Sunday 20th Feb

[Ca_Bass]

Fished the HFFA tournament today. Fishing was really good first thing in the morning. Started fishing at about 715 and had caught 5 or 6 before 8am started with a softplastic jerkbait fished REALLY slowly and got 2 small LGMB then switched to a rattletrap and caught 2 on the first 2 casts..a LGMB about 1.5 and a tuc about 1.5. The rattletrap bite ended as quick as it started....and so it seemed had all the other bites too. Since I had 3 fish at this time, Decided to go for some bigger fish on the jig. Caught a whole bunch on jigs starting at 6inches up to a 2lbs14oz if I remember correctly. Even caught a tuc on the jig..I think he was 3lbs6oz...ended up with 3 fish a little over 8lbs. Around 2pm I lost my last jig and I didn't catch anymore fish that I could cull with...probably should have switched to a spinner bait but decided to fish bruch hogs and other flipping baits..didn't catch any on them. Caught a few on plastic worms but they were all dinks. All in all it was a pretty good day ended up with about 20 fish..just an estimate I wasn't really counting.

And I finally met roadwarrior out on the lake.

[roadwarriorsvt]

Its good to hear a Tuc hit a jig! Maybe I'll dedicate more time on on one now! I caught about 7 or 8 I guess. Most were on a gold fly. I agree, the morning bit was better for me, slacked off mid-day, then picked up a few more in the late afternoon. None of significant size though. It was a pleasure to finally meet Ca_Bass. Next time we'll socialize more, you were on a mission today! So how did you place?

[Ca_Bass]

Yep I was on a misson, I had to catch them fish! I finished second..Kelton had a little over 9lbs and took first. I need that 3rd one to go for 3 but I was about a pound off. I lost a lot of confidence when I lost my last jig I only had 3 to start the day, so I figured it would happen...just ordered a bunch more jigs from tacklewarehouse.com

Made a pretty sweet discovery in a rod I forgot about. I made an order about 2 years ago from cabellas, it was a prodigy rod and shimano curado reel combo. When I get the package it looked like the box the rod was in was cut in half and all that was left was the reel..the box was ripped on one end and taped back together. So I called Cabellas and asked if the rod was shipped separately and they said no..so they/I said the rod must have been stolen. They sent me a new one 6'6" and also sent me a 7fter that had a couple of scratches on it, the 7fter was a two piece so I immediately lost interest in it and put it in the bottom of my rod locker. Last night I was getting all my rods and reels ready and I picked it up and thought this would be good for jigs..more manageable than my flippin' stick. And it was perfect, even as a two piece it had plenty of back bone, I threw a curado on it with 30lb sufix braid.

Oh and after I got the two rods..about a week later a third rod showed up..another 6'6" prodigy. Three rods for the price of one..can't beat that. I don't know if it was a mix up or if they just have really good customer service. Either way I'll take it!

[Stan Wright]

I bet there are others out there who would love to have a little more information on those jugs your talking about.

Size, color, and how you were working them perhaps?

Thank you.

[Ca_Bass]

Fine Stan I'll spill the beans...you are like a vampire for fishing info

Color didn't seem to matter a whole lot. But I was mainly fishing pumkinseed(I think) and some others that had some brown orange and black in them. I took these jigs out of the pakages a while ago so I don't know their exact weight but I'm guessing they were about 1/4oz definately no larger than a half oz. I used two different trailers that both seemed to be equally productive. Used the good ole pig and also a roboworm crawlike flippin bait as a trailer..just tried to match the color to the jig as best as possibe.

As for depth most of the fish were in the 10ft range. Did catch a couple at 2ft or so up in the brush as well as a few that were about 20-25ft.

I would look for steep banks that were mostly rock and had wood, but steep and rock seemed to be a must and wood was a bonus. Cast almost on to shore then creep the jig into the water..the softer the bait lands seemed to improve catching...a bait caster in my opinion is a must..much more control. Braided line gives you much more sensitivity as well as strength for hauling em out of the sticks. You will be able to tell the difference from rock, mud, sticks, logs and bites.

As for the action you put on the jig...

Work it slow with small "pops" of the rod tip. On the steeper banks you don't need to do a whole lot just kind of twitch it along and let it fall down the bank. Keep a semi slack line and sometimes open up you bail and feed line out with your hand to keep it closer to the contour of the bottom. But not too much slack cuz you will miss fish. Once you feel some wood slowly start raising your rod tip until you feel the jig "stick" a little bit. Once your jig is on the top of the stick pull it over the edge very gently and then drop your rod tip so it falls straight down. They will usually get it on the drop or right as it hits another stick or the bottom. Ocasionally give the jig a hard pop/twitch and it can trigger strikes..also reeling it in quickly then dropping it can make em hit too.

Hope this helps.

[Stan Wright]

Great, thank you. I've fished for peacocks so long I almost forgot how to fish a worm or jig for largemouth.

[BASSTRACKER]

wait wait...... lemme see about what a year or two ago i was told by stan that some experts had come to the lake and said there was no oxygen below 8ft!!! no way fish could live there. i kept posting i was fishing deep and everyone thought i was full of it hahahaha. hmmmmmm these days seems everyones fishing deep it seems!! i think i gotta get them state "experts" back so they can remind everyone "THERE ARE NO FISH BELOW 8FT, THAT IS ALL " HAHAHAHA damn i need a state job so i can be wrong all the damn time and still get paid.

[Joel]

wait wait...... lemme see about what a year or two ago i was told by stan that some experts had come to the lake and said there was no oxygen below 8ft!!! no way fish could live there. i kept posting i was fishing deep and everyone thought i was full of it hahahaha. hmmmmmm these days seems everyones fishing deep it seems!! i think i gotta get them state "experts" back so they can remind everyone "THERE ARE NO FISH BELOW 8FT, THAT IS ALL " HAHAHAHA damn i need a state job so i can be wrong all the damn time and still get paid.

That must be a thing with lake wilson. Back on Table Rock Lake I did more deep water than anything during the summer. Yes there were bank, point, rocky bank, and dock bites...but the majority of my big fish came from the 25-40 feet range in 100+ feet of water off cliff sides.

[Ca_Bass]

I was pretty shocked getting the tuc on the jig. I wasnt burning it or reeling fast just flipped it in some bushes and twitched it a little. Thought I had a huge LGM like a 5 or 6 lber was very suprised to see a 3lb tuc. I think the 3 to 4lb tucs pull the hardest..I have caught a couple 5's and a 6 and one that might have been 7 and they pull hard at first and seem to give up quickly.

Most the bass I catch are deeper. Catch a lot of small bass allow but most of the bigger ones are 10ft or more. Even some of the bigger tucs I've caught were in deeper water.

[roadwarriorsvt]

That must be a thing with lake wilson.

Actually you're spot on! Since Lake Wilson is predominantly peacocks and peacocks are predominantly top water feeders, that is where most, not all, the action is.