Page 19 - Discover Summer 2023
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this clears the front deck for casting, to eat breakfast, and plan to return later
net casting, and fishing, and allows for to fishing.
plenty of room for a large catch.
My crew wants to “bait” fish, but we
This boat also has down-riggers, a also have rods with “popping” lures tied
ship to shore radio, 2 fish finders (one on, a rod with a buck-tail “jig” tied on,
on the center console and one on the and one with a plastic minnow. We also
front deck), all navigational equipment, have several rods that are set up with an
all safety gear, and automatic charging egg sinker and a leader hook, as well as
for trolling motor batteries and the several with a hook only (“free-line”).
main battery. We are situated on the northeast
It’s near daylight. With the moon side of the 2nd island, in about 40-45’
in the sky, it means that we will start of water. Below us, we have located
fishing at about 3 hours after daybreak, a school of fish about 30-35’ down.
and continue for 3 hours, take a lunch When the siren sounds at the dam, that
break, and then return, if desired, 3 is the signal for them to open gates to
hours later, according to the moon make power. The location that we have
phase this night. Had this been a dark chosen is where the stripers wait. They
night we would have started fishing at know that when the gates open, the
daybreak, and alternated every 3 hours current will pull the bait-fish (shad)
(just the reverse of today). I always try over them towards the dam. Of course
to fish by the moon phases. this means that this is their feeding
We are now heading down the lake ground.
to fish. We meet the other guide boats, We have set 4 “down-rods” (w/egg
and over the radio they tell us that sinkers) just above the fish, and 2 “free-
the fishing is slow at the dam, which lines” out the back of the boat. The
is where we are headed. They reported fish are biting, but not as they should
some fishing action at day-break, but be when in a good school of fish like
that was the end of it. They’re going in this. Several boats have moved in close
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