My upstairs neighbor, Mike, went out in his boat yesterday and did really well - I’m posting this for him:
I made it out to the river today for the last day of my time off. I went out late (around 2 p.m.) and stayed until almost 7 p.m. The water is still full of that green stuff but it didn’t seem to affect the fishing much. The day was much better than I expected in the mid day heat. The fish were really hitting deep crank baits very aggressively. I caught nine on crank baits and one more on a drop shot rig. The water was 84-85 degrees which is about 4 degrees higher than it was last Thursday, so I was really surprised at how active the fish were. Most of the fish I caught were in the 1 1/2 - 2 pound range but one went around three pounds.
:lol: I even had #50 sun block, but I was tough...
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Way to go Mike…I need to get with you about that place in Suwon you bought your boat from. I see one in my future, I really do.
Nice job Mike! When you say “deep crank baits,” how deep are you talking about? 6′? 12′?
Rob,
I used several different crankbaits running between 8-14′ feet (Bomber Model A, Cotton Cordell Wiggle O, Norman Deep Little N, etc.). They were bouncing off the bottom in a lot of places which I think probably brought a bit of attention to them as they kicked up the mud. The problem with fishing this way is that it gets expensive in a hurry around all those nets and ropes. I probably lost about a half dozen cranks and currently am in the process of shopping for more. I think I caught fish on every different one I threw though, so I’m just looking for the cheapest cranks I can find that will get down to 8-10′ with a wide slow wobble. I threw some topwaters for a while late in the evening, but had no success with that even though I could see schools of bait fish in several areas and lots of bass jumping.
I wish they would get rid of some of those nets out there. They cost me a lot of money in tackle every time I go out. I’ve memorized some of the underwater nets and ropes “problem areas” now so I try to avoid them, but I seem to find new ones every time.
Frank,
Any time you want to go to Suwon to check on the boats, let me know.
Good luck to all.
Mike
Thanks Mike. I know what you mean about the nets and ropes. I lost a Shad Rap out there the weekend before last, and countless other spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and worm rigs over the past few years. Unreal…
Mike,
I know what you mean about the fishing being expensive out on that river. Just from shore, I’ve donated several spinner baits and chatter baits just in the last week. The rocks are bad enough but those darned nets really tick me off and what’s bad is when the netters forget or ignore a net and it ends up sinking below the surface. Once you get snagged in one of those, you may as well cut the line
If you don’t mind, I’d like to get together with you sometime so I can ask you a few questions about your boat. Thanks a lot!
Way to go Mike.
That boat looks very similar to mine, is it a Codam boat??
We have nets in some of the lakes down South also and I always seem to find those “underwater” nets while I’m at full throttle in my boat
Steve,
Yes, a Codam. Just got it a couple of months ago. I had a Sea Eagle 9 but it finally wore out beyond repair and became more trouble (and dangerous) than enjoyable. I enjoyed it while I had it but I like the Codam much better though. Not a knock on the Sea Eagle…it did me well for about six years but the Codam is much more stable, convenient and comfortable. I’m really enjoying it so far.
Mike,
I have a Portabote like Robs as my main boat (well, not really alike), but I bought my Codam boat for those smaller waters and I love it. Like you said, they are very stable and they are very quick with only a small trolling motor. The only negative thing I have with them, is they don’t like wind very much, so an anchor is a must.
Mike,
If you are fishing from a boat, couldn’t you use a lure retriever to tear the cranks out from the rotting nets or maybe pull the net up to where you could remove your baits. I know the nets are a pain in the ass but a lure retriever could be worth it’s money in gold. Then again maybe others have tried this and it just doesn’t work. I would think you may not be able to save all your baits but at least maybe some, which is money in the pocket. Anyways, good job on tearin em up.
TexMex,
You are correct. I have one of the extendable lure retrievers but it was left sitting in the car that day. And you know what I discovered…it’s totally useless sitting in the car! But yes, it is able to recover them probably about 50% of the time so they pay for themselves over time. One problem is that it’s a bit tricky trying to use them in the boat alone because it is impossible to get any leverage. They just push the boat around, but I wish I’d had it with me to have tried anyway.
Steve,
Yes, I’ve experienced the all day fight with the wind when it seems I spend more time adjusting the boat than actually fishing. I was wondering whether a drift sock would be effective and have considered trying one, but then I realize how much equipment I already pack around and don’t want to load myself down anymore.
On a different note (and speaking of more equipment to pack around), I was talking with Frank last night and he mentioned the solar battery chargers and I started looking into them. Have any of you tried them? If so, are they effective and worth the price (~$40)? How much will they aid a trolling motor battery? Thanks in advance for any input.
“I have one of the extendable lure retrievers but it was left sitting in the car that day. And you know what I discovered…it’s totally useless sitting in the car!”
LOL Mike!
Reference the lure retrievers, the only ones I’ve ever tried have been the kind you attach to your line and let it slide down to the lure where it hopefully knocks it off the snag. They work great on tree snags and the like, but I seriously doubt they’d be of much use on a net. Ya never know though.
Reference the solar chargers, a friend of mine has one on his boat and it works great. He let me use it (boat) for two days straight down at Andong earlier in the year (a good sixteen hours of fishing, if not more) and the battery was still 75% charged when we pulled the boat out of the water on Sunday afternoon, which is pretty amazing actually. For the price it’d probably be worth a try. If I ever get my boat setup semi-permanently I’m going to get one.
I haven’t heard much about the solar chargers, so I can’t help you there. My boat (portabote) is transported to the water on a trailer as it is setup with a casting deck and it has 2 batteries. I have a charging system that charges the batteries from my car as I drive to the water. I got it from the States from “StaynCharge”. The link to their site is at the top right of this blog.
One more thing….I need to buy myself a lure retriever.
Steve, my Honda outboard has a plug that puts out 12 VDC anytime the engine is running. Does yours? If so, do you ever use it?
Rob,
My motor is a Suzuki, and as far as I know it doesn’t have the 12volt outlet. When I first got the motor I read the manual from front to back and it doesn’t mention anything…..so I guess not. Do you use the outlet for anything??
Steve, no I haven’t used it yet. It’s only 3 amps, but I suppose that it might do the battery some good. I’ll wire it in and check it out.