Ice melted last weekend here in Illinois and it was 65 degree F so I went fishing,
Illinois Muskie!
41 inch 20 pound 8 ounce
Catch and release
Illinois Muskie!
41 inch 20 pound 8 ounce
Catch and release
...but more fun on lighter tackle & a surface plug
The wife and I fish every chance we get. I forgot whose year it was to buy the "Dynamite."
She always did the child fishing with a bobber and a worm on the hook. We were at the falls of the Ohio bank fishing, and I told her I'm going to teach you how to use artificial Bait and catch more than small perch. I put a lead head jig with a plastic swimmer and told her how to work it. This area is really good for Sauger and they like the baits to be retrieved quickly. Her first cast she was cranking it in and she got a good solid
"Smash and Grab" strike. She was working it pretty hard and I told her to play it for a bit to let it get tired. I was going to tell her not to lip the fish before I could say "Don't" she got nailed by two little fangs on the lower jaw. She was so excited she did not even notice the wounded thumb. For her first Sauger it was pretty decent size about 22" long and maybe three pounds.
That was it. Worms are safe in the beds. No more live bait unless we are going Crappie fishing. She kills it. Been on a gravel bar that was so populated by crappie almost every cast resulted in a catch. When we caught our limit she wanted to keep fishing for catch and release. She even booked a fishing weekend with a guide for land between the lakes.
Land Between the Lakes is magic..
Running jugs? Now I have to Google...My wife and I jug fish a lot, we like Kerr lake in Eastern Oklahoma. A lot of people scoff at Kerr because it's not a party lake, but if you like catfishing it's a darn good lake to run jugs we usually set out about 10 jugs then putt around on the pontoon then go back and check em, she get a kick out of that. We don't keep anything over 20lbs they lay to many eggs besides the smaller catfish are better to eat IMO.
Just like it sounds, in Oklahoma we use bleach jugs, Tide laundry jugs, or pool noodles with PVC pipe capped on both ends and an eyelet screwed in one end and a dab of silicone to keep it from leaking, tie your line to the eyelet. We can run 3 hooks per jug in Oklahoma so 10 jugs you've got 30 baited hooks. You have to have your name, address and phone number on each jug or you run the risk of a fine. You can go to YouTube, look for jug line for catfish or something of that nature.Running jugs? Now I have to Google...
That's my kind of fishing there, the fish catch themselves when they are ready. HahaJust like it sounds, in Oklahoma we use bleach jugs, Tide laundry jugs, or pool noodles with PVC pipe capped on both ends and an eyelet screwed in one end and a dab of silicone to keep it from leaking, tie your line to the eyelet. We can run 3 hooks per jug in Oklahoma so 10 jugs you've got 30 baited hooks. You have to have your name, address and phone number on each jug or you run the risk of a fine. You can go to YouTube, look for jug line for catfish or something of that nature.