5-21-2011

5-21-2011 Sat
11:00 AM- 8:30 PM

Weather: S 8-15, heavy rain to clear skies, 70˚, 29.78 MB, falling

H2O: 10.2’, falling, 61.2 KCFS, clear with some muddy areas, 63 ˚

Location: Mississippi R. Wabasha, WI


Caught: A fair number pike, and bass with pike outnumbering the bass five to one. Scott also caught the two odd fish; a dog fish and one seventeen inch walleye.

Partners: Jake and Scott

Comments

It was readily apparent that the vegetation had exploded to the surface since I was here last week. The lily pads were now in all the spots where I had done so well last week. We caught plenty of fish in the pads, but the size was small in them.
The larger pike seemed to be in the less weedy areas in about two to three feet of water. We caught fish on spinner baits, rattle traps, man’s minus ones, and swim baits. My best bait of the day was a swim bait, but I still had a hard time hooking the fish. I did learn the best way to hook fish with the swim bait. I found if I let the fish take the bait for a second or two and then use a hard hook set my percentage of missed fish was reduced.
Jake had issues with feeding the pike new rattle traps, you see he did not think he had to use a leader, but the fish proved him wrong. Scott also fed lures to his own share of pike. He kept snapping the line when he set the hook. Scott also had issues with stripped gears on his reel. At times he would set the hook and the reel would scream like a scared cat, and he would end up empty handed.

Observations

Aquatic vegetation, especially the lily pads are in the process of taking over the water surface. The lilacs and apple tree blooms are at peak and soon will be a shadow in our memories until next year.