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Saturday we visited a local river, only to find the tide up into the parking lot, which is usually a sign of poor fishing. A small bass tournament was going on and the anglers fishing reported unproductive fishing.
We targeted panfish and struggled as well. We had some nips on artificial lures in the morning but as the day went on, the fishing went downhill and we had to resort to fishing nightcrawlers under a bobber, fished under limbs or alongside downed trees.
On Sunday morning, I had a few minutes to kill and happened to have a kayak with me, so I did a quick scouting trip into a local cypress swamp. Although fishing was not productive, I did get to see an unusual sight. Large numbers of gar were gathered in a couple areas.
I don't fish for the species, but it was interesting seeing them as I was able to tie to a tree limb and sit among the school. I shot lots of pics but the wind and reflections made them unusable.
On Sunday evening, we redeemed ourselves in a local pond, fishing the last 2 hours of daylight. Fishing this time of day can be extremely productive.
The difference in behavior of tidal bass vs. clear water pond bass is remarkable. In tidal rivers and creeks we can fish all day for panfish and never catch a bass. In contrast, I can't keep the darned largemouth off a tiny jig in clear ponds.
This season's most reliable lure seems to be a small white or pearl tube, fished on a 1/16th oz jig head. This lure catches several species of fish. Oddly, the most productive method seems to be to simply lower it just out of sight and place the rod in a rod holder. Often, this rig outfishes casted lures by a wide margin.
The "dead stick" tube lure tends to catch crappie when no other technique works. It has taught me ALOT in terms of slowing down retrieves and fishing deeper.
We targeted panfish and struggled as well. We had some nips on artificial lures in the morning but as the day went on, the fishing went downhill and we had to resort to fishing nightcrawlers under a bobber, fished under limbs or alongside downed trees.
On Sunday morning, I had a few minutes to kill and happened to have a kayak with me, so I did a quick scouting trip into a local cypress swamp. Although fishing was not productive, I did get to see an unusual sight. Large numbers of gar were gathered in a couple areas.
I don't fish for the species, but it was interesting seeing them as I was able to tie to a tree limb and sit among the school. I shot lots of pics but the wind and reflections made them unusable.
On Sunday evening, we redeemed ourselves in a local pond, fishing the last 2 hours of daylight. Fishing this time of day can be extremely productive.
The difference in behavior of tidal bass vs. clear water pond bass is remarkable. In tidal rivers and creeks we can fish all day for panfish and never catch a bass. In contrast, I can't keep the darned largemouth off a tiny jig in clear ponds.
This season's most reliable lure seems to be a small white or pearl tube, fished on a 1/16th oz jig head. This lure catches several species of fish. Oddly, the most productive method seems to be to simply lower it just out of sight and place the rod in a rod holder. Often, this rig outfishes casted lures by a wide margin.
The "dead stick" tube lure tends to catch crappie when no other technique works. It has taught me ALOT in terms of slowing down retrieves and fishing deeper.
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