This weekend....

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OCDComputing

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Sep 20, 2012
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So yesterday, I decide to hit a LO trib and try out a bit of new gear. I discovered that yes, neoprene waders work pretty well, but after standing in the river for hours your feet do tend to get COLD!! LOL...time to invest in some inserts I think! Decided I was going to try out the new fly rig and see if I could actually put the line in the water....which I actually managed to do! So....with only one wind knot....I think I did OK with it. Didn't catch anything but had a chance to practice casting and yes...even the roll cast that was suggested I try. I think I managed to roll cast it pretty well...or maybe I'm just deluded..lol...but it seemed to do what I read that it should do. I probably covered a couple of kms of river..but still not a sniff!

So today I figure, OK...I've been skunked on Trout...I'm going out to another trib to try and hit on some Bass and Pike (in a place I've been hitting them all summer). I hit the river (again in the waders...this time with long johns on!) and tried for about 3 hours and not even a sniff! The interesting thing that I noticed...is no carp and no bait fish! I have no idea if they headed upstream or down stream but nothing. So...I figure that the fish must have gone where the bait fish are because I didn't see any minnows at all and didn't have any hits at all. Now, considering that I actually got my butt out of bed early I still had a few hours of fishing time to go. I decided to take a drive to a GB trib and hit a catch and release area...hooked up a spinner (yes a single hook that I squeezed the barb down flat) and give her a go!

Gave it a go for a while and decided the spinner wasn't quite getting deep enough so hooked a weight up a few feet up the line and found that my little Ugly Stick could really fling it out there with a bit of weight on the line!. I was going from upstream to down stream and varying the rate of recall but still nothing.

LOL...and as I stated in one of my earlier posts...it's not the trees you are aware of that you need to watch out for...it's the ones you aren't! Needless to say...there is a tree on the river that now has my spinner hanging from it's branches!! LOL!! If someone decides to rescue it, please PM me as I really like that little spinner!! LOL!!

Cheers!

P.S....I think I should sign this post as...."Still Skunked" <but I'm still trying!!>
 
Thanks for sharing. You know I respect those who post their skunkings. I have had several outings where I was skunked. And have also lost many, many lures in trees, submerged logs, rocks. Anyways, keep trying is all I can say. Every time I get out I try to learn something. And sometimes all I learn is patience and persistence.
 
Oh man I have got stuck in trees wayyyy too many times haha always trying to flip the bait into the shadows and I clearly have not mastered that skill yet.

Sounds to me like you are on the right track with looking for the baitfish, find the food and you will find the fish nearby.

One suggestion I can try to offer is look for choke points such has a long shole or bank that sticks out into the water and funnels the fish into a certain area. From some of the readings and research I have done lately it says that major geographic obstacles are important at this time of year as it forces fish to go a certain way and that is where the predatory fish will lay in wait.

Good luck!
 
Dewy said:
Thanks for sharing. You know I respect those who post their skunkings. I have had several outings where I was skunked. And have also lost many, many lures in trees, submerged logs, rocks. Anyways, keep trying is all I can say. Every time I get out I try to learn something. And sometimes all I learn is patience and persistence.
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:lol: If I didn't post my skunkings I'd have nothing to post! The past month and a half have all been skunkings! I don't mind so much though as I've been trying out different gear and methods and I love being outside. Even managed to find a place on a river to try out my fly gear and see if I could actually cast it with nobody watching me with video camera going! :lol:
 
dockmuskie said:
Oh man I have got stuck in trees wayyyy too many times haha always trying to flip the bait into the shadows and I clearly have not mastered that skill yet.

Sounds to me like you are on the right track with looking for the baitfish, find the food and you will find the fish nearby.

One suggestion I can try to offer is look for choke points such has a long shole or bank that sticks out into the water and funnels the fish into a certain area. From some of the readings and research I have done lately it says that major geographic obstacles are important at this time of year as it forces fish to go a certain way and that is where the predatory fish will lay in wait.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion! I've been looking for areas like this, but since I'm new to river fishing (other than one I know a few sections pretty well) it's all legwork right now learning new rivers and finding access points.
 
OCDComputing said:
Thanks for the suggestion! I've been looking for areas like this, but since I'm new to river fishing (other than one I know a few sections pretty well) it's all legwork right now learning new rivers and finding access points.
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well keep up the hard work :smile:
 
I have a decent skunking myself lately...but if you know the water holds fish, it's just a matter of time. I was on a west trib once and was having a really terrible day, 4 hrs without a bite...was ready to pack it all up..gave myself another 30min...landed 3 pike 24" to 30" in between 15minutes and had a decent bow for good measure. and eventhough i got skunked on my next two visits there, it was still a good memory.
 
OCDComputing said:
:lol: If I didn't post my skunkings I'd have nothing to post! The past month and a half have all been skunkings! I don't mind so much though as I've been trying out different gear and methods and I love being outside. Even managed to find a place on a river to try out my fly gear and see if I could actually cast it with nobody watching me with video camera going! :lol:
Click to expand...

I went a full year of being skunked wearing rubber boots looking like a complete idiot struggling to cross the river without getting water in my boots :lol:

We all start somewhere. My advice would be to keep plugging away at it and you will be rewarded eventually. Fly fishing is a very difficult way to try and hook into your first steelhead. Mastering the float fishing technique is much easier and then once you are dialed into the trout you can move back to the fly.
 
I find by the first couple of weeks in october the warm water species just stop biting and there is no point in fishing for them. I have found that right now, there is slim fishing to be had. The salmon are done running, and the warm water species stop biting. But i still keep fishing. It is a impulse that happens every weekend, and there is no stopping it :mrgreen:
 
Catfish said:
I find by the first couple of weeks in october the warm water species just stop biting and there is no point in fishing for them. I have found that right now, there is slim fishing to be had. The salmon are done running, and the warm water species stop biting. But i still keep fishing. It is a impulse that happens every weekend, and there is no stopping it :mrgreen:/>
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Stop biting? Pikes a warm water species and I get lots through the ice. I've also pulled smallies up through the ice aswell. They may be sluggish but definatly dont stop eating. Try fishing areas you wouldn't normally find them in the summer. I have Dave Mercer on my F.B and he just posted pics of some huge smallies from Lake Erie.
 
Went to a Lake O trib on Friday for a few hours and while I did see some, apparently they see my line coming and just laugh as it drifts by! So today I decide to get out and try an area that I've been told holds Bass/Pike and panfish...wouldn't you know that I couldn't get a hit regardless of what I tried! I tried top water, crank, spinners, mepps, and even tried Texas rigging a plastic and bottom bouncing it...still nada!

Oh well, there is always next weekend! :lol:/>
 
I felt the same way! Tried for Bass and Pike on friday. Not even a sniff, however Dave Mercer posted this pic of a guy that caught a 8.91lbs bass from lake erie yesterday!
 
:shock:/> :shock:/> :shock:/> :shock:/> That is a true football, fish of a lifetime right there, fish of a few lifetimes actually. Thanks for sharing that one!
 
FishingNoob said:
I just died and went to heaven, a 10 pound bass would be it for me! I wonder what troutofmymind would think of the fight? :D/>
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Don't worry what trout thinks, I sure don't. But that is a huge bass and probably put up one heck of a fight. I love to watch Dave Mercer. This proves right place right time and luck, if it was all skill then it should be Dave holding the bass.

The key here is to keep trying and not be shy to meet up with someone who can tell you how to set your rig up properly/correctly. We all have knowledge in one area that others may be lacking. Having a opened mind and ready to learn that's when there are members here who are willing to help out. I am grateful for all and any help that I have received. No shame in not knowing how to catch a difficult prey like trout. It is a challenge that I and probably many have quit trying to catch. I'm not saying you are ready to quit, but it is a matter of timimg, skill and luck in equal parts. Don't let it discourage you.

Good luck and keep at it.
 

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