Lake Monticello is such a windy lake, Jackson and I were surprised to see it slick this morning when we arrived at daybreak.  Optimism reigned. Jackson caught one on a swimbait and I caught one on the trusty Booyah to start things off. The water temperature was 57 degrees to start and warmed to 61 before the day was over. Bass start to spawn at temperatures around 62. The sight fishermen were out. They generally cruise the shallows looking for bass on the bed and then sit there and worry them until they bite. We had one boat like that come into our cove that looked like they were going to run over the spot we were fishing. Only ugly looks stopped them. We had just caught the FOD, a 6 – 7. Maybe they saw it and were emboldened.  I had a fish to break off when it got hung up on some lily pad stems. The fish then came up and threw the Booyah. Jackson and I made note of the spot where the bait landed. After fishing a good while, we thought we would look for the bait on the way out of the cove. The water was 3 1/2 feet deep and clear.  I looked down in the water and there the Booyah was. I picked up the boat hook and fished it our by the hook on the first try. Jackson said” you’ll never do that again in your lifetime”. Finding it was extremely lucky. We were treated to an aerial show in the afternoon. An osprey was hunting and dove and caught a fish. The fish appeared to be about the size of a 1/2 pound bass. As the osprey flew off, an eagle, who had been watching, flew rapidly across the lake and started harassing the osprey trying to take the fish. A dogfight ensued that caused the osprey to drop the fish into the woods. With that the osprey started to attack the eagle and both performed some amazing maneuvers with the eagle finally landing in a tree. We ended with 11 fish and the 6 – 7 FOD.

No posts on fishing lately because I’ve been busy with the turkeys.  I want to go back to Lake Monticello one day late in the week.

Jackson and I went to Lake Monticello this morning, and as Jackson said, we were on defense. That was due to the springtime whippings we have endured the last few years. The water temperature was 52 degrees and the visibility was 5 feet.We started with no idea where the fish were. In March 2005 I caught the largest bass of my life on Monticello on a 1/4 oz. Booyah spinnerbait so I had one of those tied on. We started with a lot of different baits but I gravitated to the Booyah because of past experience. Soon we had the skunk scared off with a 2 pounder that came up out of 8 feet of water to eat the Booyah.  When two more volunteered we thought we might be on to something but then the drought hit and the wind picked up. Monticello is definitely the windiest lake I know of. We went to the place the wind was blowing to and the water temperature had improved to 58 degrees. As we caught a few more I took this photo to prove we actually did catch a fish on Lake Monticello.

As we got to the end that the wind was blowing to, the water temperature rose to 61 degrees, warm enough for a female spawner to be around. Up until now we had been catching small fish, under three pounds. The water was less than 2 feet deep and you could see the bottom. Then the FOD showed up 7 – 8.

We decided to move to another cove but the batteries were too low to crank the motor. The wind had taken its toll on the batteries marked 5/18/10. After waiting  and getting ready to deploy the pull rope, the motor cranked by the battery. We moved to the other cove knowing there would be no trolling motor. We drifted and tied up to the snags and cast around the boat. There we caught a few more small ones but also a 5 – 2 and a 6 – 2. At one point Jackson cast directly over an underwater stump with a lizard. We went over to retrieve his bait which was on the other side of the stump. As he got his line free he noticed it moving , set the hook and caught the fish. He remarked ” You just witnessed some expert fishing”. I don’t know about expert but we had a good day. There were 15 fish in all, with the largest 5 at 24 pounds.

After a meeting this morning I went to the Chute and launched the boat about 10. The wind was blowing straight down the chute making it hard to go with the wind or against it. I tried with the wind first and was beginning to worry when the first fish “glommed” my Booyah. “Glommed” means the fish didn’t hit hard, it was just there. It looked to weigh about 2-13 but was actually 3-6 because it was so fat. Shortly thereafter I caught another and then another bit but on the way to the boat became hung up on something underwater. I could see the fish and was not too concerned as I made my way over to get it unhung. All of a sudden the line went slack but it had not broken. My clip was still attached. The wire on the Booyah had broken in the neck of the bait. If a Booyah has a flaw, that’s it because I’ve had it happen many times. However the fish love them and I’m still going to use them. After that I had a long drought with no bites what so ever. I was considering going home probably due to my experiences last year but there was one more good place I wanted to try. When I got there sure enough I caught one, and another and another. The fish were on the feed. After catching a few more, the fish started missing the bait. I saw two separate fish swirl out to get the bait and some way I kept from snatching, waiting for them to get the bait. They both tried again but both missed again. This was telling me the bite was ending. I ended up with 8 and two 3-6 FOD’s. The boat ran great since the tune up and the new depthfinder was good too. It’s processor is faster and several other things are better than the other one but the best thing is I can see the sidefinder screen with my shades on.

My boat has been neglected for the last few months since the trips to Pickwick. It was about time to get it back in good order. On a trip to the sandbar to hunt fossils two weeks ago the motor would not run right. It would run but not right. It came home from the shop yesterday. Today I fixed a worn transom saver and installed a new depth finder.  This fall the side imaging went out on my Humminbird 987. I think the transducer was going bad. Instead of getting a $250 transducer I just bought a new 998. Before I took the 987 off of the boat I wrote down all the settings and saw it had 2335 hours on it. Since Humminbird is coming out with a new series, the 998’s are going for a reduced price on Ebay. I was sure to get the newest series 998, the one with the brighter screen, the  #408720-1. This depth finder will support the 360 Degree view and radar if you want to spend a few thousand dollars. The 987 is not finished. I’m just going to put it on my boat in the private hole.  It’s time to go fishing.

The private hole had a lot of cormorants floating around on it this morning when I arrived. My first job was to unload my neighbor’s used bricks into the ruts leading down to the hole. I had a pretty good pile of them in the back of the truck but I needed a few more to do the job properly. All in all it lowered the getting stuck quotient.  All but one of the cormorants had left by the time I shoved the boat off from the bank. I tried the baits you read about for cold water fishing, namely jerk baits, a jig, and a shaky head but nothing  was happening. I branched out to a deeper diving crankbait and a shallower one that I caught some on last trip, still nothing. Everything was worked slow a molasses.Figuring the fish might be in the middle of the hole, I even trolled across and back. I felt the bait hit some fish and climb over them but nothing bit. There was some disturbed dirt on the bank and I went over to investigate. Lying by the dirt was some droppings with scales in it. The otter was having some luck with the fish. Not me. I quit about 1:30 and took a double zero. No bites and no fish.

This afternoon was so warm I just had to do something pertaining to fishing even if I couldn’t go.  The boat got pulled out of the garage where it’s been sitting for way too long.  Last year when I changed to lower unit oil I overfilled it. It was cold when I did it so when things warmed the oil expanded and some ran out. I wondered if some water also ran in. The water will be the first thing out when you remove the bottom plug.  When I took it out more water came out than I liked. When I took the top plug out it was not tight. I’m hoping that’s where the water came from.  When the oil started to run out it was clear as when I put it in. I decided to put in some more oil, tighten the plugs, run the boat on a couple of trips and then check the water situation again. If a whole lot of water comes out this time, it’ll have to go to the shop for a new seal.

I bought the boat in August 2005 and have not changed the spark plugs. I figured it was about time. Did that this afternoon too. The old ones looked amazingly good. Probably could have gone a few more years.

The gas, although is was the non ethanol kind, has been sitting in the boat since October. There is probably 1/2 tank, or 6 gallons, in the tank.  I have one of those siphon hoses that you put in the tank and shake up and down to get the siphon going. I siphoned the gas out and then siphoned it back into my truck. The boat will get new gas on the first trip.

I filled up the oil reservoir and am now ready to go fishing. Now is a good time to get all that maintenance stuff done.

I was at the private hole early this morning. I have not seen the boat there for a month and a lot can happen. So I went early to get the boat ready. It was muddy so I had to carry all my equipment, including a battery, down the muddy ramp. My anchor was sitting in the middle of the boat without a rope. The landing net was out of the boat about 40 yards down the bank. Maybe a strong wind, but the anchor rope had been cut. Maybe someone needed it more than I did. A Rapala XRD10 was the first bait out of the box. It’s a deep suspending jerk bait. I’ve read a lot about fishing jerk baits and everyone stresses slow and pause. Some people swear they pause for a minute. Not me, but I didn’t catch one on it either. Had a nip or two but no fish caught.  Hal and Richard went Friday and caught 8, many of those on a drop shot.  I tried that too but no bites. Tried a Carolina rig, DT-10, and shaky head with no luck. Hal told me that the fish bit better from 11:00 to 1:00 and sure enough at 11:10 the first fish came into the boat.  It did not have the bait in its mouth but just came too close to the Rapala DTF7 I had put on. Again I had read somewhere that a flat sided crank bait was good in cold situations.  The “F” stands for flat.

You can see in the first photo how the fish was hooked. The second one shows how pretty the fish are out of the clean clear water. Ten minutes later another fish came in the boat. After being scared of a skunk, things were looking up.  Then disaster struck.  The DTF7 got hung on something and I could not get it loose. It was hung on a sack that someone sunk a couple of years ago that has captured 4 or 5 of my baits. The bag has a house block or something just as heavy in it that I can not pick up with my bait rescue pole. The DTF7 was lost.  Out of the box came a small Bomber Fat Free Shad that dives to about 8 feet. It finally caught the third fish about 1:00. I fished until 2:00 but could not raise another bite. The fish were textbook, on the sunny side of the hole that had the wind blowing toward it. Three bass total, all between 2 1/2 and 2 – 13.

There has been nothing but silence on the Bitespot lately due to no fishing. I can assure you I want that to change, and soon. Last year was such poor catching for me I did not even add up how many fish I caught. Usually that’s good for a post. Today I did purchase a new battery for the private hole boat in anticipation of maybe getting to go there in the next few days, and I am looking into a new depthfinder since the old one quit working and is worth about what a new transducer will cost. The old one partially works so I can upgrade the one on the private hole boat. Please have patience and stay tuned.

I went to the Private Hole this morning about 10:00 with visions of bass jumping in the boat. The warm weather a day before a strong cold front should have made for a good day. I started with a 5XD in the spot where the fish were congregated last time. They were not there but I did go shallower and caught a couple on a red eye shad. The last time I went the trolling motor battery was giving out just when I quit so I was a little nervous. The wind was howling and even though the hole is, just that, a hole with high banks, it was difficult to fish. The leaves were on the water again but this time there were so many that they were everywhere. The wind was coming down an opening of a ditch and swirling around the hole. That made it like a toilet bowl full of leaves that had just been flushed. A leaf on at least every other cast. Some places where the leaves were solid you knew not to even try to throw into. The battery seemed to be holding up fine even with the wind.  When I returned to the house and plugged it up, it recharged too quickly telling me it is about to go. I write the purchase date on my batteries and this one was 12/08.  It’s about time for a new one. Back to the hole.  I caught a couple on a DT-6 here and there on the windblown bank where I expected to find the school but all I found were leaves. One big fish hit the DT-6. It was on for only a few seconds but I could not move it. I got so exasperated I had to leave at 2:10 after catching 6 bass. On the way to the house bucks were chasing does all over the woods. Should have been on the deer stand.