For the Week Ending Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017

Monday, Oct. 30 (from Ron)...Fished form 4 to 6:30 p.m. in the upper North Landing. Went 2 hours and 9 minutes before I had a single tap. When I did get the bite, it turned out to be a  2-11 on the XTS Minnow. Still not satisfied, I kept at it for another 20 minutes and had a really good fish on. Thought it was a keeper striper, as my rod was doubled over, but I only reeled in remnants of a broken XTS. Could be the lure was cracked, or I may have been hooked up with a gar or bowfin. I'll never know for sure.

Tuesday, Oct. 31 (from Ron)...Fished Milldam from 4 to 6:30 this evening. The main creek was a murky mess,  with zero visibility. Fortunately, the feeder creeks were a bit clearer. I found some bites as it got close to dark. Caught fish on Senkos, XTS Minnow, Spinnerbaits, Mann's 1-Minus crankbait, and a Whopper Plopper. Lost more quality fish than I landed. Lost a nice bowfin, chain pickerel, and a few bass that would have tipped the scale. I did land three dinks, a 1-3, 9-inch bluegill, and an 11-inch crappie. Seemed like the bite turned on just as it got close to dark and cold.

Wednesday, Nov. 1 (from Ken)...I couldn't pass up another nice day. Launched at West Neck about 9 a..m. and fished above the bridge for about an hour without even a smell. Decided to run to Pocaty, where, for a good spell, it looked like I might come up empty-handed there, too. The crankbaits and chatterbait I was fishing were being totally ignored. Picking up a jerkbait, I made only two casts and had a small bass on, but he came unbuttoned before I could get him in the boat. Fished the jerkbait hard for the next 45 minutes or so without a bite, so then turned to a white tandem spinnerbait, which produced a total of four bass in Pocaty and one in West Neck. All were small. My only two keepers were a 1-0 and a 1-1. Talked to Red today, who finished with a total of seven keepers. He caught one in West Neck, one in Pocaty and five in Albright's. His best fish of the day was one that he estimated at 3 or 3.5 lbs., which came out of Albright's.

Thursday, Nov. 2 (from Ron)...Fished Milldam this evening from 4 p.m. 'til dark. Couldn't find any bass. Instead, caught two slime darts (chain pickerel) at 17 and 20 inches, as well as three crappie between 9.5 and 10 inches. Crappie were hitting beetlespin and XTS; pickerel were going for the Pop R and XTS.

Friday, Nov. 3 (from Charlie)...Finally got out today. First trip to West Neck in months, but now that most of the good places are closed, duck and deer hunting only, I had no place else to turn. Haven't done well here in years, and the same held true today. Used wake baits, plastics, and the fly rod. Caught all small dinks, but at least it was a variety: one white perch, one yellow perch, 1 bass, and one pickerel, none of which measured over 8 inches. The only excitement was a 4-4 swamp donkey bowfin that gave me a shower. At least it was a gorgeous day.

Friday, Nov. 3 (from Ron)...Didn't find the long one I was looking for this evening, but did manage a few, including two dink bass, a 2-8, 11-inch white perch, and a small crappie. I lost a real big one that never surfaced, so suspect it was a bowfin. SwimSenko, Beetlespin, and XTS were the lures that produced. Had something hit the Mann's 1-Minus.



Friday, Nov. 3 (from Ray)...Expected a good day on West Neck, but the stopped for me around 10 o'clock. The water was  clear and at 66 degrees. Ended up with three bass, including a 1-14, two dinks, and two bream. The only thing that worked was a white 3-inch swimbait and a small spinnerbait, with a white 2-inch grub trailer. Tried a number of other lures, to no avail.

Saturday, Nov. 4 (from Ron)...After the Rudee Inlet cleanup this morning and not catching any speckled trout (SUPER high tide, and windy), I decided to take an evening trip to Milldam. Gauge was reading 2.0 (now 1.8), and the water was clear. Caught 10 dink bass, with one at 1-7. Highlight of the evening was a small bowfin that pulled some drag. Best producer was the XTS Minnow.

Sunday, Nov. 5 (from Ron)...Thought the cloudy weather would produce a good bite, but guess maybe the Daylight Savings Time change back to Standard Time affected them, because they were scarce today. Landed three dinks, a 1-9,  and a 1-15, as well as a small crappie--not much to show for four hours of fishing. The XTS Minnow was the ticket.

Sunday, Nov. 5 (from Ray)...My son, Barry, and I fished Albright's Creek today. It was slow going until 10 o'clock, when we caught our first fish. We ended up with five bass ( 1.2, 1.1 and three dinks). Two others broke off before we got them in the boat. We also caught one striper, one cat, and several bream (see Barry, left, holding a nice crappie). Lures that worked included a white swimbait, chartreuse swimbait and small spinnerbaits, with black/chartreuse grubs. Water temperature was 64 degrees, and the visibility was fairly clear in spots.

Sunday, Nov. 5 (from Doc)...Caught two, including one that weighed 2.3 and a dink. Lost another good one at the boat. As long as I feel the tug, I'm content. Had three bites on shallow cranbaits and one on my homemade swimbait. The one I lost came on that homemade swimbait.