November 19, 2012

Today was probably the last fishing day of the year on Steve's pond.  There were six of us on the boat, and we pretty much covered the pond with different baits and lures.  And lots of chit chat.

At the beginning of the year, most of the large crappie we caught measured 13".  Today, the larger ones were 14".  Can't wait til next year.

Steve had to show that his was bigger than mine.

But I caught up later.

Almost everyone on the boat was catching crappies.  Some were using crank baits, some were using live bait.  I was using a very small jig, and moving it slowly.  Nobody had hooked a bass.    I thought give it a shot, so I tied on a blue lizard.  After quite a few casts, I hooked something, but before I got it to the boat, it threw the hook--but kept my lizard.  I got out a purple curly tail worm, and started throwing it.  On about the third cast in the same area, I got a strike.  As I got this bass to the boat, he spit out my purple lizard from the first hook-up.  You'd think he'd learn.  Or maybe he just likes the taste of plastic.

   

The fleet is in

I've had quite a few boats over the years.  All shapes and sizes.  Sailboats, runabouts, and of course fishing boats.  The fishing fleet included 3 of the exact same model--Boston Whaler Montauks.  I've owned center consoles, several small aluminum boats as well as canoes and kayaks. The current fleet includes a 1966 Aluminum 14' Starcraft, and a Hobie Kona tandem kayak.  I bought the Hobie Kona for it's versatility.  It's a nice stable kayak that the grandkids can be safe on, and I can also take it over to the White River with my pal Dawg, and fish for smallmouth bass.  Two of us and our gear for the day fit fine.

I am also able to put a seat in the center of the Hobie Kona if I go out by myself.

With a little help from my friends

The neighbor who lives across the street is an avid crappie fisherman.  More than avid--fanatical.  As a matter of fact, he fishes in a lot of crappie tournaments, and this year, he and his partner won the Indiana Slab Masters tourney.  That's Doug on the right.

Neighbor Doug has rekindled my interest in crappie fishing.  For one thing, there are tons of them in the lakes here in Indiana, and again, if you match the tackle to the fish, it can be great fun.  Doug has me using 4 lb line, and ultralight rods and reels.   I do well with white jigs most of the time.  Doug gets new and different colored jigs from his sponsors, and is always swearing by the latest colors.  I thought the "dreamsicle" was a little over the top, but we caught fish with it.

My pal Steve has a farm pond.  I can't really say for sure where it's located, because those of us lucky enough to be invited to fish there are sworn to secrecy.  Here's Steve with one of his bass.

This summer, we were joined on Steve's pond by Jacob Wheeler.  Jacob is a very nice young kid from Indiana who has done rather well as a bass fisherman.  He won the Forrest Wood tourney and a prize of $500,000. Not too bad for a 21 year old kid from Indiana.

So when Jacob joined us on the pond, I was all ears.  I have always been more of a crank bait guy, and never really got into fishing with soft plastics (rubber worms.)  I considered catching 4 or 5 bass  at the pond a good day.  That day, Jacob caught about 25.   Soon, I pulled out some plastic lizard thing that had been hiding for years in the corner in the corner of my tackle box.  Jacob says do this and that.............. and it worked.  I started catching bass.

Later, I switched over to my crappie pole, and so did he. We doubled up.

My pal Dawg loves to fish for catfish.  And he's pretty good at it.  Here's Dawg and Richman with a catfish that we've named Walter.  (The big one that day got away.)

The results are in

I usually start the year in Florida.  This year, we were at Islamorada, in the Florida Keys.
I really enjoy catching salt water fish.

It's easy to get spoiled by salt water fish.  Here in Indiana, we don't have fish that fight like a redfish or snook.  The closest comparison would be largemouth or smallmouth bass.  I've found that if you match your tackle to the targeted species, it can be just as much fun.  I use the lightest rod and reel combination whenever possible.

Back in Indiana in the spring, and off to a good start.

Introduction

Greetings,
My wife has countless photo albums with pictures of children, grandchildren, pets, and just about everything else--except for the fish I've caught.  Many photos of the caught fish exist--especially since the digital age began-- but they have never been deemed "album worthy," So, I started this blog to save some of the photos which obviously have more meaning to me than to her. This blog is also another place where I can record my ramblings.

My grandchildren say that I'm "older than dirt."  Probably true.  I imagine they think that because of some of the stories I tell them.  Stories like the times back in the "old days" when I would go fishing with my uncle on his farm.  I was probably about 8 years old.  We would go to a spot down by a creek where cane or bamboo grew wild.  We'd cut ourselves a "pole," tie on a line with a hook and cork, and head to one of his ponds.  We would try to catch grasshoppers for bait, or, if it was the right time of year, we would use worms off his catalpa trees.  My memory is that we always caught fish.  Old guys like me have selective memory--we only remember the good stuff. My grandchildren take that story to mean that I started fishing before fishing poles were invented.


I always keep a box of night crawlers in the garage fridge so when the grandkids are here, we can fish at a moments notice.  If you start with nice healthy worms, they will last over a month in the fridge.  You can guess who has to put the worms on the grandkids hooks.  I hope that's why they tell me that I smell like worms.

So, in their eyes, I'm older than dirt, and I smell like worms.  They may be right.

 

Anyway, I've been fishing for a long time.  I'm lucky enought to live on a small lake in Central Indiana, and I get to spend some time in Florida over the winter. Some of the saltwater fish photos are on my blog about traveling with our Rosborough.   tonic-cruises.blogspot.com
 
I intend to periodically post my fishing results, but since I'm starting this blog in November, I'll need to catch up for most of this year.