Check out JJ's monster walleye!
He sure was a happy teenager!
We met at Dell's home this morning around 7:15 a.m. We got a bit of a later start because I had to run my F-150 back to the shop... AGAIN! It's the fifth time in the shop for the same exact problem. Arrggghhh! So, after taking the truck to the dealer, I then had to drop my wife off at work so I could have her car to run around in today.
We headed to the Lower Susquehanna River and launched the boat around 7:45 a.m.
Our chosen spot was a very rocky and boulder ridden area. Dell jumped on the board rather quickly with this nice 16.5+" smallie. He was tossing a shallow running crankbait to entice this beauty to hit.
He followed soon after with another 16" with the same plug. Nice!
I haven't hit a crankbait fish yet this year. That was all about to change. I started with a Cotton Cordell Super Spot w/o any luck. I also threw 3/8th oz. spinnerbaits in several different skirt colors. I had a few smaller fish on them.
About half way through our trip, Dell hooked into a monster bass. She hit his spinnerbait hard and ran towards the boat. Dell was unable to keep up and the pigbeast shook her head and the spinnerbug came unbuttoned. "A split second of pure ecstasy and hours of regret." What a disappointment!! This was the hawg of the day and we failed to net her. Oh well, we'll have plenty more trips to pursue this huge smallie 'cause we know she lives... Oh yea!
We continued to toss spinnerbaits, crankbaits, tubes, and topwater plugs throughout the day. By far, the crankbaits out performed all others.
We fished an area that is controlled by two dam fluctuations and boy, were they ever pumping and pulling water today. The river is rising over a foot in the next 24 hours and they are busy controlling the water flow. At one point, the water dropped at least two feet before they dumped more water into the pool. I can't imagine how this effects the feeding habits of these fish. One thing is certain, minnows and darters tend to be in great abundance and the smallies would hammer them when the gates open!
I wasn't able to get a water temp reading, but I would assume it was in the upper 70's. It was quite overcast with the sun peeking through the haze only momentarily. It was 73 degrees in the morning and the air temp only rose to 80 by noon.
The water clarity was quite dingy and the wind was blowing steady at 10-15 mph from the southwest. That was also stirring up the water and putting a chop on the surface. The wind was pulling moisture and t-storms up from the south. We lucked out and were able to get a great five hour trip in before we left the water and the storms moved in.
As soon as I arrived home, the skies opened up and we had several torrential downpours with accompanying heavy winds.
Thanks to Dell for taking this poor "boatless' soul out on the water today. We ended up with over a dozen bass. Oh, by the way, I finally nailed 7 bass with my trusty ole' crankbait... First of the season!
dadTB
