Pacemaker Fishing Forum

I got on the water around 10am.  The wind was blowing pretty good out of the N/E.  It made it feel much colder than it was.  Water was more stained than the last time i went out, but there was not as much debris on the water.  Cold temps had the water drop just below 50 degrees.  I got to my first spot and tried a tube and then one of George's jigs with the head painted red and a black and blue salty chunk Jr.  I hooked a strong fish and it was fighting hard in the current.  I tried to horse it in a bit and it surfaced and threw the jig.  It looked to be about 18 inches.  I threw right back out and got bit immediately.  This one was a beast.  It put up a great fight that lasted about 3 minutes (felt like).  I finally was able to net it and it was massive.







I was able to weigh it after giving it a breather.  It was 5.58 pounds and 21 inches!  Such a cool fish with black spots and built like a truck

I caught the next one on a tube.  It was super dark and closer to the boat.  It measured 20 inches.  It was big in the front and slimmer as it got to the tail.  It had some either damage or maybe fungus on it's dorsal fin.  I did not weigh it.







Next, I caught another close to where I hooked the last one.  It was 15 inches on the same tube.





The bite there slowed and I saw what I thought was a fishing boat drifting down my way.  I wanted to try a similar spot downstream, so I moved to get there before they did.  It turned out it was teenagers in two canoes.  I settled at the spot.  I tried a few casts, but no luck.  The flow was a little different and there were more leaves and debris in the bottom.  I was so pumped from before that I did not drink or eat anything.  I opened my Gatorade and had a banana (just for Ernie).  I was going through my rods and baits and I threw a Z-man ned jig that I had re-tied the skirt on with a black and blue little bugz (I think they call it) trailer.  I got bit and it was a nice fish.  When I netted it, I saw it had one cloudy eye.  It was 19.25".





I tried everything for a while, but no more bites there.  I ate my lunch and then drifted out.  The water was pretty brown.  I decided to hit the first spot again before crossing the river.  I caught one there on a different tube,  It was 13 inches, but hit very aggressively.



That was it for there.  The water was different than it was before and I just could not get my baits to bounce along the rocks like I did before.  I headed across the river.  The eddies there were shallower and not really fishy looking.  I did manage a little guy on a grub in one small deeper spot.



I mostly drifted after that and got no more bites.  The wind was not as bad as the morning and it was warming up nicely.  I got off the water a little after 4pm.  No other fishing boats were seen and the bite was great for the first few hours.  Wonderful day on the water!

Last edited by drxfish (Mar-30-23 3:22PM)