5-12-2012 Sat
2:30 PM – 5:00 PM / 7:00 PM – 12:15 AM
Weather:
(2053) calm, clear, 58˚, 30.25 rising
Water:
Mississippi – 8.61 falling, 76.3 kcfs, 63 ˚, clear
Black – 6.16’ falling, 4.05 kcfs
Location:
Black R. (Sandman’s) and lower Black R. and West of Floyd’s
Caught:
Pike (4) 20”, crappie 10”, Channel cats (3) 6 – 9 lbs. flat head 12 lbs.
Partners:
myself

Comments:

Finally the weather has stabilized and the rains have stopped and the water is clearing. I started out the day fishing one of my favorite inland lakes up the Black River. Fishing this spot is definitely a timing issue. It is in inland waters and only can be fished when the inland season is open and it is also quite inaccessible. The Black river needs to be between about 4.5 feet and 6.5 feet in order to access it. The fish were either not here today or pretty much inactive. I think it was the first. We have not had any high water on the Black until just a few days ago, and I think the pike never came into this lake.
Last night was my second flat head fishing trip of the year, and it was a successful outing. While gathering the necessary bait for my outing I also tangled with a decent number of nice perch and crappies. The flat heads are in their transition stage; not hanging out in traditional spawning habitat yet and not really settled in to any particular areas. The first spot I set up at was really ripping with current, so I set up on a nice point that had a distinct current break on it. I had action right away, with the only problem being I could not hook the biters. I had a suspicion the culprits were channel cats. After every missed bite I would reel in my bait and the bluegill would be smashed and quite dead. After about four episodes of this I changed tactics and went to using just a bluegill head for bait and set my reels to free spool with the clicker engaged. The results were immediate, with multiple nice channel cats coming to the boat and one small flat head.
It is nice to be back into the flat head fishing season. I really enjoy the peace and solitude of the night time fishing. It is quite amazing listening to the day sounds transition to the evening sounds. The territorial calls of the birds are slowly replaced by calls of the frogs, owls, and other marsh critters. Then there are the mesmerizing sounds of the insects along with the water rushing over the top of a tree that has lost its grip with the earth and has fallen over into the river and is being slowly engulfed by the powers of the current never to be seen again. Once in a while the tranquility will be shattered by a family of raccoons squabbling over a frog, fish or some other morsel, or perhaps it is a whitetail alerting others to the presence of an intruding fisherman. Then there is the tail slapping of the angry beaver that wants you to vanish from it sanctuary.

Observations:

The purple flowers are blooming in the back yard and the walnut and sumac trees are leafing out. Reports from Genoa say the sand sturgeons are on a rip!