On Jupiter!

Did you know that the relative gravity (to Earth's) on Jupiter is about 2.4-times greater?

***

And so I was precisely correct when I proclaimed, "On Jupiter, {em-epher}!" as K continued to proclaim every bluegill, pumpkinseed or hybrid to come over the gunwale to be a Master Angler candidate.  Of course my statement did nothing to curb her irrepressible enthusiasm for fishing this day, or for playfully pushing my buttons on any day.

I was pleased to find out that K and A chose to go fishing with me this day, our last full day together for a while.  It had been a longer while since we'd last enjoyed a day on the water together, and although I had grand visions of big water and giant fish, I've learned that a local lake, some food aboard, a shorter day and some fishing flexibility would more likely produce a pleasant day for all.  I was even smart enough to include some panfish gear in the boat, too, so as to maximize our chances for getting some bites.

We started looking for bass, but quickly switch over to panfish when I saw a colony of nests tucked in along shore.  At first, the residents proved to be runty little pests, but through a progression of spots and tactics, we started to catch some nicer specimens.  A small white glow-worm suspended under a float kept us busy for a couple of hours, and we sorted through a bunch of fish that certainly included a number of very decent 'gills and 'seeds. 

This first fish proved we could catch them after many missed bites.

The next spot started to produce some better fish.

Spunky and beautiful

You don't have to go to Harvard to know that this is a Master Angler fish ... On Jupiter!

Grand, it wasn't; Pleasant, it was.  It is always fun just to explore a new lake and catch some fish, and it was especially satisfying to have a quorum of my girls back in the boat, even for just a few hours.  We had simply enjoyed what the day had given us, to the best of our abilities.

This shoreline will bring me back to this lake!

Reeds Lake Pike & Panfish

DATE:             5/26/12

LOCATION:    Reeds Lake

With:              Steve and Ben L., Numenon

TIME:             6 – 11:30 AM

HOURS:          5.5 (bass, panfish, pike combined)

WEATHER/CONDITIONS:  Overcast, some showers; easterly winds to 10 mph; about 65 F

This was my first time on Reeds Lake since they “nuked” it for weeds 10 days or so ago.  It’s Opening Day of Bass Season and first-time guests were expected on board; so I was ready with lots of gear for panfish, bass, and pike.  I spent the first hour or so prospecting for panfish and bass; and the bite seemed “off”, but some panfish were located along weed edges.  No bass action at all on senkos and topwaters; and so I knew we’d start fishing together for panfish.

Both Steve L. and his son Ben helped out at the Waves’ Scoring Table tremendously this season; and during our chats, their budding interest in fishing became clear.  This day was hatched back in December, and it worked out well.  I picked the L’s up at the dock at about 7:20 AM and we slowly but steadily picked away at panfish (gills and crappies, but mostly crappies.)  Fly/jig with wax-worm under a float; or slowly swimming a sweetened jig kept them biting pretty good along weed edges.  At about the third spot I started being able to see the fish, and we sight-fished in shallower water successfully, with an increased catch rate.  Gills topped out at <8”, crappies at about 9”.    We didn’t count, but probably 35 fish came over the gunnels in a couple of hours.

Steve and Ben had never caught a pike, and so at about 9:30 we switched over to trolling crankbaits for pike.  My biggest concern was for loose weeds fouling the lures, but that turned out to be not much of a concern.  The spread consisted of two flat lines with hot-n-tots off the corners (back 55’ and 65’); and last fall’s successful combos off boards; a clown reef runner back 75’; and a pink little ripper off 2 colors of lead.  The boards were run off the deep side of the boat to keep them in the basin away from weeds; the boat was kept in >15 fow; speed was about 2.5 mph.

As I set the second line (reef runner) in the basin behind the middle school, it was “Fish On!”  It felt hefty and Ben did a good job of bringing this 29” pike into the boat.

Ben and Steve with the day's first pike.

A prime Reeds Lake pike.

Good pike fishing continued with 4 more pike to the boat in the next hour and a half, including 2 more of this size.  (The other two were barely sub-legal and definitely sub-legal.)  All fish were released unharmed.

• ·      29”, yellow/red hot-n-tot back 55’, “Manhattan Point” on N Side
• ·      Sub-legal, pink reef runner off 2-colors of lead, “Manhattan Point”
• ·      Barely sub-legal, clown reef runner back 75’, Middle School Basin
• ·      29”, clown reef runner back 75’, Middle School Basin

In summary, the gills were probably post-spawn; the crappies were probably still spawning; bass were AWOL; and the pike were feeding well.  We marked suspended fish with some big marks mixed in virtually constantly, especially 15-20’ down; and these pike were definitely suspended and feeding.  With no mechanical or launch/retrieve problems and pleasant company, this was a nice day; but probably the best part of the day was to receive this note from the L’s:

“Thanks for taking us fishing this morning. Ben and I had a great time. It was probably our best fishing experience of all time!”