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Bass fishing today

Started by caveman, February 15, 2016, 10:55:58 PM

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Jeff

I had a frog tangling this summer. ffsmiley

I can change my profile okay. No errors. If you can,t remove all the extra info in other fields and try.

caveman

Jeff, that frog would not last long in these phosphate pits.
Robert, much to the dismay of the glaciated northern guests, I just wrung the neck of the osprey and fed it to a gator-just kidding.  

I did the best I could to release it unharmed.  I had the young man who hooked it reel it in, and I grabbed the line above the squawking beast.  The talons and beak concerned me (I've unhooked everything from pelicans to great blue herons, but never an osprey).  I had them grab a hand towel off of the console with intentions of covering the bird's head.  Most birds chill out when the lights go out.  He was too quick and snagged the towel with his talons so I grabbed the back of his neck and held both legs like one would hold a chicken.  I asked the dad or the boy to grab my Gerber tool from my waist.  They could not figure out how to open it, so I wrangled the osprey with one hand and opened my pliers, extracted the hook and gave the bird a tossed release-like one would do with a gull.  It hit the water 15 feet away and clamored to shore.  It was still on the isle when we left 30 minutes later.  If it does not make it, gators have to eat too.  There are hundreds of ospreys down there and that one has been a pest for the past three weeks.  I hope it recovers and associates people with danger and steers clear.

I now have two fishing trips scheduled for tomorrow.  This cold weather and high blue sky is making it tough.  Each guest asks what is the biggest fish caught (14.3lbs), and they all expect to catch a whopper.  Most do not have much fishing experience or skills, but I still try to give them a shot at good fish and try to provide a good experience.
Caveman

KEC

Some great stories, Caveman.  I always understood that the birds that some call water turkey are Anhingas, which have a long pointed bill. I once accidently snagged a fair-sized beaver on a rapala. I was sweating bullets trying to figure out what to do, running out of line when  the rapala pulled free. 

caveman

The anhinga are black and glossy with a straight bill.  We have always called the cormorants water turkeys.  I am not an ornithologist, but cormorants have a hooked bill and are kind of a dull black.  I have it on reliable report that water turkey is not good table fare.  A couple of my redneck buddies, in their youth, struck out on a hunting/fishing expedition and did not take any food with them, anticipating eating bass and venison.

They ended up eating a water turkey.  They reported that it was not fit to eat.  Good hunters and fishermen are made by such experiences, or skinny men.  One has passed on and the other is not skinny.

There have been hordes of water turkeys flocking to our area over the past month.  It pains me to imagine how many fish they eat each day.  I've never noticed nearly as many prior to this year.
Caveman

WV Sawmiller

Cavey,

  That tale reminds me that the old Indian word for poor hunter or poor fisherman is "VEGETARIAN".

  If Jeff's frog would not survive in your phosphate pits have you ever tried Jiggerfishing (old times called it Jomoling where I grew up). If so please describe your rigs and techniques.

  I wonder if Jeff's mink would survive in those phosphate pits. Heck - I'm not too sure he would survive in Robert's bluegill lake.

  When I was a kid dad brought home a large bass we ate that my grandfather had shot in a sinkhole off the Stienhatchee River. He spotted a small gator swimming in circles in the middle and quickly drew his old .38 Long Colt, Colt revolver service pistol, kept a bead on the gator and when there was a big eruption in the water he shot and climbed down and collected his bass. I never did hear if the gator survived the incident.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

caveman

Your jiggerfishing sounds a lot like our dibbling.  The oldtimers would take a cane pole and a foot or so of mason's twine tied to a huge jitterbug or a wad of trebble hooks and skirts and work a figure eight under the bushes.  Some huge bass have fallen for this technique.  Once they hit, it was a hand over hand on the heavy bamboo pole to get the fish to the canoe, pirogue or whatever skiff one used.  I have not actually caught fish like this but know several who have.  I have the big ole jitterbug plugs-gators will smash them too.

Speaking of gators, I need to make a video one day.  We have some true dinosaurs down there right now.  I suspect several are over 12' and the pit north of where we shoot sporting clays, I bet there are some that are close to 14'.  Some are getting pretty brave and following baits right up to the boat.  Last week, a 9-yo I had on the boat hooked one while bass fishing.  Thankfully, it came unhooked.  I'd still rather deal with a gator than an osprey.
Caveman

WV Sawmiller

  Your dibblinbg sounds like what we called Jiggerfishing. Dad said his mom called it Dabbling only she did it with a small fly or piece of cloth on about 6" of line for catching big bream. Of course she fished during daylight hours and all Jiggerfishing I ever heard of was done at night, usually on or near full moon when they had some light.

  The only guys I knew of who did it were 2 bothers about my dad's age. They used a pole as described with a big treble hook covered with a white rubber skirt although I heard of folks dragging a big Jitterbug around. I worked summers with one of the brothers and asked him about it and he said you had to have someone sculling the boat at the rear and the other one fishing in the front because they had to be so quiet and an electric trolling motor would spook the fish. They used a real short, strong line and lightly beat the end of it in the water creating a big V like a frog swimming on the surface and would run it along the bank and under overhanging limbs and bushes and such. When one hit they just had to drag the pole in and net or grab the fish quickly. Maybe they just jerked him in the boat as there was no playing him

    I asked him if they were doing any good at it and he said "Yeah we are catching lots of 10-12 lb fish but we aren't catching as many of those old big ones as we used to." I don't know of anybody else in the area who was even catching 10 lb fish let along those old "big" ones.

  From what I heard you needed regular check ups with your cardiologist if you did much of it as it was a severe shock when those big bass hit that rig.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

caveman

I had two fishing trips today.  The first was at 8a.m. and the second was at 2p.m.  I was dreading today due to a brisk north wind and morning temperatures in the high 30's.  On the first trip, I did not even start the engine on the boat and just used the trolling motor to go about 20' from the dock.  We stayed there for over an hour, with the guests catching several very nice bass.  The biggest this morning was 8.4 lbs with a plethora of 3-5 lbers.  

During lunchtime, we (my boss/buddy and the potential new guy) went out fishing.  I was looking for "new" fish and Jimmy was evaluating the potential new guy.  I caught a 7.5 lber on kind of a drop shot rig with a live shiner.  I surmised that some of the big fish have pushed out to deeper water with the cold weather and high blue skies.  Next, I caught one about 4 lbs.  I recognized that fish by its battle scars.  I mentioned that we caught it in the other pit last week.  Jimmy looked at the fish and said that he had guests who have caught that fish twice in the past week or so in the other pit.  That fish is dumb but has been paying the bills.

I took two guys this afternoon that I took Sunday and another guide took yesterday.  It was supposed to be a two-hour trip with two dozen shiners.  I told them at the outset, that I'd keep them out until dark if they wanted to fish that long and that I put a lot more than two dozen shiners in the baitwell.  The fishing was slow for the first couple of hours.  They were around fish the whole time and at each spot, but the fish were not feeding very enthusiastically.  

About 45 minutes before dark, they turned on a bit.  The biggest on this trip was a 5-6 lber that I did not weigh.

8.4 lbs from this morning (guy did not hold the fish right to display its size).

My lunchtime 7.5 lber.  When I saw it surface, I thought it may weigh 9 lbs, but its belly was not filled out yet.  It was still a good fish and will lead to different fishing techniques for us.

The afternoon trip's best fish.
Caveman

aigheadish

Holy socks! Those are big bass! The biggest we see up here is like 6 pounds on the enormous size. 

I used to fish a lot, but catch very little. Catching 5 pounders on the regular might bring me back to the game for a bit. 
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customsawyer

I'm pretty sure if you pay the fees, that you can hire Caveman to let you catch a few. ffcheesy
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

YellowHammer

I'm gonna start saving up!  That's some big old bass!
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

caveman

I had three trips today.  This morning at 9:00 we met 15 people from a corporate group to go do an archery outing.  When we pulled into the facility, the three I had riding in the Explorer lamented that they wished they could shoot clays instead.

I mentioned it to my friend/boss and he mentioned it to the group.  Seven went with me to shoot clays at six stations and the rest stayed with him to fling arrows.  It worked out well for all of us. 

At noon I met a family to go shoot clays and archery.  None of them had ever shot a gun before, except for the dad from New Jersey.  He mentioned that he shot a water pistol.  The mom was likely the best shot.  I don't think their son was on the shooting team at Yale.  He did not even know Yale had a forestry school, but he does now.

This evening's trip was 10 men from Wisconsin divided between two pontoon boats.  Jimmy and I collaborated before the trip as to which areas we would fish so that we would not be on top of each other's spots.  The first thirty minutes of the trip we had no action, so I asked my guys to reel in and I headed straight for the dock.  They were questioning my move, but I assured them there were fish in the area, but I was not sure they would bite.  I tossed a shiner up towards the torpedo grass and pads.  It was in a fish's mouth before I could bait the next hook. 

Jimmy's boat caught 15 bass and a catfish with 3.8 lbs being the largest bass.  My guys caught 16 with a 5.0 and a 5.2 and several in the 3-4 lb range.  This was supposed to be a two-hour trip, but we kept them out an extra hour.  By the time we got them unloaded and back to the lodge, the cafeteria had quit serving supper (after 6:30).  Free lunch and supper are perks of this job.

Before our trip, Jimmy had a 7-8' gator slip up behind him while he was rigging for his trip.  Where the gator is pictured is the spot my guys probably caught 10 bass and the spot where the 8.4 came from yesterday morning.

Caveman

aigheadish

Kyle I don't think I ever asked you, as we sat at the picnic table, what your work was. I assumed sawmilling. Now, it sounds like you run an adventure service? You taught for a while didn't you? And you take the kids to the different forestry stuff? Man about town!
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caveman

I retired from teaching in June after almost 33 years.  John and I have run a rinky dink sawmill business for the past 14-15 years.  We work it part time, but not as much lately (I've got another day on this two-week pay period, and I've got over 30 hours of overtime, and I'm scheduled to work tomorrow).

I took this part-time job after a friend of mine, who was doing this job, got promoted to a manager position.  I did it as a favor to him and to have the opportunity to fish a bit more.  

Today was not ideal.  A trip booked late for this morning.  I took it.  It was one guy from Ohio.  I picked him up at the front of the resort a little before his scheduled 8:00 time and we headed to the dock.  It was 36* with a brisk north wind and did not warm up much.  The skies were high and blue.  The fishing was slow and the guy did not help himself much when he had opportunities to hook fish-he missed more than 50%.  After our two-hour time slot expired, he had boated two.  I told him that we could stay longer at no extra cost-my goal was for him to catch fish.  We stayed for an extra hour and a half.  He ended up with six bass with the largest being about 4lbs.

He was a nice enough guy, but his tip was not commensurate with the service he was provided.  

Due to a scheduling miscommunication between this afternoon's guests and someone other than myself, my four-person, two-hour afternoon trip did not show.  I was waiting by the lodge front desk for 45 minutes before I left, loaded all of the tackle and four dozen shiners and took it back to our guide shack.  At least the lunch was good today.  I have one trip scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.  I may have my friend/manager take it.  I'll be working on my outboard's carburetors tomorrow morning and may just take the day off-I'm retired.  I think I have three trips on Saturday.
Caveman

customsawyer

Sounds like it's still more fun then teaching school.
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

caveman

Teaching had its moments, but it could also be mentally draining.  The hardest parts of this job are remembering so many different people's names every day (not my strong suit) and consistently putting guests who are not great fishermen on quantities of quality fish.

They are going to hire another guide soon.  This should enable me to cut back on the days that I work.  It will also mean someone else is using "my" boat and possibly the rods/reels that I have at my tackle station.  When we share reels, I end up relining several a week (I like them full, so they all cast consistently well).

We have not even started the mill since last Saturday and we have a load of hickory to pull out of the hot box and take the better slabs to the local wood store.
Caveman

aigheadish

Can't trust them Ohio guys...
Support your Forestry Forum! It makes you feel good.

caveman

I ended up not working on Friday and another guide, whose main job is a valet at the front drive, took them.  He's a good fisherman and he put the guests on fish.  I was happy for him.  

After replacing the fuel tank, tank fitting, fuel pick up, cleaning and reinstalling just about every wire and connection on the outboard, compression check (we rebuilt this engine about 20 years ago using Wisco pistons), checking for air leaks and cleaning the entire engine twice, my grandson and I headed to the lake to test run it at speed to see if the fuel delivery problem had been solved (the other actions not related to fuel were done on the advice of a good friend/outboard mechanic).

At the ramp, the starter's bendix would not engage with the flywheel.  Thankfully my 6-yo grandson was able to turn the key while I used my Gerber tool to engage the bendix.  We got it started and verified that we still have a fuel delivery problem at higher speeds.  Sometime this week the carbs will be cleaned once again, new needles and seats, floats and gaskets will be installed.

At the resort yesterday, I had two trips scheduled.  In the morning, I took a young couple to shoot sporting clays after my boss/buddy and I caught a few specks (crappie) under the dock.  They were pleasant, generously tipped and we all had a good time. I did not have another trip scheduled until 3:30 p.m.

Following my morning clays trip, I ate lunch and then headed down to start setting my boat for the afternoon trip.  Jimmy returned from running errands in town and suggested I try to catch more speckled perch from under the dock while he went to eat in the cafeteria.  When he returned 20 minutes later, I had about 15 more slab specks in the livewell.  He brought a cooler down to the dock for me to load with fish.  This job has its perks.

My afternoon trip cancelled about 20 minutes prior to our departure time due to the guests stating that "with the conditions, it won't be very enjoyable".  The wind was up a bit, with cloudy skies and temperatures near 60.  I was confident that we would have a good outing.  Jimmy charged the guy $400 (half price for the two-hour trip, four-person trip) and $100 for me.  The guest was completely content with this.  I can't imagine paying $500 to not go fishing for two hours.

In the meantime, Jimmy's eight-person clays trip called to cancel.  Jimmy talked to the guys and two decided to go shoot.  I got to take them (Wisconsin guys from the fishing trip a couple of days ago).  One was on my boat the other evening and one was on Jimmy's.  The one who was on Jimmy's told me when I picked him up at the front desk that I'd cost him a lot of money the other night-they had money on the most fish and the biggest fish.  Both, luckily, came from my boat.

We went to the clays range.  The men shot well, and we all had a good time.  Upon returning, they tipped me generously.  Jimmy billed the guys who cancelled with short notice 2/3 full price.  

It was a good and strange day at the office-getting paid to fish and not to fish and generally just conversing with folks about a variety of topics while shooting inanimate object.  The pay is mediocre, but it aint busting big rocks into little rocks either and I spend a lot of time outside, see the sun come up and go down every day and have the opportunity to fish, a lot.

I don't have any trips scheduled next week.  The resort is hosting a big golf tournament.  All of the 228 rooms are booked, but folks who are there now are all about golf-not bass fishing.  It'll be good to have a few days to catch up on things I've neglected around the home front.  (this is starting to rival Old Greenhorn's posts in length)
Caveman

YellowHammer

When you are shooting sporting clays, do you have to "strategically" lose, or do you shoot it with a handicap?  

I had a 1988 Mercury that wouldn't get to full throttle because of the spark advance module, if all the carb work doesn't fix things and it's still not working.  
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

SawyerTed

After all you've done to fuel system, I'd be looking at something ignition related as YH suggests. 

The power pack/rev limiter going bad can also make an outboard lose power at high speeds. It's an inexpensive part.   

I had one go bad on a 200 Johnson Ocean.  Shop wanted $800 to fix it.   :veryangry:

A $150 power pack with integrated rev limiter later I had it fixed.  
Woodmizer LT50, WM BMS 250, WM BMT 250, Kubota MX5100, IH McCormick Farmall 140, Husqvarna 372XP, Husqvarna 455 Rancher

caveman

We discussed that last week too.  I made a puller for the flywheel several years ago.  We may be looking into electronics this afternoon, but if it is not a fuel issue, I'll be surprised.  I've been ready to pay someone to fix it for a while.  My friend, Blackjack, is pithed at it now and it has become personal for him to solve the riddle.

The reason I think it is fuel related is because it will run as it should about halfway across the lake (a couple of minutes) and then start falling on its face like it is running out of gas.  When I continuously push the key to activate the enrichment solenoid, it will jump back up.  The tubes from the solenoid to the carbs is very small, like chainsaw fuel line.  I can keep the boat on a plane while sending fuel through those little lines from the solenoid, but the engine still wants more fuel. 

I'd like to start fishing out of this old tub again.

On the clay shooting, I don't compete against the guests.  I just push the buttons to launch the clays and load the guns if they don't want to do it themselves.  Many of these folks I take have never shot a gun before while others are quite proficient.  I don't shoot often and really need to practice on some of the stations so if I do get called out by a guest, I can show them that the shot is possible.  I'm mediocre at best with a shotgun on crossing clays.
Caveman

barbender

"Mediocre at best" describes my skills in a lot of areas, but it's gotten me through life😁
Too many irons in the fire

caveman

No fishing today, but I'm elated to report that my 1985 90hp Evinrude lives again.  This is a reminder to KISS (keep it simple stupid).  If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck.

This whole fiasco began a couple of years ago when I did not have an abundance of time to fish or tinker with stuff.  I initially thought that it was a carburetor problem, so we pulled them off, soaked for a weekend in the Gunk carburetor cleaner, used compressed air and blew through the passages, jets and any orifice that seemed suspect.  I think we (John and I) may have done this a few times.

Fast forward to today.  I had a complete rebuild kit for both carburetors in hand (not after-market).  With Black Jack's guidance, I pulled the carburetors apart.  With orifice drills and .023 mig welding wire, we cleaned all of the passages followed by spraying carburetor cleaner.  After reassembly, we ran it on the muffs in the driveway.  The engine sounded good.  He followed me to the lake, and we went for a short ride.  After a short warmup, I ran it at about 3/4 throttle for a mile or so.  It did not miss a beat.  I trimmed the motor out and ran it at full throttle for a short while and it still ran well.  I let it idle at the ramp while I backed the trailer into the water, and it continued to run well.  

Now it's time to grease the trailer hubs, buy two trolling motor batteries, find or buy a spare tire and start harassing the speckled perch and bass.  I probably ought to change the water pump impeller too.
Caveman

Jeff

Kyle you should be running a youtube channel following your trips. It would be amazingly popular.
I can change my profile okay. No errors. If you can,t remove all the extra info in other fields and try.

YellowHammer

I agree!  "Golfers Gone Fishing" 
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

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