Fishin' 2022

[Hardscrable]

Thursday and Friday were fantastic bluegill days.Both days caught/kept all I wanted to clean and then just kept fishing but threw everything back. Wife fished with me for a while on Thursday, all by myself Friday. No boats on lake, no neighbors parking and fishing off road…just piece, quiet, and fish. As it’s just post ice-off there are no fat bellies but not a problem.



They are coming in from our bay off of the main lake



and stacking just off this inlet tube. Sitting/fishing here about 60 feet outside the back door of my garage...2-7 pm Thursday and noon - 4pm ( rained out ) Friday. Left these in baskets over night hanging in channel and cleaned them yesterday morning except for 15 that I gave to my Pastor ( he cleans his own ).



Finished product ready to weigh into serving sizes, package, freeze & vacuum pack for storage.



Scenario will repeat off and on until spawn...Warm sunny days, the calmer the better, and NO NW winds ! Maybe again late this afternoon and currently tomorrow looks to be excellent. Need to make a bait store run and get ready !

 

[bwframe]

Thursday and Friday were fantastic bluegill days.Both days caught/kept all I wanted to clean and then just kept fishing but threw everything back. Wife fished with me for a while on Thursday, all by myself Friday. No boats on lake, no neighbors parking and fishing off road…just piece, quiet, and fish. As it’s just post ice-off there are no fat bellies but not a problem.

View attachment 189440

They are coming in from our bay off of the main lake

View attachment 189441

and stacking just off this inlet tube. Sitting/fishing here about 60 feet outside the back door of my garage...2-7 pm Thursday and noon - 4pm ( rained out ) Friday. Left these in baskets over night hanging in channel and cleaned them yesterday morning except for 15 that I gave to my Pastor ( he cleans his own ).

View attachment 189443

Finished product ready to weigh into serving sizes, package, freeze & vacuum pack for storage.

View attachment 189444

Scenario will repeat off and on until spawn...Warm sunny days, the calmer the better, and NO NW winds ! Maybe again late this afternoon and currently tomorrow looks to be excellent. Need to make a bait store run and get ready !

Great pics and detail! I am so jealous of that sweet honey hole.

I love bluegill, but crappie is what's nearest to me, so that is the most of what goes in my freezer. I really miss having great 'gill waters right around the corner.

You mentioned bait store. Any problem with sharing what you are using and how?


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[Hardscrable]

Was using white spikes, gold hook, no weight, lime green Adjust-A-Bubble with 2-3' of line trailing to hook. Friday was down to having a small piece of washed out skin from a spike on the hook and still catch fish...they were on a tear. Went to bait shop this morning and out of spikes. Picked up crappie minnows, 250 wax worms, 50 red wigglers plus picked up native worms on drive yesterday in rain. so Im set for a while. I used to always use flies that an old timer fishing partner of mine tied. He would give me a bag every spring that he tied over winter. Now he is gone and so is my fly source. I "work the bait", don't just cast and let it sit. Current dictates. I start late winter fishing at the channel mouth with ice still on lake. First place to begin catching fish in spring. Then they end of being at the tube. Tube is an inlet so current going to lake. Hole at tube about 3 to at times 4 feet then shallows up. Under surface current flows to lake. surface depends on wind direction. Normally unless wind is blowing straight in from tube end towards lake the surface water circles at tube. Channel is black muck bottom...heats up with sun. It empties into bay off of lake. Over winter fish end up here to feed. This is where they stay basically to feed up until spawn begins. As channel heats beginning in morning, warmed fresh water flows out...full of oxygen. Fish basically are feeding and follow that upstream ending up at the tube. There are times they literally stack "elbow to elbow"in a 50-75 foot circle. If strong current - lot of water coming in- the fish are right off the current. If not they are everywhere. They go back out late afternoon to dark. Next morning repeats. Cold front, NW wind blowing cold water back to our area and into channel and fish are gone until couple more nice days. I have seen up to 10 people trying to fishing this spot at once. About 15 years ago it was posted somewhere online. People drove 25 miles, parked off road, and fished...many trespassing. I have lived here since 2005...there is a reason I have my property posted and enforced. Gills, red ears, LM bass, gills, crappie, northern, dog fish, and later carp ( fun to spear ). 10 years ago was BIG red ears...they have now diminished greatly. 2 years ago was mainly crappie...BIG crappie and a LOT of them. Last year was mostly a bust...only few days of keeper gills. A lot of bass...a lot of big bass. So far this year all gills and small bass so far. I normally give away a lot and fill my freezer in spring. We go to MN in late May. Erie trip in July...that's about all my fishing anymore. Use to fish all winter and any time my schedule allowed rest of year. But that's in the past. Im truly spoiled here. I can walk out and know if fish in a couple minutes. If so I fish. If not go do something else. Need to potty...no problem. Hungry or thirsty...no problem. Set up to clean in heated garage with cleaning table, hot & cold soft water, electric fillet knife, drain. Vacuum pack works great, keeps 'em fresh. We have panfish or walleye 2 or 3 times a month year round.

Sorry, got kind of long winded.

BW...I prefer to eat crappies.I would trade you a bunch of gills in a heart beat if we were closer. Crappie numbers are really down in our lake. I used to fish Wawasee all winter for crappies, that was my main source. Don't anymore.

 

[22LRFan]

Has anyone tried chasing river smallies yet? River is calling my name in the coming weeks

 

[bwframe]

Meet the Alabama Angler on a Mission to Grow (and Catch) the Next World-Record Bluegill

Sarah Parvin and her father Dr. Dennis Olive have spent the last few years trying to grow the next world-record coppernose bluegill.

www.outdoorlife.com

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Meet the Alabama Angler on a Mission to Grow (and Catch) the Next World-Record Bluegill

Sarah Parvin and her father Dr. Dennis Olive have spent the last few years trying to grow the next world-record coppernose bluegill.

www.outdoorlife.com

I caught a 3 lb., 13 oz. bluegill at Dale Hollow back in the 90's. Thought sure I had a pretty nice bass on the line until I got it in the boat. Had it weighed at the dockhouse but it still wasn't even a state record. We ate him.

 

[Hardscrable]

Caught a ton of gills again today. Neighbor came over and caught all he wanted. He brought his thermometer gear along. His pier is about a quarter mile away from where we were fishing. Water temp at his pier was 48*. Water temp where we were was 66*.

 

[Hardscrable]

Panfish success has been very erratic last couple weeks. Very few crappies. No bass of any size. Finally getting a fair number of red ears. Lots and lots of gills but very few ”keeper” size. I have plenty in freezer but would like a few more to give away and couple more fresh caught meals. Was hoping yesterday would be good but another repeat…lot of gills but mainly small ( upside is they are all fighting strong so fun to catch ). Between 7 & 8 pm hit some good ones finally. This was the last one of the evening and the largest. Per my rule of releasing the largest ones he lives on. With all of the cold weather water temps have not increased much here in the north. Last females cleaned reveal very little further egg development over the last couple weeks so spawn is still off a little ways.

 

[bwframe]

Panfish success has been very erratic last couple weeks. Very few crappies. No bass of any size. Finally getting a fair number of red ears. Lots and lots of gills but very few ”keeper” size. I have plenty in freezer but would like a few more to give away and couple more fresh caught meals. Was hoping yesterday would be good but another repeat…lot of gills but mainly small ( upside is they are all fighting strong so fun to catch ). Between 7 & 8 pm hit some good ones finally. This was the last one of the evening and the largest. Per my rule of releasing the largest ones he lives on. With all of the cold weather water temps have not increased much here in the north. Last females cleaned reveal very little further egg development over the last couple weeks so spawn is still off a little ways.

View attachment 196734

Good catch and thank you for the update.

Also love the measurement in the pic.


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[ChootEm]

Caught my first Indiana trout last week in Zionsville.....kind of caught me by surprise...was targeting Whitebass.

 

[patience0830]

great dayn with my grandson. He is a fishing machine.

Nice perch!

 

[MRockwell]

Caught my first Indiana trout last week in Zionsville.....kind of caught me by surprise...was targeting Whitebass.
View attachment 196799
View attachment 196800

Well I learned something new today! I had no idea that Zionsville stocked trout on the Eagle, seems they've been doing it for several years now.

Any chance you would share what park you were in?

 

[bwframe]

Just making sure you folks understand that one needs to have a trout stamp to keep trout?

 

[ChootEm]

Well I learned something new today! I had no idea that Zionsville stocked trout on the Eagle, seems they've been doing it for several years now.

Any chance you would share what park you were in?

There are several in and around Zionsville. I parked at Starkey Park and walked down.

I will say on a nice day that place gets a LOT of pressure. I went on a rainy day and had the place to myself. Go on a nice sunny day and you can look down the creek and see 6-8 other people fishing in 150-200 yards...no thanks.

 

[MRockwell]

There are several in and around Zionsville. I parked at Starkey Park and walked down.

I will say on a nice day that place gets a LOT of pressure. I went on a rainy day and had the place to myself. Go on a nice sunny day and you can look down the creek and see 6-8 other people fishing in 150-200 yards...no thanks.

Thanks for the info.

And yeah, that much pressure would be no fun. I'm used to maybe seeing one other person all day when fly fishing.

 

[mikek]

Had some Crappie yesterday

 

[bwframe]

Had some Crappie yesterday View attachment 196922 View attachment 196923

I did too. I still have 8-10# of fish to eat from last year. Gotta make room for this year's.

Lately, I've been doing my crappie in the air fryer. Lotta options, most quick and easy. Yesterday's was leftovers from the day before, covered in cheddar cheese.


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[Itchytriggerfinger]

Not much of a fishing report but the turtles are feisty right now.

 

[mikek]

I did too. I still have 8-10# of fish to eat from last year. Gotta make room for this year's.

Lately, I've been doing my crappie in the air fryer. Lotta options, most quick and easy. Yesterday's was leftovers from the day before, covered in cheddar cheese.


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That’s what I’m doing. I have one bag left from last year

 

[ChootEm]

Not much of a fishing report but the turtles are feisty right now. View attachment 196940

They tend to have a bad attitude.