Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Tried for Hybrids, Got Brown and Crappie


We came for hybrids, and the nice fish Brian lost just as it would begin to run might have been one. I had 41 degrees coming in, Brian said it was 40 at his house, and it was 39 at Jimmy's house when he left for Dow's. Some clouds did roll in later, as you can see in the photo, but skies were bluebird to begin with, the wind strong, the water getting cooler. It dropped from 55 to 54. 

I've never caught a hybrid on the troll in water cooler than 57. One would expect the lake to be at least that warm by mid-May, but according to Joe, also from the shop, it was 39 here in the morning yesterday, too.

We fished for close to four-and-a-half hours. Afterwards, I parked elsewhere and plugged the shoreline for 10 minutes or so. Brian had to work, and I could have gone back out in the boat, but with whitecaps bearing down, I was beat. 

I could have gone afar to certain little coves I know about from last year, but under today's condition, I doubted they would produce.

The 15 1/2-inch brown trout hit a #7 Rapala Floater. Brian caught an 11 1/2-inch crappie on a pretty big plug at the last minute. Earlier, I had had another trout on for moment that hit over 25 feet of water. In the shallows something nipped the plug very subtly and then was on in the next moment, but only for a moment. It felt very small but didn't I detect the wriggle of a trout? 

 

Monday, May 10, 2021

Walleyes in the Deep: Laurie Murphy

Laurie Murphy:

Water temperature were starting to spike, with the majority of the main lake hitting 56 - 57 degrees, while the shallow water warmed up to about 67 degrees. The warmer weather forecasted should really start to get things going. The walleye bite has been outstanding, catching fish both during the day and also at night. During the day, focus on deeper water with bottom hugging presentations, whether it be live bait or Rapala jigging raps.  The night bite will be shallow, and stickbaits are the way to go. The larger walleye  caught this week by The Lake Hopatcong Guide Service were all mostly out of deeper water. They also landed some hybrids in these same areas, along with some larger yellow perch. Bass fishing continued to be good, with spinnerbaits and chatterbaits accounting for the majority of fish caught this week. Have a great week !