Ever had “one of those days” when Murphy’s Law (“If it can go wrong, it will go wrong”) prevails?

Yesterday, I had the good fortune to fish again with Ralph and Danny (Ralph’s brother).  Last time I fished with Danny was nearly two years ago, and it was a memorable one, with 100+ solid trout caught.  Danny hadn’t wet a line since January and had a small window to get out.  Danny is the only person I have ever met who has the natural “feel” of a trout bite like Ralph.  I guess its genetic.  Ralph always says that when you grow up poor and hungry, and you only have one cricket, you learn not to lose a fish…

Anyway, we started out chunking plugs and had one mishap after another.  Braided line caught in split rings (multiple times), fish missed at the boat (big one), line wrapped around the reel handle (lost fish and plug), fish dragging lure into structure (break off), minor electrical problems, etc!  I’m probably forgetting a few but you get the picture.  But, you might notice the common theme was fish mishaps.  Yes, we were on a bite – the best one we have had since last spring, and what a feeling!  It was nice catching some heavy trout again.  We landed about 7 trout over 2.5 lbs and Ralph had the daymaker with one a little over 3.5 lbs.

After the sun came up, we switched to a rig that has been working really well for us in the post-flood tannic stained water:  A Z-Man 3 in MinnowZ in rootbeer with a chartreuse tail.  Anything with a chartreuse tail has been working well, but especially the MinnowZ.  This is always a hot Fall lure, but I think the water color really makes this one stand out right now.

We found about 7 redfish and a couple flounder during the rest of the morning, and just really enjoyed the perfect weather and each other’s company.  If you can swing it, get off the couch and get on the water – it’s prime time!

 

Visit our Online Store for the best deals in TroutEye jigheads anywhere, and pick up a few TroutEye hand towels.  They are priced inexpensively and really help improve your catching experience.

See you on the water!

Hit the ponds 🙂

Last week we had supermoon tides pretty much all week, so Ralph and I decided to fish some sandpit ponds for bass for a change.  It was a real nice change of pace and an awful lot of fun.  There was a lot of vegetation in the pond and it is hard to work a jerk shad without catching weeds, so we experimented around and found the best way to make a presentation.

The first deadly combo was a Z-Man 3″ MinnowZ on a TroutEye jighead.  With this combo its easy to swim the lure just above the weeds, and the amazing action of the Z-Man ElaZtech made it a very effective offering.  Many big bucketmouths fell to this combo.  We also had a few crappie unable to resist.

 

Our bucktails are also a good choice since they are light weight you can keep them up in the water column a bit easier.  Bucktails are a classic largemouth bait and you can see why.

Lastly we used some floating diver plugs.  Crank them and they swim just under the surface, and on the pause they will float back up.  The biggest fish were all over these.  Ralph hooked the fish of the day (looked to be 5+ lbs) and lost it on a jump.

While our flood waters recede, your best bet for something to pull on your line might be freshwater bass fishing in a local pond (or backyard!).  As always, look for structure, such as fire pits, Azalea bushes, barbeque grills, etc 🙂  We are just kidding, many in our area are in bad shape and our thoughts are with you, but sometimes you gotta step back and have a laugh.

 

Fisher-people in Tennessee, you can now get TroutEye jigheads at Sexton’s Marine in Bristol, TN.  Stop in and ask for them, they are sure to whack the walleye in South Holston Lake!