[eastforker]

I made it out for a couple hours today on the East Fork White River.
The water is on it's way up. It's at 4.5 feet now and will be at 8.8 feet by tomorrow.
Didn't get any bites but almost caught a few trees going by.

 

[SteveMcK]

Better have a good drag for that one!!!

 

[cadyman]

I was just thinking earlier today as I’ve been watching the water gauge that the river is going to get a good cleaning from all this rain. I bet there’s lot of downed trees moving along today. There’s a big log jam near where I fish, I can’t wait to see what it looks like after all the trees that fell during winter that are going to get stuck in it after this water rising.

 

[twaskom]

Chris, do you watch the gauge that gives you the water temp also? That one is a good one to keep an eye on in the spring and fall also.

 

[cadyman]

that water temp gauge is a good tool. I’m not in the habit of checking that one as often but you’re right spring and fall it can tell a lot for when the action should be coming alive or slowing down.

 

[Lost-River-Jones]

No temp gauges on the East Fork ... what gauge on the White gives temp? Those 2 rivers can't be that different ...

 

[cadyman]

Here it is, it’s a gauge in Indianapolis.

USGS Current Conditions for USGS 03353000 WHITE RIVER AT INDIANAPOLIS, IN

 

[Lost-River-Jones]

Thanks - the gauge I look at (daily lol) only has gauge height and discharge. National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service

 

[eastforker]

The warm rain today has the channels moving around some today.
Caught this guy on a shiner head about 15 minutes after I got the rods out.

First fish on the medium light Rippin Lips rod.
I had 3 or 4 non hookups with Strawberry jello chicken and shiners.

Then it got dark I put on my favorite bait a chub head.
A short while later the medium light rod goes down hard.
I lift the rod out of the holder and it stays doubled over.
Getting this guy in with this rod was a heck of a fight.
Exactly what I wanted in the medium light Rippin Lips rod.
No problem using 3 ounces of lead either.

Weighed this guy at 6lbs 7 ounces.
Can't wait to see what a 10 pound plus fish does to that rod.
Fished awhile longer till the lightning lit up the sky.

 

[Trophy Flathead Hunter]

Nice channel Stacee!

 

[Jesus Saves]

Nice Stacee, getting it started off right!

 

[pikeintheboat]

Nice night for spring Cats.... 6# Channels are tough to beat on the fun factor with lighter tackle. Cool that you got a ML Rippin Lips, I have been thinking about getting one to try.

 

[twaskom]

Stacee is always consistent over there. Do you give your channels names Stacee? haha. Maybe have a chart to see which channels have been caught the most. It seems Stacee always "brings home the bacon" so to speak. I know he takes pretty good care of them or they would quit playing with him all the time.

Thanks for the pics.

 

[eastforker]

Nice night for spring Cats.... 6# Channels are tough to beat on the fun factor with lighter tackle. Cool that you got a ML Rippin Lips, I have been thinking about getting one to try.

In open water I wouldn't be afraid to loosen the drag and hear some drag peeling.
I couldn't pass up the free shipping from Rippin Lips at the Conference.

 

[SteveMcK]

Nice catches Stacy. Glad you got to break in the ML Rippin Lips.

 

[pikeintheboat]

Stacee, do you normally use a Carolina rig or 3-way for the river? I always get hung up and loose my rigging when doing a Carolina Rig while bank fishing on the river. I'm going to start using 3-way rigs with a peg float and lighter line for the weight. Then if I get hung up on the bottom I "should" only loose the weight.

The other option I guess would be slip-float, if I could find the head of a hole to float it into.

Matt

 

[eastforker]

If I'm around lots of snags I'll use some 3-way rigs or a very short leader with a carolina rig.
The Kentucky rig with a swivel at the bottom with lighter line going to the sinker.
I use the no roll sinkers with wire going through them in rocky areas.
After a few bends in the wire the sinker doesn't come off.
Originally I would just bend the tip and when snagged the sinker was suppose to pull free.
Guessing I bought the wrong gauge of wire but it works pretty good the way I use it.

Spring time is great for getting snagged but I keep throwing as close to the snag or past it that I can get. Most of the time I get snagged but if I leave it there long enough a fish brings my rig back to me.

 

[eastforker]

I went to the river this evening to see if they were still biting.
Started out with 3 live shiners and and hour or so went by and I wasn't getting any bites.
I reeled in each rig and cut every shiner tail off and made them bleed.
A short while later I got something slowly bending my rod down I picked up the rod and something was puling out some drag.

Hard to tell by the picture but this one weighed 9.8
The medium light Rippin Lips handled him just fine.

Then no more bites so I started cutting up shiners, chubs and trying the cut sucker.
Giving up and going to move I reel in my rods and this fish was on the cut sucker.

Finally got the bad juju out of the Ugly Stik Catfish rod.
I moved and about 20 minutes later I get another one on cut chub.

Then I get another one on a shiner headpiece around 9 p.m.

I stayed another 2 hours with a few taps and no commitment.

 

[SteveMcK]

Those are some nice channels. Way to stick with em.

 

[eastforker]

It was a little chilly with the wind this evening. Glad the wind died down after dark.
Bait of choice was cut chubs and cut shiners. I used a bluegill head but got no bites on it.

I ended up with 2 fish running me into snags and a hook popped out at the bank on one.
Still managed to get these whisker friends of mine.