09-20-2015, 06:08 AM
My buddy Dave said he had arranged for Friday off, so I arranged for most of it off and we headed for Lincoln Beach. After the recent cooler weather, I was interested to see how the kitties responded and to see if I could still launch there.
We got there about 10:15 and it looked to be a beautiful day. I had no trouble launching but the finder said 0.9 to 1.2’ down the channel. I didn’t kick up any mud with the motor trimmed way up, but on the way back in the tip of the skegg bumped the bottom about halfway up the channel. It was not mud, but gravelly rock. I think all the silt has been washed off by guys like me who don’t know when to quit!
We headed out toward the island. There was one guy out there already. He was anchored on the west side of the long point. We decided to try other areas and leave him to whatever he had found. With about 10 MPH of NW wind blowing we decided to drift for a while. After about 45 minutes we picked up 2 quick cookie cutters, one on a small piece of shrimp and spin-n-glow I was using to “find a WB” and one on a shrimp/WB combo. These were enough to get the skunk off for both of us, but 2 of the smallest cats I had seen in over a month. We were in just over 6’ when they both hit. We kicked on the trolling motor and worked back through the area, but no more takers.
We moved a little deeper and made another pass and got one fish about 23.” Things continued slow, but steady from then until 3 PM when we left. We ended up landing 11 channels and releasing all of them. 4 of them were cookie cutters, 5 were the 23-24” fish that seem plentiful this year and Dave got one 24.5 and one 26”. They both weighed 6 to 6.5 pounds. Most of the fish preferred WB with or without the shrimp. The 24+ had a huge round gut and you could feel a whole WB inside! It was definitely stocking up for winter!
The hits were a little more tentative than the last few trips. We ended needing to give them some line before the hook set and still lost half a dozen fish that seemed to just let go a few seconds after being hooked.
All in all the fishing was about the same as the last trip out there, except no fish over 26”. The water temp was 61.7 when we got out of the harbor and 65 when we headed back. The only pattern seemed to be that the fish came in places where the water was slightly deeper than the surrounding area.
It looks like it won’t be long until only the smallest of craft will be able to get in and out of there, but the fish are still cooperating
Dave took most of the pictures, but I did get one of the big bellied cat.
[signature]
We got there about 10:15 and it looked to be a beautiful day. I had no trouble launching but the finder said 0.9 to 1.2’ down the channel. I didn’t kick up any mud with the motor trimmed way up, but on the way back in the tip of the skegg bumped the bottom about halfway up the channel. It was not mud, but gravelly rock. I think all the silt has been washed off by guys like me who don’t know when to quit!
We headed out toward the island. There was one guy out there already. He was anchored on the west side of the long point. We decided to try other areas and leave him to whatever he had found. With about 10 MPH of NW wind blowing we decided to drift for a while. After about 45 minutes we picked up 2 quick cookie cutters, one on a small piece of shrimp and spin-n-glow I was using to “find a WB” and one on a shrimp/WB combo. These were enough to get the skunk off for both of us, but 2 of the smallest cats I had seen in over a month. We were in just over 6’ when they both hit. We kicked on the trolling motor and worked back through the area, but no more takers.
We moved a little deeper and made another pass and got one fish about 23.” Things continued slow, but steady from then until 3 PM when we left. We ended up landing 11 channels and releasing all of them. 4 of them were cookie cutters, 5 were the 23-24” fish that seem plentiful this year and Dave got one 24.5 and one 26”. They both weighed 6 to 6.5 pounds. Most of the fish preferred WB with or without the shrimp. The 24+ had a huge round gut and you could feel a whole WB inside! It was definitely stocking up for winter!
The hits were a little more tentative than the last few trips. We ended needing to give them some line before the hook set and still lost half a dozen fish that seemed to just let go a few seconds after being hooked.
All in all the fishing was about the same as the last trip out there, except no fish over 26”. The water temp was 61.7 when we got out of the harbor and 65 when we headed back. The only pattern seemed to be that the fish came in places where the water was slightly deeper than the surrounding area.
It looks like it won’t be long until only the smallest of craft will be able to get in and out of there, but the fish are still cooperating
Dave took most of the pictures, but I did get one of the big bellied cat.
[signature]
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] This week with the full moon coming on the 27th should be some of the best fishin' for the big cats. Planning on a few night shifts later this week.
]