Labman, Riverpark, Bass,Redbreast,etc., 4/30/2010, solo

[FishNews]

Still no trolling motor so I thought I would try down at the riverpark for some Redbreast Sunfish. I didn't ask anybody to join me as I thought the wind and current might make for a poor fishing day. Got on the water about 11:30.<br /><br />Drumking and I had discussed fishing for the Redbreast and he had indicated some general areas where he had success in the past. I have never fished for them before so I really didn't know how deep, etc. So it was pretty hit or miss until I found some and got a pattern going. Went downriver from the riverpark ramp prospecting. I was using a 5' UL crappie rod and a BG Shad in "Blue Thunder". The small spots loved it. I couldn't get it to the bottom trying to find the Reds because a bass would hit it on the way down. Fun, but no size and not what I was looking for. Moved closer to downtown and tried different depths until I finally caught a nice bull Red. The fish were holding in 6-8 ' of water off some riprap shoreline. Could tell immediately when you got one on, totally different than the bass. Caught 13 in that general area, all nice fish in the 9-9.5" range. Tried a couple of other spots but wind was getting up and I was fighting the boat a lot. <br /><br />Ran back toward the dam and saw Nauticman and his nephew just starting out. Pete didn't think the Reds were bedding yet, but cant be far off as these fish were highly colored.<br /><br />Caught a couple more bass near the dam and ended the day with 24 Spots (only a couple med, lots of smalls), 2 small Brown fish, 1 White Bass, and 13 Redbreast. The BG Shad was the bait of the day, all fish returned to the lake. Came in around 4:00 after a fun and interesting afternoon.<br /><br />Regards, Labman