Fish Catching Travel
The fish know the difference.
My buddy Jeffish sent me this picture of his mom and some really nice flounder.
Nice job guys! That is some good eating.
Linda and her significant other John stuck these guys wading out of POC. Now I am not sure where they got them, but there is a couple of spots you can wade without a boat and get a few. Back when Carmine’s was open we spent several evenings shooting the breeze with her husband Larry. He had quite a bit of success wading the beach area right at the end of the point in front of the park. And other folks have killed some wading the flat on the POC side of the little jetty and around the point. Just exercise a little good sense and flounders are in your future.
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And speaking of flounder I got this question from Brian so I called the Shoedog to get the specifics.
Curious…how did Shoedog fish the plastics to catch the flounder? Was he bouncing off the bottom?
Now I am no flounder pro by any means but I have learned a few things the last 10 years. So to answer your question lets review the set of conditions that faced us that day. First was the tide. We had the perfect combination of falling tide combined with the wind blowing right out of a cut leading from a back lake. The water was hauling and for us that is when we catch flounder. The fish were basically positioned in the middle of the cut and near the edges. The water was only a couple of feet deep so he was hopping it along on an 1/8th ounce jig head, usually letting it hit the bottom and they were whacking it. He caught on 3 different plastics so color was not as important as the moving water combined with the location.
The cuts leading from one water into another are always good places, it just depends on which way the water is moving as to which end of the cut you need to fish. It is almost always on the moving out side. There is a couple of other places that are also good for me, but always keep in mind falling water is the key. First is boat docks, when that water creates a current or eddy they tend to move into the docks to ambush bait. The other is long deep banks with a grass edge with a good drop. As soon as the water starts dropping they will move right to the edge of the grass on the drop, waiting for the bait to fall out of the grass.
Now plastics are usually our bait of choice as we are trout fishing and are just happy to take a bonus flounder whenever one comes along. But if we want to catch a couple a popping cork with a 3 or 4″ New Penny Gulp is a great choice. Generally a 1 1/2 foot leader on a 1/8 ounce jighead is about right casting it right to the edge of the grass. It takes a little practice or self control to not set the hook right away. You will often see the cork just stop, so give it second.
The other method I have not tried yet, but know works, is using the same set up as bass fishermen use, a drop shot rig. Use just enough weight to keep it tight and use the 3″ Gulp New Penny on a light hook. My buddy Aaron did it once and had great success. It is a great way to put it right in front of their face, letting them eat and move before you stick them. So if you want to experiment a little this could be a really great way to catch them. With the fish positioned like they were when Shoedog was getting them it might have really been a killing. So thanks for the question.
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Musky Fever
Probably the fish of a lifetime, talk about making a trip everything you dreamed of.
Folks I am in the throes of musky fever. It is eating away at me every day now as we are less than 6 weeks from heading back to Ontario and Muskie Bay Resort for a 2 week fishing extravaganza. I am already getting tackle organized, buying baits, piling up tackle, and reading everything I can about catching muskies. We have been twice, and caught probably a total of around 20+ muskies on the 2 trips, but this will be the first trip where there are in season and we can catch then on purpose. The ones we caught the other trips were bonus fish, now we are about to get serious. That is why I wanted to fish later this year, this will be a giant hunt.
Our trip is going to include the full moon at the end of August and we are going to be able to fish for them intentionally. We will fish both Crow Lake and Lake of the Woods, 2 of the best musky waters in the world. Paul, the owner of Muskie Bay Resort is a night fishing guru. Trolling under the full moon can produce some of the biggest muskies of the season. So this year we are tackling up and going for the gold. Whether it is me or the Shoedog that catches that giant I do not care, but I feel like a kid at Christmas, visions of giant muskies dancing in my head are impossible to get out. I just love the anticipation of taking great trips like this and Ontario is a place fishing dreams are realized!
So if you want to take a look just visit their website. Of all the places I have visited in my fishing journey nothing tops Muskie Bay, period. Paul, Chris, Jake, and Ashton know how to run a resort and make you feel at home, and the fishing takes a back seat to no other place. If I seem to be gushing, I am. Be it Belize, Costa Rica, Everglades, Falcon, you name it, the fishing is the finest in the world. So if you ever want the fishing trip of a lifetime this is the place.
(No money or benefit changed hands in the making of this endorsement, lol. Their friendship is enough, of course the fabulous fishing doesn’t hurt either.)
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I heard from several of you with birthday wishes, thanks for that. And it was nice to hear from an old friend, Charles Grinder. I first met him probably 30 years when he was a paramedic student riding with me. One of the good guys, it was great to hear from you and I hope you keep on reading.
No concrete fishing plans have been made for the upcoming week, but Shoedog is already wanting to come back and hit the Gulf some more, so those trout, reds, and flounder better watch out. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
