Not a bad day but a little frustrating

[fitzi6_7]

There is nothing more frustrating fishing a new body of water than watching boater and banker literally catch fish cast after cast and you just sit and watch. Took my youngest to Hagg today and while we didn't get skunked we sure didn't slay em. Caught 4 smally's and 1 trout. One of the smally's was a pretty nice fish about a pound and a half (at least by my weight tool)...
but there was an hour stretch where we say at least 30 fish caught within 100 yards of us and nary a bite. As we worked our way down, we struck up a conversation with a boat who was sitting still and whom we watched pull in fish after fish tossing them all back I asked what his secret, he smiled and held up a nightcrawler and said it works every time.....
Well that's what we were using... so a few minutes later we cruise down and pass a guy on the bank we had seen catch a few and could see his jar of orange powerbait next to him and obviously the little orange blob on the end of his pole, well, that's what my son was using,,, same result.

There were several casts where I watched the trout follow my bait as i reeled it in. My son just about lost it when he cast off his power bait and we watched it arc across the cove, hit the water,,, and the water erupt as two trout fought for the privilege of eating that delightful morsel...... we just laughed because he had trolled right by that spot 20 seconds previously.....

We had a great time and it was a lot of fun, but, man we simply were not doing something right........ Couldn't ask for better conditions, few boats, overcast day and they were obviously biting but not for us.

 

[Lkniz]

We were trolling for six hours. Corn on a wedding ring. Not one fish.

 

[the_intimidator03]

Well its called fishing for a reason. I am glad you guys did get into some fish and were able to take your son out with you. good way to make memories

 

[fitzi6_7]

We were in the blue Lowe boat, bass boat looking tank that floats... It was a good day and we enjoyed it. It was nice to see fish, would have been nicer to catch em but that's okay,,, Put the boat in the C ramp and was a little surprised at how shallow it was, felt like I had to submerge my 4runner to get it off the ramp. Live and learn I guess. Will be back though.

 

[GDBrown]

Sons and Fishing?

Sons and Fishing?

........ Took my youngest to Hagg today and while we didn't get skunked we sure didn't slay em......

I've had days like that at Hagg as well. How old is your son and does he like to fish or just spend time with dad? Either way the important thing to remember when fishing with your son is to make it fun. If it is not fun he won't want to go again even if you do catch fish. On the other hand if it's fun who cares if the fish bite.:shock:

Some of my best fishing days have had no fish involved at all, just my son. Now thirty years later I'm planning a trip to Utah to fish with my son and I still don't care if a fish is involved. :think:

GD

 

[fitzi6_7]

Don't take it the wrong way, we had a ball. Just were amazed that folks all around us were catching fish seemingly cast after cast. My son is 9 and is great on the water. Next time we will try a few tricks. BTW for the trollers, how deep did you troll? We spotted fish at all different depths but also saw fish on top of the water.

 

[Emilio]

Sorry your day was frustrating! I was there for a few hours in the morning bank fishing with my boyfriend, we caught 5 small trout, threw them all back but it was a fun day! I was the first time either of us had been fishing in 10 years and the first time without our respective fathers. We brought 4 different kinds of bait and had luck with all - orange powerbait was probably the most popular, rainbow powerbait, garlic scented powerbait and some sort of fake powerbait worm thing. The guys next to us were catching things left and right and reached their limit quick.

Definitely a success for our first time out in so long. We will definitely be back soon.

 

[HaggAssassin]

Hey Fitzi, Sounds like a great day with your son all the way around. I was working last weekend and when I read your post, I could only think about that old saying.....A bad day fishing's better than a good day workin'

But alas, I've got a day to go fishing tomorrow am and all 3 of my fishing buddies have honey-do's, work, or a planned hangover, so this old boy will be on the bank bright and early. Will report.

Oh, hey that day you guys were slow while everyone else was killin it....you didn't eat or handle bananas did you? Just reminded me of a trip with my grandpa at 9. Peeled a nanner, got two bites in, and my grandpa just about dove across the glasspar to stop me. He went on to limit out on Howard Prairie Res. and I didn't get another bite all weekend. Trout hate bananas. Lesson learned.

Anybody going out in the morning?

 

[bernduffy]

Yeah, I remember that ol' tale about bananas. Once skunky day I didn't catch anything until I broke out the bananas! Go figure.

 

[fitzi6_7]

No bananas on that trip, but brought every othe snack lol

No bananas on that trip, but brought every othe snack lol

Yeah, I remember that ol' tale about bananas. Once skunky day I didn't catch anything until I broke out the bananas! Go figure.

Moved here from Southern Indiana/Kentucky last July. Heard about the banana thing that fall when I fished with my nephews in-laws. I used to fish for stripers pretty heavily back home and called my partner in crime there to ask if he had heard about the banana ban. We sometimes went with guides and other times in my boat and had never heard about it.

Last week he went crappy fishing with his friends. (if you have never night fished crappie, oh boy it is a blast). All of a sudden one of the boat mates tosses in a banana peel after he finished and viola. No fish for an hour. Now on lake Patoka, it is darn near impossible not to limit out of Crappie (25 fish per person) and you can fish with 3 poles anytime. Nothing, not a bite. You could see them milling around under the night light but no hits.

After an hour they move to a different spot and filled their limit, but, the banana ban has now been transferred to my boys back home. This weekend they have banned them for good.

 

[HaggAssassin]

Well, I'm a couple days late. Saturday was just plain awesome. Best day on Hagg I've ever had. I could absolutely do no wrong, and I actually reeled in at 10:30 because I was tired of dehooking and throwing back fish, and being the ethical sportsman I am, didn't want to accidentally kill anything I caught. Arrived 5:45 at the honey hole on the west side. Sat for an hour fishing a worm under a poweregg to float on one rod, twoo chartreuse eggs on the other. Not a single bite so I packed up my gear, chair, tackle bag, etc. Standing on the shore about to reach down and reel in both rods to move to the east side and hit a few spots I've eyeballed, get a bite on the worm. Pulled in a little 9 incher, released him, not worth the trouble to clean him. Thought, well I still think I'll leave, but put another worm on and threw back out. Didn't hit bottom before a 13 inch stocker took off with it. Put him on the stringer and the fun began. Non stop action from 7:00 to 7:30 on worms. Lost 4, caught 4, kept 2 13inch + fish. Not a bite from 7:30 to 9:00. By 9 I had tried several colors of powereggs, marshmallows, fisherman's delight, trout nuggets, corn, cheese on a treble, anything to get back that magic... 9:00 I just happened to have orange powereggs on one rod, and pulled in a 13 incher. Switched to one rod(couldn't keep up with 2, 1st time I've had that problem) a 1 and a half hour plus feeding frenzy ensued. I got a bite every 4 or 5 minutes for the next hour and a half. 2 15 inch fish, a 14, and several more 12 and 13 inchers. Even nature's call could not be answered without reeling in. If it wasn't at least 13", I was releasing it... Long story short, I ended up landing 14 rainbows, losing 10, and keeping 5 of the biggest. What a great day.

 

[noladude]

Hey, Fitzi

You heard anything about low water levels at Patoka? Saw a pic last week on Facebook from a friend and a channel was in the pic, but the rest was all grassland. Couldn't believe it. Left IN back in '98, so I haven't been up on anything there fish-wise in a long time. Used to fish Monroe all the time.

 

[bernduffy]

HaggAssassin, that is a legendary Hagg morning, especially the sizes you were hooking. Am I correct in guessing on the west bank you were in sun...?
Remember that day when all is quiet. Sometimes we live on memories to keep us going through a slow time. Congratulations!

 

[bass]

Great post HaggAssassin! Sounds like the trout were schooled up pretty tightly in big schools and moving around. When they were in you were slaying them and when they were not you were just soaking bait. I grew in Pittsburgh, PA and we used to fish a small lake in the early season for stocked trout. You could see the movements of the schools of recently stocked trout by watching the hot bite move around the lake. It was pretty fascinating. While there were occasional stragglers, mostly you would catch fish in bunches and then have quiet periods. Usually a couple of weeks after stocking the fish seemed like they would break up into smaller schools and the bite would smooth out. Great post and thanks for sharing!

 

[Callaway]

its funny how all the best fishing stories from this lake ALWAYS involve powereggs and worms
makes me wonder why anyone would waste their time and money with a boat and flashers
good job buddy

 

[bernduffy]

Yeah, how ridiculous are those guys in boats? Who wants to cover a square mile lake in a couple of hours when you can do it from the bank in a couple of days?
Just kidding... I, for one, am a restless type who likes to troll constantly...gotta keep movin'. Can't seem to spend more than an hour on the bank. The great thing about Hagg is how good the fishing can be on both bank and boat.