX.  Under the calm conditions and with all the baitfish around I started throwing the Bubble Walker.  I spooked a fish on a cast by nearly landing on it.  I then worked the Walker super slow.  I made a second cast to the spot working it super slow again.  Sure enough a fish came and hit it.

15.33" R2S Bubble Walker

Where the Sun was at after the 1st bass

I continued to work over the juice with the Bubble Walker slowly.  Fish started boiling occasionally.  I then got the 16.5 fish.

16.5" Bubble Walker

Where the Sun was after that catch.

I pretty quickly a got a 14" inch fish, which I didn't take a picture of that ran straight at me full speed; I was kind of surprised it wasn't a pike.  I then had a good strike that missed the lure.  I couldn't get it to hit again.

I had a strike, set into the fish.  It was on for a couple seconds then nothing, not even a lure.  At first I thought a pike got it, but it came off the Norman Speed Clip.  I quickly ran to the area to look for the lure, but it was getting kind of dark and I didn't spot it.  Bummer, I caught 40 fish on that lure this fall and had total confidence in it.  Off to Ebay to buy more.  I did put on a Megabass Pop Max, the lure the Bubble Walker copied, but it was pretty dark and I didn't get another hit.

Beautiful Night

 

Fishing Was Tough, But I Still Did OK

17" BPS Flat Shallow Crankbait Blue/white

3:00-5:30PM The Juice Flat
Conditions: 64-51 degrees, Mostly Sunny, Very Windy NW turning calm after sun set, Water Temp 47 degrees

It was really windy heading over to the juice.  I had to slow down because everything was bouncing around so much, but once I got there it was fairly protected.  For the first hour I didn't get a bite throwing lipless and Poison's.  I did see a pike though up by shore.

I was over by the flag in the cabbage when I put on the Flat Shallow and I got the skunk out of the boat.

17" BPS Flat Shallow

 I then got a small pike.  I decided to start throwing topwater. Occasionally a fish would bust on the surface.  I didn't get a hit until well after the sun went down and the wind calmed down.  First bite was a pike.

19" Bubble Walker

What it looked like after I got the pike

It got pretty dark, but fish were still occasionally busting and I kept casting the Bubble Walker.  I got me a chunk for my trouble. He didn't blast it, but he got the hooks.

15.5" Bubble Walker

Last topwater fish of the year?  Hopefully not

What it looked like when I got the last fish.