We wanted cooler temperatures, well, we got them and how. When I got to the river this morning, the wind was blowing hard, it was raining and, it was cold enough for me to need a windbreaker. The cold front has definitely affected the fish, because I didn’t have one single bite on a Senko out there. Not even a dink!
So I put on the last white/red spinner bait I have, and ended up catching three total. Two of them were a pound or less (may have even been the same fish), and just as the rain really started coming down and I thought about going to work a little early, this bass nailed the lure and made my morning.
I almost slept in this morning because I figured that after those hard rains we had on Saturday, the river would be high and stained - and I was correct on both counts. The water level is so high that I couldn’t get down to the spots I usually fish, and the water was the color of chocolate milk. On top of that, there was a brisk breeze blowing in my face. However, the bass didn’t seem to mind the conditions too much.
The fish on the left was caught on a 5-inch Senko, black with blue flakes, and the one on the right was caught on a white/red spinner bait. I also caught two dinks, and had one bass on a spinner bait that jumped and threw the lure about 2 feet from shore, just as I was about to reach down to grab it. Unfortunately, it’s supposed to rain again today, tonight and on Thursday which will put a damper on my fishing activities but the good news is that these fronts will bring some nice cool weather, which I’m sure we’re all looking forward to.
My upstairs neighbor Mike took me out in his boat today (thanks, Mike!). I got to check out his boat since I’m thinking of buying one, and I also got to enjoy a heck of a good day out on the river. Well, more like a half day, since we were chased off by the torrential downpours (which didn’t bother us too much since the fish were biting) and the lightning and thunder.
Mike fished mainly deep-diving crank baits along with some drop shots, and I tried a little of everything; spinner baits, chatter baits, wacky-rigged Senkos, 4 and 5-inch Senkos (with not much luck, I might add), and once I saw how Mike was tearing them up again, I also tried crank baits. We ended up catching 18 bass, and I’m sure we would have caught a lot more had the weather not turned ugly. Here are some of the pics from today:
I had a blast and learned a few things as well. Thanks a lot, Mike, for taking me out there. Hopefully the weather will cooperate better next time 
Friday; the last day of the work week (for most of us) and the beginning of the weekend. And, it’s a good day to catch fish, I always say . But before we get to that, there was no fog out there for once and I actually saw a sunrise:
But way before all that started happening, I was out there in the dark, chucking Senkos and spinner baits. I ended up catching 8 bass out there this morning which I must admit, made my day (even though 5 of them were dinks).
On my very first cast with a black, 5-inch Senko, I caught this fish but unlike a lot of the hits I got in the dark the last few weeks, this one nailed it hard and also put on one heck of a good fight. A while later, I switched to a spinner bait.
The above was the only one I did manage to catch on a spinner bait and once again he was hooked really good so despite all his aerial acrobatics, he stayed on till the end to pose for this shot.
I caught this one on a black 4-inch Senko about 10 minutes before it was time to pack it in and head to work. Today was definitely one of the better days I’ve had in quite the while and it’s days like today why I keep getting up early 
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I didn’t want to spend the entire three-day weekend without going fishing, so I headed out to the river bright and early this morning to get a few hours in. I also wanted to test a theory I had which was that in the dark, and with the water being stained from that green algae, a white spinner bait should work. I’ve always read that at night, you should use dark lures because the bass see the silhouette better against the surface light. That may be true, but I figured that since visibility is down due to that green algae, a white lure with silver or gold blades should work just as well.
It might have been a fluke and pure luck, but on the third cast with a white spinner bait (ok ok, for you purists, I know it’s white with red, LOL), I caught this fish, about 20 feet out.
And, I also caught one on a 5-inch Senko, black, fished very slow with the occasional twitch. I also missed a couple, which is par for the course. Just like the last two weeks, the bites were before or right at first light; once it got light, the action stopped. I got two hours in, which was perfect for me and by 7, plenty of other fishermen started showing up so it was time for me to leave anyway. I always say; if I can see another fisherman, then it’s too crowded for me
Well this morning was an adventure. First, check out how bad the algae is getting in the river:
And that stuff isn’t only floating on the surface; it’s permeated the water all the way to the bottom and there’s zero visibility now. I tried chatterbaits and spinnerbaits this morning but man oh man, now I remember why I never used lures from shore out there - I lost three chatterbaits and two spinnerbaits, all to getting hung up in the rocks 
I did catch a few fish and this was the biggest of the bunch. I hope they open the gates down by the seawall soon so this green crap floats over to China and the river clears up.
In a comment on yesterday’s post, James pretty much told me to stop being so one-dimensional with my Senkos. That comment, plus after seeing how thick that green algae was in the river yesterday convinced me to take some Chatterbaits with me this morning. But of course, I started out with Senkos while it was still too dark to see much of anything (plus it was real foggy out there again).
I caught five on Senkos, with the above being the biggest one - the rest were dinks. Once it was light enough to see what I was doing, I changed to a black/blue Chatterbait with a black trailer.
I caught this guy on my third or fourth cast and let me tell you, I was as shocked and surprised as the fish must have been . Unfortunately, that lure got donated to the river a few casts later so I switched to a chartreuse Chatterbait.
I caught these two fish back to back. I had one more bass take the lure but he jumped and threw it while he was still way out there.
Why, there must be a holiday coming up…and what a better way to spend Chuseok than to go fishing, eh? It was definitely a good morning, once again and yes, if I can wake up, I’ll be back out there again tomorrow, with more Chatterbaits and maybe even some spinnerbaits (and of course, plenty of Senkos 
).
That’s the color of the river, again. Just last Thursday, the water was clearing up really nice but since this weekend, that green algae has made a comeback, and it’s not just on the surface, so it has turned the river into pea soup once more.
It was also pretty foggy out there again this morning, but that didn’t stop these guys from putting in that nice bass boat….did they offer me a ride? Nope.
I’m not even sure if they made it or not because once they started their motor, there was some kind of constant beeping, like an alarm and they kept cutting and restarting the engines and pretty much stayed close to the boat ramp, at least during the time I was there.
Above are two of the five I caught today; the fishing was tough out there and I had to work for every bite - I’m not sure if it’s that green algae that’s keeping the fish out or if the water hasn’t cooled down enough yet. But I keep going back out there because I want to be there, with Senkos in hand, when they do start cruising the shallows again
Well, this sure was a good way to start the week
I caught this one on a (drum roll, please…) 5-inch Senko, black with blue flakes, right before first light and it was a weird bite…I felt only the slightest “tic” on the line and after having fished in the dark for a while now and having gotten used to fishing by feel, I immediately stopped and stood there, still, waiting. And sure enough, after about a minute or two, I felt the slightest tug on the rod tip so I set the hook and the rest is history. I caught two others this morning, but they were small. By 6, a heavy fog moved in and once it got light, the bite totally stopped.
Rob and I took his boat out on the Pyeongtaek river today - we had an early start and were in the water by 5 and fished till around 3 in the afternoon.
Our friend John and his faithful fishing buddy, Gochu the wiener dog, were also out there today.
As you can see, it was a beautiful day out there, albeit just a tad on the hot side. For most of the day, the river was like glass.
The carp fishermen and a few bass fishermen were also out in force, enjoying the nice weather. There were lots of other boats on the water today as well, ranging from inflatables to really nice bass boats with big outboards.
The fishing was tough out there; one of the hardest days we’ve had yet. For whatever reason, the bass were not cooperating at all. I think we caught 12 bass between us, and the two above were the biggest ones. The fish in the pic to the left; I had cast out with a 4-inch Senko and my line had come off the reel in a birds nest so I decided to cut the mess off and retie but I wanted my hook and worm back. I cut the line, and started pulling the worm in by hand when I felt a weight on there. I thought I was pulling in a branch or some weeds so imagine my surprise to see this bass on the end, with my Senko in its gullet. And on a day like today, I’ll count that as a catch
The good news is that the water temperature is back down to the low to mid 70’s so in a few weeks, things should start picking up. I had a blast today. After all those "early morning bass" episodes consisting of 1 1/2 hours worth of fishing before work, it was great to get a full day in at last, and in a boat, no less! Thanks, Rob, and have your wife put some aloe on that sunburn
I was fishing And what a morning - you know what’s next:
The bass are definitely becoming more active, at least early in the day. I had a pretty good time out there this morning…no monsters, but the bite was pretty steady. Here are a couple of pics - all fish were about the same size, give or take a few ounces and all were caught on 5-inch Senkos, black and black with blue flakes, fished nice and slow.
And here are a couple for the bird watchers, with a complimentary close-up:
Take a good, long and hard look at that net there because the next time I take a pic of that area, it’ll probably be gone. That net wasn’t there yesterday, nor ever before. Like there aren’t already enough nets in the river, some guy had to put this one right on a point, and near one of the new breeding channels for carp. I used to stand right in the spot I took the pic from and cast over past that little platform on the point -every now and then some bass would be lurking there. Carp fishermen to the right of me, nets to the left…what to do. I can’t throw the fishermen in the water (well I could but that would be considered rude) but nets can be removed, or so I’ve been told.
Another beautiful morning out there and without any further ado, here it is:
Before the sun even started rising, I was out there, fishing in the dark.
Continue reading ‘Into the sun’
Oh man, what a gorgeous morning out there at the river today! It was chilly enough to give me goose bumps, there wasn’t even a hint of a breeze, and I got to witness yet another beautiful sunrise:
This guy came in pretty close to where I was fishing, no doubt going after the carp fry that were in the shallows:
“But what about bass?” you ask….well, the bass were biting as long as it was dark and right until after first light but once the sun came up, it was like someone had flicked a switch. I caught several dinks and lost one nice one which got off close to shore 
, and just when I thought it was going to be another dink day, this one nailed my 5-inch (black) Senko and made an already good morning even better:
That fish was the biggest of the morning and like I said, once the sun came over the horizon, that was all she wrote. By the way, does anyone know what this stuff is? I’ve been seeing it all along the shore, on the rocks:
I’ve been hoping that since the nights are getting cooler, the water temperature would also go down, which in turn would bring the bigger bass back close to shore. It’s bound to happen sooner or later but that time isn’t here just quite yet, as I found out this morning (And what a beautiful morning it was!). But first, the obligatory sunrise pics:
I did catch fish today, but none were bigger than the two below, and all they wanted were 5-inch Senkos. I also tried a 4-inch and not a single bite. Go figure.
Last week, the water level in the river was super high, this morning it was back down to the point where I could walk the rocks along the shore again. The water is still a bit stained from last weekend’s rains and also still feels quite warm, although not as bad as it was a few weeks ago when it felt like bath water. I could be wrong, but I think things will improve in a couple of weeks.
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