Pendog Vs Salmonid, Round 2

[Salmonid]

Me and Pendog are headed out again to the GMR this afternoon under exactly the same conditions we had 3 weeks ago, on the end of a 3 day warming trend, water in perfect shape, nice and green and clear. Temps are on the rise since Monday morning when it was 38 degrees, (water temp) now it looks like it will make it to almost 45 by late this afternoon. Will be fishing some slack water in Dayton area from about 4:30-6:30 to see if we can find any this time. Last time we both got skunked, but again,we are fishing a few hours before a big major cold front is blowing through so it will be interesting to see if anything happens. Dinkbuster may join us ( he will be the official for our rematch) and hopefully he can bring some good luck with him because it appears, neither Nate or myself have anything going for us....:rolleyes:
More later....stay tuned...
Salmonid

[chubbahead]

Me and my brother are going out after work too. We'll be out from 5:15 to 6:30 or so.

I have yet to catch a channel this year in a couple trips. I went out yesterday though and caught some nice smallmouth. I think that would be my best advice for you, bring your bass pole.

[BigCatSteve]

well Mark while leaving work it feels as though the temp. is falling as the winds pick up,still feels good you can tell the temp is falling,good luck wish i could tag along but i cant.

[pendog66]

I feel like im going to get skunked but for the heck of it. Mark :0a37:

[chubbahead]

I'm not feeling too confident either pendog. I don't really care if I don't catch anything, I just like to get out. I'm sure if I don't find the catfish that I can find some smallmouth.

Are you guys fishing south of Dayton? I'll be a little north. I'm fishing a 16 to 17 foot hole that runs around Wagner Ford road. We are also a little short in the bait category. We just have a few dozen 2 and 3 inch shiners we bought at Gander Mountain. Not my favorite bait in the world, but it's all we got.

[rockbass]

I can't wait to hear how this goes.:p :)

[chubbahead]

I didn't even get a bite today. My brother had two bites and missed both fish. One grabbed his bait and started running with it and he still missed. It probably wasn't a catfish though, I doubt if they would be running with bait in this cold of water.

I'm interested to know how you guys did.

[pendog66]

well i lost, i was the years first net boy. Mark ended up landing a 6.5 pound channel. Great fish, i missed my only bite at the end before we left.

[H2O Mellon]

Uhh Guys, we've had 20 MPH wind gusts all day, there is a severe weather advisory out for tonight with winds ranging from 50-60 MPH. The weather was 63 today, then a low twomorrow of 7! I dont think youd catch even ME out there right now! I wonder just how good the fishing would be anywhere w/ a possible 56 degree temp jump like this. Please let us know how it went.

PS- I see Nates on line now.... no post so can I assume the fishign was poor? :p

[H2O Mellon]

Well, I guess I see that the digital scales must be much nicer when I am not there. ;)

[pendog66]

yeah bryan it was really windy, we spent too much time fishing in the wrong area. By the time we moved spots we only had a half hour to fish and Mark landed that nice channel cat

[chubbahead]

at least you guys got in one.

[pendog66]

Hey Phil shoot me a pm, im interested to see where you were fishing. and i'll tell you where we were at

[Salmonid]

Well Bryan, it was actually very pleasant out, not that windy at all and the warm temps made for a great couple of hours. It never even rained! Tomorrow will be a different story but we spread out and Dinkbuster showed up and finally got all 3 of our good runs on the upstream side of a deep hole, Not a lot of action but 3 definate good solid runs, Nate missed his and I missed another one. All hits came on small cut skipjacks. I figure we will get out again in another 2-3 weeks for round 3!! Until then....
Bryan, I caught it in the spot I got my first flattie with you.

Salmonid

[dinkbuster1]

next time i wont be so lazy:D

[Salmonid]

Dink, come on, fishing with 1 hand has to be rough but you were giving it your all, I think you were my good luck charm as the last time out and you were there also, I got a simillar sized saugeye:)

Salmonid

[pendog66]

i cant figure it out Mark, I skunk you at your fishing spots. And you skunk me at mine

[dinkbuster1]

that fish sure looks smaller in the picture! looks more like 3# instead of 7#. guys i came home and scrubbed my hands really good, still smells like fish! those skips really have some funk!

[pendog66]

yeah i noticed, maybe Mark's scale is whack. No just kidding that was a really nice fish. The picture doesnt do it any justice

[H2O Mellon]

Yes, I agree it looks like a 3# channel. Nate, I'll teach you how to take some good pics this year.

[flathunter]

You guys need to use circle hooks, you wont miss a run with those!

[pendog66]

ok bryan you can teach. Me i was worried about giving the spot away so i took the picture at an odd angle. But i didnt even think about cutting the picture out like i did. So next time i will get a better pic

[Salmonid]

I admit I was overly excited on the second run and hit him after he only started to run, I nicked him and felt him for a second, then nothing. If it makes you feel better Jack, I brought my Catfish Connection catalog with me today at work and am ordering some circles to try.:cool: I was using a 5/0 Gama Octopus Hook and the bait was about 1" square cut skippies. Nate may have been using Circles, not sure. These were not the "I cant Miss" runs, just a short couple of feet quick burst. The channel I got also didnt fight real hard, the first half was ok, then he surfaced and I just cranked him in. Correct, the picture doesnt do him justice but he was a really nice heavy fish!

Im just glad to say that now I have caught a channel in January and now one in February, Looks like Im done until next month with the weather.

Salmonid

[pendog66]

Mark, i will probaly get out on tomorrow if you want to go. I know cold and miserable but after seeing that channel i've got catfish on the mind again

[Salmonid]

Ill have to check out the weather and if Ido get out, I have a warmwater spot on the gMR I like to go to to get some carp with my flyrod. Ill let you know..
Salmonid

[rockbass]

I would be jumping around yelling if I caught a channel like that this time of year:p Way to go!........At least you guys did not get completly skunked:cool:

[chubbahead]

I'm not the most knowlegdeable on circle hooks, but I don't think winter would be a good time to use them. Don't you need the fish to run for the circle hooks to be effective. Most of the winter time channel bites I've come across you need to feel your line the whole time just to know if you are getting a bite. They pretty much just pick it up and shake there head a few times. Like I said though, I don't really know much about circles.

[dinkbuster1]

I'm not the most knowlegdeable on circle hooks, but I don't think winter would be a good time to use them. Don't you need the fish to run for the circle hooks to be effective. Most of the winter time channel bites I've come across you need to feel your line the whole time just to know if you are getting a bite. They pretty much just pick it up and shake there head a few times. Like I said though, I don't really know much about circles.
i downsize my circles and bait during the winter. channels arent as agressive but they still do the same thing in the current....they gulp the bait in as far as they can and turn away downstream. so long as you have a bait and hook small enough for them to gulp inside their mouth on the first try, and have a tight line youll hook them. when its warmer they are more active and can gulp in much larger baits.

[H2O Mellon]

I agree Dink: Downsize in the Winter.

[chubbahead]

I do downsize in the winter, bait and hook. I was just saying my hits aren't nearly as agressive as in the summer because the fish are less active in the cold. When I fish in the winter, and a lot of times in the summer, I don't put my pole down. I usually hold it and feel my line for bites. If I just sat my pole down and watched it, I think I would miss half my bites in the winter. Not miss on the jerk, but not knowing about a bite altogether. On my winter bites, all I usually feel is a fish picking it up, and then moving his head back and forth a few inches. If I were sitting there waiting for my clicker to take off, I might be waiting for a while.