A Day on the Water

I fished with Jeff Bonin and his church group.  He caught so many fish and was also able to get 4 newbe kids to hook, fight and land their first steelhead.  He was working with them in the difficult water upstream where beads were hot and an occasional fish took the jig in a jig and bead tandem rig.  UV Chartreuse was maybe the best of several UV orange and UV yellow beads that worked. I mainly fish easier water down stream.  Over the 4 days, I got a total of 9 steelhead and a couple of smallmouth bass all...

Center Pin Float fishing with beads, 8mm Opaque UV Chartreuse was hot, 3 for 4 on good sized bright leaping, partly  spent hen steelheads and a dark male.  2 smallmouth bass on the same bead.  Two guys did well casting silver spoons and spinners, they left with 4 on a stringer.  Another center pin guy got a very bright hen just after I got there on a 10mm chartreuse bead,  that fish vomited out five fresh silver 2 inch emerald shiners while he was releasing it.  I also snagged a handsome big 2.5 inch darter. Two days later I spent...

  Huron Steelhead hitting chartreuse beads and a very bright Opaque Chartreuse UV bead was hot.  I lost a huge silver hen after I pressured her in close, she ripped of a run ending in a high thrashing leap breaking off.  My drag was set too tight after I screwed it down to pressure in a stubborn male that took a Mopworm Jig after the first few drifts of the day.   During the long slump when I was pounding the run with the Mopworm Jig, then with jigs ahead of various trailing beads (that were not chartreuse).  I got this Quill Back sucker.  He...

Mid day April 4, 1 for 3 on 8mm UV orange bead over about 4 hours, saw a small walleye caught. Eveing until dark, April 2, 2 for 4 over 4 hours on beads, 10mm Hot Yellow and 8mm Hot Orange & Yellow candy corn bead.

Tippy Dam parking lot was full Tuesday morning, the crowds thinned out as the afternoon wore on.  A few guys with no interest in being considerate of other anglers, one guy wading out 8 feet farther and obstructing everyone else. Lots of fish jumping, nobody hooking anything except Jeff Bonin fishing the most difficult water and landing 6.  I moved in by him and was 2 for 2 in the late afternoon.  He was using brown and olive rubber leg jig patterns that is the inspiration for my similar brown pattern, he was trailing a bead 30 inches behind it.  He...