Ray Roberts 11-27-10

Decided to take Larry and John today to do some scouting for new areas on Ray Roberts.  It took way to long to catch bait this morning in an area of the lake I had never been to, but after about 80 throws we had enough to fish.  One was a 17inch gizzard....more on that later.
Marked a few fish on a deep channel and got set up.  Threw most of the poles out in the channel and a few up on the flat.  A few minutes later John got the first blue of the day on the shallow flat.  Rebaited threw it out and bam Larry got this one of the shallow flat.  Baited up and down it goes again.  We decided to move out in the shallow flat, but after moving we didn't get another bite in the area.
We decided to try another area where two creeks join with a shallow flat nearby.....nada.
Decided to go with the shallow bite and fish a windblown point with the creek nearby.  I decided to put the head of that 17 inch Gizzard on a pole and throw it off the end of the point just as it tapers off before heading into the creek.  John and Larry asked what in the world we were fishing for that could eat a bait that size.  We sat there for about 10 minutes and the pole with the head on it goes down.  Larry reels down on it and has a 17 pounder work him over.  Judging by the bait size and fight of that fish I would have thought it to be at least a 30 pounder.  Larry was all smiles.  We decided to call it a day and get home to our families.   Had a great time guys and found a few more areas to fish.  Good times!

Ray Roberts 11-22-10

Took James and his father to Ray Roberts this morning.  Last time James went on a trip with me it was an electrifying experience and we had to run for cover.  Luckily, this time we had clear skies and a 10-15mph wind.  The water temp was around 58 today and the sand bass were biting light with many gill slaps.  They didn't want it deadsticked, but also didn't want it moving much.  More of a slow up and down making the slab spiral instead of flutter.  The birds helped a little early, but they quickly gave it up and took a rest.  The bite was consistent, but not on fire this morning.  If I remember correctly, James caught 6 fish snagged in the back.  We decided anyone can hook them in the mouth, but it takes great skill to snag them in the back. 

 James and his father also wanted to catch a few blues for the fun of it.

We had a blast this morning and I look forward to having these two again.

Ray Roberts 11-13-10

Todd and I went to Ray Roberts this morning to try some new techniques and locations for blues.  Got to the lake to find the area we were going to fish had some serious white caps and rollers.  So, we decided to stay out of the wind a little and fish areas I was more familiar with.  First spot, we marked good fish, but after 20 minutes no takers.  Decided to get out in the wind and look at some other areas.  Next stop was covered with bait and active fish around.  The screen had bait balls getting busted with sand bass and catfish suspended around it picking of shad getting busted up by the sand bass.  We put out rods for cats and tossed some slabs for sand bass.  Caught about a dozen of each in quick fashion and left to check other areas. 
Arrived at our next area to graph and found same scenario with bait, sand bass, and blues so we fished for both catching both.  Largest blue was still only 11 pounds, so we moved out to 60+ feet of water and caught a good blue, but then nothing.  The birds started working a hundred yards from us, so we headed over to catch some sand bass and that we did.  The wind even changed direction from the NW to the SW and that didn't stop the action.  Tim Wike from ReelinRayRoberts showed up with clients and they looked like they were having a blast too.

Total we probably had in the 80 range for sand bass and around 40 catfish for the day.  A beautiful day on Lake Ray Roberts!

Ray Roberts 11-6-10

Took Frank and Johnny to Ray Roberts this afternoon on  mixed white bass/catfish trip.  With this recent cold front the water temp was down to 64.6 and the fish were working humps/drop offs and points from 18-35ft.  Some birds would point you in the right direction, but were not a consistent helper today.  Electronics were the key.  I can't say enough about the game change experience of having and learning how to use side image.  Today the white bass wanted the slab on a much slower raise and drop.  Some bites felt like a little tick on the line and some others hammered it.  All fish were caught on Ol'Uglies and yarn flies.  Johnny tried his new white and gold slab, I had on white and silver and Frank had on white and chartruese.  All produced well. 
After catching a good mess of whites and about an hour left we decided to try for some blue cats.  Frank had never fished for them and was eager to see a pull down.  We started out drifting a ridge with one old green shirt, a large stick, and a tree caught.  Not really what we were after, so we headed to a point they have been good on the past couple Novembers to graph it and see what was there.  On a drop from 12 to 20 ft I spotted a pack of 4 catfish.  We anchored up above them and tossed the baits back towards them.  It wasn't 5 minutes and the back pole went down.  Frank was busy casting out catching whites and didn't see it, so I reeled down on it and handed him the pole.  A solid in the box.  This continued and Frank managed to put four fish between 6 and 9 pounds in the box and one teenager to be released for another day.  With the sun setting on a beautiful fall day and great fishing we decided to head in and clean our catch.

Grapevine 10-15-10

Took John and his crew of 7 out for a quick morning trip on the Vine this morning.  Started out a little before sunrise with the preacher getting cold.  He knew something was wrong when he stepped out of his truck and all the "wiser men" had on pants and coats....he had shorts and a fleece on.  The guys had a good time with him all morning!
This was the first trip in a while that Roe didn't bring his lucky girlfriend and I don't think we'll let him on the boat without her anymore because the bite was SLOW today.  We found fish every stop we made, but they were scattered fish on a no wind, blue bird day making the bites few and far between.
Tip of the day:  Burn 3 cranks, quarter second pause, burn 3 cranks, quarter second pause etc.
The fish did not want the typical up down of slabbing or hopped back from a cast.  We ended up finding the pattern and caught fish, but just not what this crew is use too.  We all had a great time and lots of ribbin' going on this morning.  John was confused on the Vine and was wondering why the sun was rising in the West :)  This group usually fishes at EM with me, but it's turning over right now.
John was joking about taking a pic for the blog so I took this when with a dink double :) In his right hand is another one the same size as the one on the fly!

Had a great time guys and look forward to our trips in March.  Roe, bring Whitney so she can fill the cooler for you guys.

Grapevine 10-9-10

Took out Nick and his father Constentine for his 50th birthday.  We wanted to go to EM, but the lake is turning over and the fishing stinks.  We headed out towards Meadowmere and marked fish, but only had a few dinks after an hour of fishing.  Decided to go try some humps that I had caught fish on this time 2 years ago.  Graphed about 6 areas before I found a good school on the side image.  Tossed the marker out, told the guys to fish on one side of the marker and it was FISH ON!  Managed to catch a dozen quickly so I called Omar from Luck of the Irish to tell him we were on fish.  He came and marked fish on a hump about 75 yards away.  It was no time and his customers were wearing them out too.   Our bite slowed and theirs heated up.  Then we started catching again and theirs slowed down.  The fish were just moving from one hump to the other.  We managed to keep moving marking fish using side image, catch 20 or so and they'd vanish and we'd hunt them down again.  We caught a good mess of fish and had a great time.  These guys are originally from the Ukraine and it was fun listening to them.  Had a great time guys.

Hanging with SandJohnny 10-2-10

Johnny and Terry had caught some bait for the winter a couple days before, so Johnny and I head out to catch some gizzards and working on my transducer placement.  Threw the net for several hours filling up an ice chest three-quarters up with only 4-8 inch gizzards.  That was a good workout.

  Decided to mess with my transducer trying to get the perfect side image on the HB 1197.  Thanks Johnny, it is perfect now!  Amazing picture now!