Rockfishin' with Luke

Luke and I went back out to the upper end of Long Island tonight to catch rockfish.  I got good shad minnows (gizzards) in the Center Farm Cove.  Luke hammered a couple of nice ones (8 lbs and 10 lbs).  The 10 pounder is shown in the picture.  What an incredible blessing he is in my life.

Watching the Graph

I went out to the upper end of Long Island by myself tonight and caught several nice rockfish in the 4 to 10 lb range.  Below is a picture of the graph at the drop off just up from the osprey nest showing the dense stack of fish that were sitting at the base of the drop off.  Wow! When the graph looks like this you better hurry and get a big ole' gizzard down there.

Fishin' with the Bosses

I took Joe Whedbee and Dave Peters (Vice President of Johnson Controls, Inc.) below Ft. Loudoun Dam tonight.  Dave was in town for work and Joe had promised to take him fishing, so Joe asked me if I would take them striper fishing – of course I was able to be convinced!  I went to Watts Bar earlier in the day and got some good sized (6 – 8”) gizzard shad because I have been struggling to get bait below Ft. Loudoun and I wanted to make sure we had good bait.  I arrived at the boat launch (below Tellico Dam) a little early so I thought I would run up below the dam and see if I could find the fish real quick.  I stopped at the end of the wing wall off of the lock and immediately caught a 5 lb (Boca Grip Certified!) largemouth bass – it was awesome!  I left there not wanting to ruin the spot and went on up below the dam (nearest the lock discharge side) – 1^st minnow in the water was a 10 lb rockfish – BAM!  He fought like a ton of bricks.  I ran back down below Tellico and picked up Joe and Dave.  I wanted to take Dave to the end of the lock wall first thing and let him catch a nice bass – but just as we arrived a tournament fisherman had locked through from Ft. Loudoun Lake and he was camped on the spot.  So, we went on up to the dam – right away Joe and Dave each caught nice rockfish in the 6 to 10 pound class.  Then Dave caught the bruiser of the night an 18 pounder (see picture) – he was thrilled!  It was a real pleasure to get to fish with Dave and Joe tonight.

Striper Fishin' with Joe & Clip

I took Joe Whedbee and Brian Clippenger (Regional Sales Manager with Johnson Controls, Inc.) up above Long Island tonight.  Brian was in town for work and Joe asked me if I would take them.  We did ok – not near as well as in recent times, but Brian and Joe each caught a few good fish – I believe Brian caught a personal best judging by his reaction to the squealing drag!

Doubling Up on Personal Bests

Kate, Karoline, Adam Doughty, and I went fishing on Watts Bar (upper end of Long Island) tonight.  I got our bait (gizzard shad) in the Center Farm cove.  All of the bait was large (7 -10”).  We fished from ~6:30 to 9:00 p.m. and caught several blue catfish, ranging in size from 1 lb to 10 lbs.  Kate also caught a nice 14 lb rockfish (the best fish of her life), and Karoline caught a 5 lb largemouth bass on about a 6” gizzard shad!  That's quite a hawg for a 12 year old.  This was by far the best bass she’s ever caught.  Two personal bests in one evening - awesome!  Thank you Lord Jesus for all your many blessings!

Doubling Up on Personal Bests & Big Flatheads

Crystal, Arnold, Nancy, and I went fishing on Watts Bar (upper most end of Long Island) tonight.  I got our bait (gizzard shad) in Center Farm cove.  All of the bait was large (7 -10”).  We fished from ~6:30 to 9:00 p.m. and caught several rockfish, channel catfish, blue catfish, and flathead catfish.  Crystal and Nancy both caught the biggest fish of their lives – Crystal a 9 lb blue cat and Nancy a 15 lb rockfish.

I also caught a really nice 45 lb flathead catfish.  My Boga Grip only goes up to 30 lbs and the flathead pegged it out instantly, so I measured it at 46” and I estimated it weighed between 40 & 45 lbs.  I looked up on the Missouri Department of Conservation website a catfish length vs. weight estimator (http://mdc.mo.gov/fish/sport/catfish/length_weight.htm) and it says a 46” flathead weighs 45.59 lbs. Sweet!