Monday, Jan. 22 (from Ron)...The Government shutdown afforded me a half-day off, and with the temps near 60, I decided to go fishing. Was able to avoid the skunk (have had too many already this year) with three small
bass: a dink, 1-0, and a 1-6, plus two chain pickerel at 16 inches and a 23-incher weighing in at 3-7. It was nice to finally catch something. XTS was the ticket today, but I wonder if I should
try something else.
Tuesday, Jan. 23 (from Ron)...Launched at Indian River Road this afternoon and fished from 3:30 to 5:30. 'Twas almost impossible
to fish through the heavy surface debris, but as I headed south, clarity
and surface congestion improved. Ended up catching one 9-inch bass and a crappie; also lost
something of decent size. Mouths of feeder creeks was the only place I found 'em,
but did see some swirls and activity in the side creeks. Oh well, at least it
was warm.
Wednesday, Jan. 24 (from Ron)...Launched at Lotus Garden for an evening trip. Fished from 3:30 to 5:45. Water was clear but low. Found a couple dink bass and a few panfish for the fryer to make
some tasty tacos. Beetlespin was the ticket.
Thursday, Jan. 25 (from Ron)...Had a short window and fished Milldam from 4 to 6 p.m. Gauge was way down (1.3), but the water was very clear. No dreaded bridge limbo. Got a bit chilly when
the sun went below the tree line. Caught five dink bass to 12 inches and a
feisty li'l striper to close out the evening, all on XTS jerkbait. Surprisingly, no panfish or chain pickerel. As usual, 'twas nice to be out.
Friday, Jan. 26 (from Ron)...Fished upper North Landing from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. First hour, I was finding a
bunch of dinks that entertained for a while. However, ended up with 14 bass, including nine dinks, plus a 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, and a 2-6, all on XTS. As I started to get cold, headed back to launch, but saw an enticing swirl
in the culvert. Made about six or eight passes, trying to find a striper, as I
know they hang out in there. As it started to get really cold (37 degrees),
told myself "just one more pass," and that's when I caught a 20-inch one to round out the evening. Best trip of 2018 so far.
Saturday, Jan. 27 (from Ron)...Fished from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Covered 7.3 miles in those five hours. My trolling revealed a sporadic
bite in sheer random locations. Am determined to install
my fish finder as I suspect I was trolling over "holes" when they hit. Casting
to shoreline and structure didn't produce any bites. All my bites were on the XTS
minnow. Caught four bass at 1-0, 1-5, 1-6, and 2-10, as well as two big chain pickerel at 23 and 24
inches, plus a dink. Averaged just over a fish per hour.
Sunday, Jan. 28 (from Ron)...When they are all scale-worthy, it is a good day. Fished from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Periods of rain eventually got me a bit too wet and cold, but it was worth it. Caught seven bass, weighing in at 1-3, 1-6, 1-7, 1-11, 1-12, 2-5, and a nice 3-12. Also caught a
23- and 24-inch chain pickerel. Very glad I went out in the drizzle. Caught everything while trolling XTS. Experimented with a wakebait that didn't entice a single strike.
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