Hey Guys. Havent seen any reports lately and havent had a chance to make it out in a couple months and trying to take a coworker and his son fishing on Wed. Can anyone help with a general area? I usually put in on the west end but can always change to find fish. This is one of those trips where quantity would be favored over quality. Thanks for the help. Ill post up a report when we get back.
TexasAngler
22’ Shearwater
I caught 6 Sat. morning in Bear Cr. All but one were 6 lbs. plus, with the best being a little over 8lbs. The one was a short about 20". Pulled planer boards & corks with herring & gizzards. All were caught between 8 and 9:30am in 30-40 feet of water. It went dead for me after that, even though I tried till noon.
The worst part of the whole morning was the osprey attack. I had a very few really nice, big, herring & gizzard shad out on the boards and then the ospreys started dive bombing. It started with one, then next thing I knew, there were 6 of them circling. Killed every one of my big baits.
I’m thinking of getting some M-80s or something to scare them off.
Bob Van Gundy
Marine Designs,Inc.
Custom Aluminum Fabrication
803-727-4069
My cousin has been catching some keepers on shiners near Suzie Ebert island for the past few weeks. Planers and corks have been working well for him.
If the stripers don’t bite for you then you might want to try the perch between 21’ and 31’ deep. They bit real well last Friday afternoon, mid-lake, on long main lake points. Also caught a few short stripers and a nice largemouth in with the perch. They seem to be scattered all along the points that they’re on, so don’t sit in one place too long. Move around slowly on the long points. The 1/2 ounce and 3/8 ounce spoons worked best last Friday. Couldn’t get many bites on the 3/4 ounce size.
TA, are you the guy with the new shearwater on the lake? It looks way bigger than a 22’ though. Not sure if I have ever seen a bay style boat with twins…lol…
Numbers are in ballentine and bear. Look in 30-50’ of water where the bait is stacking up 10-20’ deep. Fish weighted freelines and planers. You can catch all u want.
If u want big fish do the opposite. I caught over 15 double digit fish this past sat and sun from 10-14#. Lost 1 on sunday that I caught a glimpse of that was easily 18-20#. Lost what probably would have been my personal best (28#) on murray sunday. Have caught enough to know it was over 30 
. Loon can back up the story on just how powerful this fish was…lol… both sat and Sundays fish hung me in something. Prob hung me in the same stuff, both came from the same point.
The big bait bite is red hot. I didn’t fish a bait under 10" on sunday. Ocean herring was the ticket, but big gizzards caught their share as well.
“All fisherman lie. And if they say otherwise, then they’re lying”
“Sea~N~Stripes”
21’ Hewes Craft Custom
115 Evinrude
I wish! Ive seen that boat and it looks like a rocket ship (think its a 26’). I just picked up a used one last winter, no $100k+ bay boats for me.
Thanks for the tips guys. Ive never really tried the jigging before but may give it a shot if I mark something worth exploring. Ill let you know how it goes.
quote:
Originally posted by MurrymakerTA, are you the guy with the new shearwater on the lake? It looks way bigger than a 22’ though. Not sure if I have ever seen a bay style boat with twins…lol…
Numbers are in ballentine and bear. Look in 30-50’ of water where the bait is stacking up 10-20’ deep. Fish weighted freelines and planers. You can catch all u want.
If u want big fish do the opposite. I caught over 15 double digit fish this past sat and sun from 10-14#. Lost 1 on sunday that I caught a glimpse of that was easily 18-20#. Lost what probably would have been my personal best (28#) on murray sunday. Have caught enough to know it was over 30
The big bait bite is red hot. I didn’t fish a bait under 10" on sunday. Ocean herring was the ticket, but big gizzards caught their share as well.
“All fisherman lie. And if they say otherwise, then they’re lying”
“Sea~N~Stripes”
21’ Hewes Craft Custom
115 Evinrude
TexasAngler
22’ Shearwater
Is that Will Ferrell’s boat???
quote:
Originally posted by MurrymakerI caught over 15 double digit fish this past sat and sun from 10-14#.
Really!?? And this was on Lake Murray?
quote:
Originally posted by Rick Kquote:
Originally posted by MurrymakerI caught over 15 double digit fish this past sat and sun from 10-14#.
Really!?? And this was on Lake Murray?
Yes over 2 days. And all off the same point or very close to it. Not as good as Donnie’s last March when he had 5 over 20 in one day on murray but was still fun…terry had 5 teens on 1 day last week. March always brings out the big bait bite on murray. My favorite month of all. 2 30’s have come off that point in 3 yrs by 2 different people. If I had landed mine it would have made 3 for 3 
.
The tx I won on sunday, 1 other boat fished within site of me. They placed 2nd by less than a half pound. We both had 2 12-13# fish. That area was stacked with big fish.
If the current pattern holds for sat it Wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see 1st with 30+ and 2-5th have 20#. But not sure if the pattern will hold. As of yesterday it was still a solid pattern.
I had planned to fish with yall this month but Smith Mountain lake is calling my name this weekend.
“All fisherman lie. And if they say otherwise, then they’re lying”
“Sea~N~Stripes”
21’ Hewes Craft Custom
115 Evinrude
That fish keeps getting bigger:smiley:
“Living’s mostly wasting time and I’ll waste my share of mine”
The biggest fish are never caught and grow the fastest…lol…
“All fisherman lie. And if they say otherwise, then they’re lying”
“Sea~N~Stripes”
21’ Hewes Craft Custom
115 Evinrude
I have no doubt that fish was probably 30#. The way it peeled 8+ pounds of drag and grooved your thumb…yeah it was a big fish no doubt. That was a monumental flurry that started with a teenager on a transom rod.
Thanks again dude!
“Living’s mostly wasting time and I’ll waste my share of mine”
So the promised report is a sad one. Zero fish, only a couple short strikes in the ballantine area after a couple hours since I had bait tank failure, killing all the herring.
After the 15 mph wind died down took the guests on a little sight seeing to save the day. Regardless, better than working.
Also, that is some impressive stuff with the big fish numbers. Sounds like the trick is coming up with big baits.
TexasAngler
22’ Shearwater
quote:
Originally posted by TexasAnglerSo the promised report is a sad one. Zero fish, only a couple short strikes in the ballantine area after a couple hours since I had bait tank failure, killing all the herring.
After the 15 mph wind died down took the guests on a little sight seeing to save the day. Regardless, better than working.
Also, that is some impressive stuff with the big fish numbers. Sounds like the trick is coming up with big baits.
TexasAngler
22’ Shearwater
Anyday on the water is better than being at work for sure…I sold right at 200$ worth of big baits this morning and expect that to double on sat. Very excited to see the msc results this sat. Who knows may not be a single big fish caught…lol…
“All fisherman lie. And if they say otherwise, then they’re lying”
“Sea~N~Stripes”
21’ Hewes Craft Custom
115 Evinrude
The river above Saluda River Resort has been good to us! More on cut bait than big giz on boards
quote:
Originally posted by LoonThat fish keeps getting bigger:smiley:
“Living’s mostly wasting time and I’ll waste my share of mine”
The size of a fish is directly proportional to the time between when it’s lost and the story is told… Haha.
.
-The size of a fish is directly proportional to the time between when it’s lost and the story is told. - Me
-What’s the best eating fish, you ask? I’ve found that for a lot people, its the ones that they happen to be able to catch, clean, and cook. - My Dad
-Until you have loved a dog, part of your soul remains unawakened. Anatole France (paraphrased)
-RIP my “Puppy Dog” 10/15/2004 - 1/14/2013. I’ll never forget him. What a special friend he was.
-Team Gonna Fish
What’s the water temp? How far away is the cut bait bite?
When I was in Crystal Lake, temp was in the low to mid 60’s. As far as the cut bait bite, I couldn’t tell you. I’ve only done it once, on someone else’s boat at Clarks Hill about 9 yrs. ago.
Bob Van Gundy
Marine Designs,Inc.
Custom Aluminum Fabrication
803-727-4069
Bob, I was right beside you in Crystal Lake going in the opposite direction. I found out later from Rick that it was you in the red boat. I would have yelled at you had I known. How 'bout them d@MN Ospreys!? Aggravated the you know what out of me.
-The size of a fish is directly proportional to the time between when it’s lost and the story is told. - Me
-What’s the best eating fish, you ask? I’ve found that for a lot people, its the ones that they happen to be able to catch, clean, and cook. - My Dad
-Until you have loved a dog, part of your soul remains unawakened. Anatole France (paraphrased)
-RIP my “Puppy Dog” 10/15/2004 - 1/14/2013. I’ll never forget him. What a special friend he was.
-Team Gonna Fish
quote:
Originally posted by Pullin GuardWhat’s the water temp? How far away is the cut bait bite?
I would think the cut bait bite should be on pretty good in the lower lake in a couple of weeks or so. Its not my preferred way to fish, but I’ll do it some this time of year because it’s relatively easy to double anchor, since they’ll be pretty shallow around points. Usually will get some nice catfish mixed in with them too.
'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki
quote:
Originally posted by BowhunterBob, I was right beside you in Crystal Lake going in the opposite direction. I found out later from Rick that it was you in the red boat. I would have yelled at you had I known. How 'bout them d@MN Ospreys!? Aggravated the you know what out of me.
-The size of a fish is directly proportional to the time between when it’s lost and the story is told. - Me
-What’s the best eating fish, you ask? I’ve found that for a lot people, its the ones that they happen to be able to catch, clean, and cook. - My Dad
-Until you have loved a dog, part of your soul remains unawakened. Anatole France (paraphrased)
-RIP my “Puppy Dog” 10/15/2004 - 1/14/2013. I’ll never forget him. What a special friend he was.
-Team Gonna Fish
I saw a few folks out there I know. Didn’t recognize you either. I passed Tom Gitto a couple of times & didn’t know it was him till he hollered at me. We even hooked each other’s boards on the first pass. (Tom, I apologize for all the curse words I said under my breath!) I also about ran over one of Rick’s lines.
Yeah, the ospreys can be a real pain. The air horn seemed to help a little.
Did anyone do any good? All I got was 7 shorts, 2 cats, & 1 largemouth.
Bob Van Gundy
Marine Designs,Inc.
Custom Aluminum Fabrication
803-727-4069