Pacemaker Fishing Forum

I was set to go solo shad fishing today.  Checked the forecast last night and everything looked ok.  I got up and it looked cloudy.  Checked forecast and it said 80% chance of rain from 8am -Noon.  About a quarter inch.  I did not have my cover on and I did not want to drive all that way to get road spray all over by boat.  I checked the local forecast and it was for less rain and only for an hour or two.  I switched gears and got ready to smallie fish.

I got on the water a little after 8am.  It was cloudy and around 50 degrees or so.  I decided to run upriver.  My first stop was heartbreak hotel.  I fished for about and hour and got one dink on a weedless ned head with a Sukoshi bug.  After a little while longer I ran up to Harrison Island.  I tried the shoreline eddies and nada.  Heard Turkeys and and Owl.  Saw an Osprey, Eagle and Pileated woodpecker.  Birds were out in force.  I ate my lunch and eventually went back down to heartbreak hotel.  On approach, I cast a tube and felt it bumping a long and a bite.  That was a chunky 13"er, but no pic. 

Water was pretty fast and had a green stain.  The only temp I checked said 54.7, but that was in the morning.  The sun was peeking out and the wind picked up.  I ran down and lost a couple tubes at another spot, but no bites.  I decided to just float an island heading back.  I got to where the wind was not too bad and tried a tube, the bug, and a crank.  I was not getting any bites and kept floating.  Finally, I was getting to a fishy looking spot and saw a carp jump.  On the river side, I saw a fish surface and I grabbed a wacky rigged stick bait I had ready.  I cast it to that area and got bit.  I set the hook and could tell it was a good fish.  After a nice fight, I was able to net this fat 17"er.





It had a little sore or lesion on it.  Anyway, that made my day.  I headed back after that and was off the water about 4pm.   The crew time was just arriving.