Jigging for Trash Monsters

Check and share here for the latest fishing reports.
Post Reply
User avatar
Detritus
Posts: 538
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:50 pm
Species: Anything we can catch
Location: Vergennes

Jigging for Trash Monsters

Post by Detritus »

We weren't even supposed to be fishing this weekend, but, an opportunity to go this morning sort of just fell into our lap.

We set out on the water this morning with a crew of Liam and I. Brody was feeling a little under the weather and decided to rest, Ozzy as well, and Mary wasn't interested when I hit her up as a replacement crew member. So we loaded up Strike Three as a crew of two, without much of a fishing plan at all, besides "get out there".

Beautiful morning at our favorite launch, Redgate. Today was a warm water day, so we figured we would jig a little bit on our way out. It wasn't long before our 7 foot baitcasters were turned into 4 foot baitcasters bent into a U shape.


IMAG1706.jpg
IMAG1706.jpg (118.29 KiB) Viewed 829 times


That guy was about 8 lbs. So often when we're on the warm water boat, we get distracted about 200 yards from the launch. The first fish (no picture) was a carp, hit a heddon sonar. We were basically running those, and jig heads and crawlers.

We've gotten so much better at using livescope, and it is becoming a pretty fun tool to use when out on the water. That along with the Garmin trolling motor, makes the whole experience quite different than the old 5" humminbird, and the 1994 Johnson 12v trolling motor on the pontoon. When you're fishing 10-25 lb fish like sheephead and carp, they are very obvious on the screen, haha.

So, here's a little curiosity. I caught this little guy, and it looked like there was some sort of growth under his chin.


IMAG1708.jpg
IMAG1708.jpg (95.23 KiB) Viewed 829 times


when I poked it with my finger, it was hard to the touch. I gave it a tug, and two pieces came out of the fish. Pretty long. One piece looked kind of like half of a zebra mussel shell, and the other much bigger piece looked like a 2" piece of animal bone or something. It was really weird. Here's a picture of where I pulled it out of on the fish.


IMAG1710.jpg
IMAG1710.jpg (68.2 KiB) Viewed 829 times


And here is that bone thing I pulled out. I didn't realize the picture was so bad when I took it, we were kind of in full fishing mode.


IMAG1711.jpg
IMAG1711.jpg (69.59 KiB) Viewed 829 times


It had healed a little around where the object was, but, it couldn't completely because of the size of it. If fish are smart enough to care, it's going to be a big relief for that guy. Godspeed little sheephead, thanks for the fight.

After using our bass gear to catch fish twice as big as they were designed for for an hour or so, we tore ourselves away, and headed north for some shoreline casting. Heres a picture to show the lake conditions.



IMAG1715.jpg
IMAG1715.jpg (73.95 KiB) Viewed 829 times


Pretty nice out, right?

Liam managed to catch this little smallmouth on a perch pattern jointed shad rap.


IMAG1716.jpg
IMAG1716.jpg (136.34 KiB) Viewed 829 times


We did also run north for a couple of hours, looking for some lakers lying around on the bottom that we could try to jig up with our new spot lock, or as Garmin calls it, "anchor lock" capability. It took a bit of fooling around, but, we finally did get a program together that we are confident will work for us at some point in the future. Liam had a few fish chasing his jig on the traditional sonar, and even had a couple of strikes, but still no lakers jigged up for us.

Next it was time for lunch. Buffalo chicken tenders with bleu cheese, baby carrots and roasted garlic hummus dip, and some puff pies for dessert. Even had some grape juice on ice.


IMAG1719.jpg
IMAG1719.jpg (139.11 KiB) Viewed 829 times



No rod holders on this boat, so we had to cook on land. However, storing the boat while you cook and eat is easy. Just point the remote where you want it to go, and when it's far enough out, push the anchor lock button. When you want the boat back, drive it back in. James bond type stuff, the future is now boys and girls.


IMAG1718.jpg
IMAG1718.jpg (92.73 KiB) Viewed 829 times


After that, we hit the river again on the way in, caught a few more sheephead.


IMAG1723.jpg
IMAG1723.jpg (98.23 KiB) Viewed 829 times
IMAG1725.jpg
IMAG1725.jpg (117.14 KiB) Viewed 829 times


I guess we could dedicate most of this fishing trip to "The Doctor" as he commented on our last report on how underrated fishing the Freshwater Drum species is. They are a ton of fun to catch.

Apparently BlackDucksandBrownDogs drove by when we were landing one, according to his report That I just read. I tell the boys we always have to be on our best, most Scout like behavior when out on the water. You never know who's going to recognize us these days. We should be all the time anyway. Next time you see us, pull up for a bit to hang out. We'd be glad to say hi. Or, try us on 68, we always montior that channel on both boats.

We looked for Fishy1 both ways, but didn't see him.

At this point it was about 1:30, and it was about time to pack it up and head in. I told Liam I'd start packing all of the gear up if he took us back out to the broad lake for a quick swim. I hated getting into the water because it was so cold, but was so glad that I did for the next couple of hours. Rototilling the garden isn't quite as much fun as big fish ripping drag all morning.
"Country Angler" - '93 Trophy 2002 - Cold water boat
"Strike Three" - '04 Triton SF21 - Warm water boat
"The Dumpster" - '90 Starcraft SF14 - Camping Boat

Jack
User avatar
fishy1
Posts: 3970
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:21 pm
Species: many species

Re: Jigging for Trash Monsters

Post by fishy1 »

Great report jack. Love the pics keep those kids fishing. Sheephead are a blast to catch. Jack I stayed on my side of the big pond this morning Scouting for the lci derby. Will see you on the water soon.
Last edited by fishy1 on Tue Jun 15, 2021 4:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
TUnamas
Posts: 854
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2011 1:16 pm

Re: Jigging for Trash Monsters

Post by TUnamas »

Liam's FB hat is starting to look a bit worn. He's earned it, and looking good. I wish I liked Buffalo sauce and blue cheese at his age. I didn't, but do now and you are raising good kids. Drum have always been that unfortunate "I've hooked a giant" by catch for me. Never targeted them, but maybe I'll start. Last season I got into the bowfin as a targeted fishery. Landed three last Friday night and a carp on my bait jig that kicked my ass before I landed it. While salmon are hard to find (but big), and lakers are everywhere, it's great to explore new species! I'd rather pull shallow water bowfin than lakers, so now I'm thinking drum! Great report!
Post Reply