Fat Boy's 2013 Eye Candy (I love fishing in the Fall!)

[Fat Boy]

Some new and older stuff from this year since I've not posted in a while.  Been fishing as much as I can, which isn't enough.  

My 39.5" musky from Saturday:
Edit 6/17/13:  as it turns out, my fishing buddy told me that he measured it differently than I thought-where the starting point was.  This past Friday night, he came by and helped change my boat trailer bearings, and remeasured my rod lockers, and as it turns out, this musky was 40.5" and my new PB!  It's my first 'ski over 40", my first major hurdle as a relative newbie to musky fishing.



The release:


This musky fought hard for it's size, and surprised my buddy and I by from 8' away into my boat, hitting my buddy in the leg.  It's a good thing that my DC10 treble hooks didn't find Howard's leg!  I'd never seen that before...it was truly musky mayhem.

A walleye and smallies from a couple weeks ago:




Small March musky:


I've had another decent year with largemouth, but nothing over 4 pounds, so I don't have any pics handy.  Numbers have been off the charts, lot's of 3's and 4's, but no 5's or 6's this spring (weird).  Hopefully I'll have some big summer hawgs to share with you.  I've caught a ton of bass like this guy:

[waterwolf603]

looks like it has been a good year for you

[Raquettedacker]

Looks like you have been doing well Kevin..

[adkRoy]

Great pictures as always Kevin. 

[UglyStik]

Great pics, & good story on the flyin muskie missle. That must have been a rush. Reminds me of a few years back in Florida the Barracuda's were leaping onto moving boats for some unknown reason. So, you didn't have to net it, it jumped in the boat and stayed?

[Fat Boy]

Great pics, & good story on the flyin muskie missle. That must have been a rush. Reminds me of a few years back in Florida the Barracuda's were leaping onto moving boats for some unknown reason. So, you didn't have to net it, it jumped in the boat and stayed?

Thank you UglyStik!  Yeah, it was pretty hectic for sure.  We basically gained control of the fish as best we could to minimize both injury to my buddy and the fish, and then put it in the net in the water.  I have a huge musky net and it's basically like a livewell to help you unhook and release fish, less stressful to them.  Plus, they can recover quicker if they are in the water as much as possible.

Thanks guys, much appreciated feedback and I'm glad you guys like the pictures.  Over the years, I've found this section of the forum to be my favorite.  Reports and banter are fine, but there's nothing like fishing pictures, and I enjoy and appreciated ALL of the ones that you folks post (even if I don't post comments all the time, please know that if I had time I would), to make my lunch time at my stressful work environment enjoyable and allow me to attack the rest of the work day with renewed energy.

[Fat Boy]

My buddy Howard and found some tidal bass fishing action.  We didn't get a particularly early start, but not bad launching at about 8 AM or so.  At the ramp, the water clarity looked good, and even though it was low tide, the Southwest winds made it appear like a high tide. 


After launching, we headed out to the main stem of the river and noticed that the water was littered with debris and was muddy, not chocolate, but definitely about a foot of visibility or less, so we decided to creek hop.  Although we launched in a pretty good creek, we were going to save that for last in case the weather turned sour, we'd have a place to hang out and fish close to the ramp.  So out to the main stem we went and hit some rip rap and boat docks near the mouth of the first creek that we came to.  I started off with a chartreuse Chatterbait, and Howard was tossing a chartreuse Rat-L-Trap.  Memories of my snakehead hitting that chatterbait had my mind set on starting that.  Howard wound up catching the first bass, a chunky 17” bass, on the Trap --- and that was all it took for me to go into Rat-L-Trap/Crankbait mode.


We found out that, no matter what creek we fished, the activity decreased the further we went in.  But, where the mouths of the creeks entered the river, the fish were much more active for a short ways into the creek.  The water temperature began at 78 degrees and was just a hair over 79 degrees later in the day.  It was 80 degrees further into the creeks though, and that was evident by the lack of activity there.  There was plenty of wildlife to keep us entertained too, between deer, ospreys and bald eagles.  I really love fishing in Maryland for that reason.  Not only do we have that variety within a short drive, we also have the wildlife and scenery, even when close to urban centers.  This small buck (had antlers budding but hard to tell here) was watching us intently. 


So, we began to cover water using our crankbaits, and it paid off.  Crankbaits boated all but one of our bass.  Not long after Howard nailed his, I scored on my lucky beat up Rat-L-Trap on a similar sized fish:

 
The trouble was, we couldn’t figure out any specific thing to key on.  Where the weeds the key?  Answer:  Sometimes, you’d rip your crankbait off a weed and a bass would hit, but that wasn’t consistent all day long.  In fact, some of our bass came in spots where there were no weeds at all.  How about logs?  Answer:  Sometimes, but not as often as you’d expect.  Really fishing looking logs that, a month or two ago, would have guaranteed a bass, were null and void of fish.  How about a combination of the two?  Sometimes.  Rip rap?  Sometimes.  Boat docks?  Once.  We just couldn’t nail down a real pattern.  If there was a pattern, it was basically that the fish were near the mouths of the creeks or just inside.

Here’s one bass caught off rip-rap, my only one on the rocks:


The bad weather was supposed to hit our area around mid-afternoon.  So, when things looked ominous, we decided to head back to the creek that we launched in and try the wood and weeds there.  There was a lot more fishing traffic in that area, and our thoughts were that maybe that area was hot.  It was NOT.  We tried various lures, including crankbaits, but the only fish that we managed was Howard's channel cat caught on a shallow diving crankbait:


The weather settled down a bit, so we made a bee line back to the first creek mouth that we caught some good fish at and gave it a try again.  We picked up a few more bass but they were scattered.  At least it was action though.  Two of my twelve bass caught that day were really what I’d say were caught 100% pure luck.  The first time it happened, I snagged a log.  Rather than ruin the spot, I tried to free the snag first by shaking my rod tip, doing the bow thing, etc. and the lure popped off.  Just then, I thought that maybe I’d have broken the stick that I was hung on, or maybe dragging in some weeds, but all of a sudden it was resisting.  As it turns out, while I was shaking the lure free, a 14” largemouth ate my lure.  I dragged it and the weeds in together.  I guess it was my Father’s Day present!

Later, near the end of the trip, the wind was picking up, and my perfect cast was altered by the wind by about four inches, causing my lure to hang on my casting target, a log, right at the water’s surface.  I shook the rod tip, tried the bow thing again, and shook again.  I could see the lure plain as day snagged on the log at the surface.  All of a sudden, while I was shaking the lure, something was splashing on the surface.  A fish again hit my snagged lure apparently.  I motored over and sure enough, a small bass had eaten my snagged lure.  Howard took a picture then freed the little guy from the log for me to boat and unhook.  We both had a laugh about that.  OK, that kind of thing happens once in a while, but twice in one day?  Maybe that was the only real pattern on the day?

Here’s the small bass that ate my snagged crankbait the second time, still hooked to the lure, which was still hooked to the log:


I caught all of my twelve fish on the Rat-L-Trap, while Howard boated all of his on either the Rat-L-Trap or his shallow diver, except for one that he caught on a plastic worm during mid-day.  That probably would have been big bass of the day, but got away before Howard could lift it in the boat for a picture, flipping out of his hands at the boat side while he was unhooking the fish.  I’d say it was a solid 18” fish or better.

Hindsight is 20/20.  I think that had we worked the Southern end of the creek that we started in, we would have found similar results.  We fished too far into the creek where water temperatures where higher.  The bass just didn’t seem to be there.  I think had we tried some of the other creek mouths in the area we would have also found willing fish on the crankbaits.  Also, it’s tough to find other things that will work when one thing is producing (the Rat-L-Trap in this case).  Had we had more time, I’m sure that we could have tried some other spots, but the weather became really threatening around 3 PM, so we agreed to call it quits.  I’d rather live to fish another day than risk being hit by lightning on my boat, especially on a day when we had to work so hard for them.

[Fat Boy]

Got me another 'ski on Friday.  Got an early start, hooked up as soon as my bucktail hit the water and landed this lil' 33"er.  I didn't have any more action the rest of the day.  My buddy had all of the action after that, hooked and landed a 34" musky later in the morning, had 5 follows, 2 hits and lost a low 40's fish.

Notice the lucky MFF hat again



The release:


Off ya go, see ya when you're a 50"er!


OK, he ain't a monster, but he's good practice for when that monster hits!

[muskyon46]

Looks like you guys are havin a great time up there FB  very nice musky. X2 on coming back when your all grown up as a 50"

[camo_fish]

the muskys are awesome, look'n like you've got the mojo on your side....catfish on a crankbait is always fun too....and can't forget those bass...if you got'em - catch'em...WTG!!!!

[Water Wolf]

Way to go on the mixed bag of fish you and your partner have been getting Fat Boy.
Congrats on your new PB Musky. 8

Interesting that the snagged lures got bit.
I guess they made enough noise trying to get free to attract the fish's attention.

WW

[Fat Boy]

Friday my friend Mark and I set out to for something a little different, to chase some musky cousins.  I had frog fishing on my mind…no, not fishing for frogs, but using frog imitations worked across lily pads and other slop that we were bound to find on the pond.  We certainly found plenty of that.  Weedless lures logically seemed to be the ticket.  I spent quite a bit of time working the frog baits and Texas rigged plastic worms across the pads and slop during the early part of our trip without the results that I expected.    Although we caught a few fish early, the bite was a bit tough for a while.  I wasn’t sure if it was because the of the fish or because of our inability to cope with the heat.  I looked at my depthfinder to see that the surface temperatures were 96 degrees.  

Rather than waste further casts, time and well needed energy in that area, my theory was to move up to the creek where the water source should be cooler.  And, in doing so, maybe find some shady relief for us as well.  We managed to catch some fish on the way up as water temperatures improved, from 90’s to 80’s, and eventually in the upper reaches we found temperatures in the upper 70’s.  You’d think that the fishing would be on fire up there, right?  And we saw some really good bass way up in the creek, but they were spooky and just would not bite for some reason even though conditions appeared to be much improved!

Well, after spending some time sweating to death up there, we decided to head back down where we were getting fish (at Mark’s suggestion).  Ironically, as we made our way back toward the ramp, the fishing actually improved.  There was a section of 90+ degree water that was devoid of bites, but we managed to find that the fish were active where we found mid-80 degree water.  And, the hot bait wasn’t necessarily weedless, but actually was the trusty Chatterbait.  And man was it on fire.

Let me tell you that it was sweltering hot.  We thought that moving up into the upper reaches of the lake would not only prove that the fish were more comfortable and motivated, and we’d find some shady relief for ourselves.  That actually made things worse, because even though the temperatures in the shade were a tad better, the trees blocked any chance of a breeze to help give us relief.  As we headed back, we noticed that where it was breezy, the fishing was better, and the breeze gave us some relief from the heat as well.  The bite improved so much that I’d say that it was as hot as the temperature.  I managed to catch nine quality chain pickerel, all but two between 22 and 24” long, and four chunky bass between 15” and 19 ¼” long.  I lost 7 fish in a row at the end before landing my final fifth bass on the day, a chunky 15” or so fish before calling it quits.

This was my first chainside on the day, measured 22” long.  I had at least three others that flopped off my measuring board  and into the water before I could get a good measurement or photo that were bigger.   From now on, I'm getting pictures first, then measurements   This one fell for a chatterbait.  You can tell it was earlier in the day as my shirt actually looks dry.


Here’s Mark working the upper reaches of the lake where water temperatures were in the upper 70’s…conditions seemed right and the scenery was beautiful, but the fish weren’t all that willing up there.  There were monarch butterflies everywhere up there, making my breaks from fishing entertaining.  What a beautiful sight that was!


On our way back, we decided to fish the scum and slop that we bypassed earlier, working it with frog baits mostly.   I finally had some frog action, having four explosions, hooking and losing two decent bass before giving up on the frog.  I went to the plastic worm and landed this decent bass in the slop.  The worm might have produced more, but I was bitten off three times in a row.  I didn’t feel like tying on any more not only because of the prospect of losing tackle, but I was losing the energy and the will to do any more work than necessary.  So, I fished with heavier tackle the rest of the time.  My shirt looks quite a bit different here, doesn’t it?  I had to reapply sunscreen several times, or I would have had “well done bacon neck syndrome” by days end.


Here’s Mark working the slop.  I think he’s actually an alien from outer space, because he looks like he has a ton of energy here, and he’s not appearing to be sweating at all!


Looking back at the slop.  If it wasn’t so hot, we may have worked this more thoroughly later in the evening.


Prior to this trip, Mark caught northern pike from his many Canada trips, but had never caught a chain pickerel before.  Well, he’s added a new species to his list, and caught several nice ones on the day.  This one is showing off his toothy grin (the fish, I mean).


Another chain pickerel that fell victim to the mighty Chatterbait.


And another nice one:


I must have guzzled a dozen Propel drinks, and had enough energy to manage landing this nice 19 ¼” largemouth bass that hammered my chatterbait out in open water that topped 86 degrees!


Not to be outdone, Mark soon hooked and landed the big bass of the day, shattering my previous trophy by ¼”, as we measured this fat bass at 19 ½” long on my bump board:


OK, after reading this, you may be wondering what happened after that?  Well, the bite, like I said earlier, was hotter than the temperature.  We left the lake at about 3:30 PM right during the peak of the bite.  Why?  My muscle cramps were so bad that I couldn’t even lift a fishing rod or nearly work the trolling motor any longer.  I was fully hydrated, and heat usually helps my situation.  But for some reason, I was in a bad muscle cramping cycle and just couldn’t hack it any longer.  I wasted a lot of fishing time all day trying to medicate and recover from various cramps so I could fish.  I don’t know if it was my constant complaining about my camping problem or if Mark was feeling the heat, but he convinced me to stop fishing and call it a day.

I had a very hard time dealing with that decision, still making casts and cranking in my chatterbait on the way back to the ramp, but it was obvious that he was right.  I was pushing myself to limits that I had never done before.  And it was really hot out there.  And, I’ll admit, that there were times that I felt a little dizzy while in the upper end of the lake.  I took breaks and drank fluids, but it was really tough out there.   Mark may have been worn out from it too, and if he wasn’t, he was looking out for my health.  I appreciate that.  He was absolutely correct in his assessment.  It really hurt to come off the water knowing that we may have easily doubled our numbers, but he was the voice of reason.  As it turned out, my hands were cramped so bad and I was in such terrible pain that I had to pull over and let him drive the remaining ¾ of the trip home.  When I’m fishing, I’m like the goldfish in the fish bowl that doesn’t know when to quit eating (actually, that's true with my eating habits too, LOL).  Like that fish, I don’t know when to quit fishing.  Quitting anything, whether it’s fishing or driving, just isn’t in my nature.  I guess that’s a fault though.

My heart wanted to fish, not only because the bite was so good, but because I brought my friend all the way out there to fish, and I didn’t want to let him down either.  Bottom line though, we had a ton of hot fishing fun, and we made it home safely.


Here are a few more pics from a trip last week...we caught some fish, but nothing noteworthy.  Very scenic serene place to fish though.






My buddy Bob workin' the cover hard with a plastic worm:


His son Carson with his biggest bass of the day:
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And as we left the ramp, lookie who we saw cross the road, went about 4 1/2' long too and fat as heck:

[Raquettedacker]

Frog bite...       Who would have thought...     Way to go...   And that rattler would have made a good meal....    They in season down there? 

[muskyon46]

Very nice FB  sorry to hear the cramps set in on you, i hear you on the goldfish effect. I can never get enough time on the water soft or hard and i feel it when i get home physically and from the wife

[Fat Boy]

Thanks guys!

Frog bite...       Who would have thought...     Way to go...   And that rattler would have made a good meal....    They in season down there? 

LOL... I fished the you know what out of them at both places...just didn't really happen as planned.  Had we stayed for the evening bite at both places, I bet they would have been the money.

Not sure about if they are in season or not, but that's OK...I'll keep my distance!!!

and from the wife

LOL that cracked me up, mostly because I can identify with that too!