so i went out for a little while today to try and fish for some perch to take for live bait to the resevoir this weekend and i noticed ALOT of larry's swimming around close to shore , some big most small . so i was using a 5'6" ultra light ugly stick with 6lb mono and a trout magnet and was getting hits from the small bass like crazy and figured id take the trout magnet grub off of the tiny little #6 hook jighead and wacky rig a senko to try for the bigger bass swimming nearby, i split the senko length wise down the middle to reduce the weight and make it wiggle a little more than usual and started casting out and i cought 3 bass all 2lbs and 12 little guys in the 8 to 10 inch range. after losing the first 2lber that bit i realized i had to grab the rod and line together in my left hand in order to set the hook cause the rod is so flimsy lol but after i figured out how to set the hook on a bass with an ultralight it was all furious action from there and had a great time even though i didnt get a single perch and am still not sure what the hell ill be throwing for laker bait this saturday morning hahaha! maybe i should have posted this in the trips section but it was quicker this way and id like to see if anyone else has had any days like this that surprised you.heres the first one
heres the second and i didnt get a picture of the third cause they are all pretty much the same size fish lol.
and heres a shot down the gullet lol. the teeny tiny little 1/64 oz trout magnet jig head that i wacky rigged half a senko to and they were going nuts for it! nice slow fall and alot of wiggle cause the worm was sliced in half
heres the second and i didnt get a picture of the third cause they are all pretty much the same size fish lol.
and heres a shot down the gullet lol. the teeny tiny little 1/64 oz trout magnet jig head that i wacky rigged half a senko to and they were going nuts for it! nice slow fall and alot of wiggle cause the worm was sliced in half
Nice!!! Looks like fun. Always great to get a surprise fishing. Where was that at?
Sort of similar experience; one time YEARS (I was 10 then, now 37) ago my Dad and I went on a long drive and stopped in Greenfield MA. I think it was a reservoir and all the signs said "NO FISHING" but my Dad said no problem. That guy.
Anyways, saw tons of bass but could not get one to bite. Dropped a nightcrawler near a small inlet stream and caught a perch. Then another. On the third one a monster pickeral slammed the perch. Our first ever of them! We started catching perch as bait and landed about 10 large pics. Unexpected and fun.
Sort of similar experience; one time YEARS (I was 10 then, now 37) ago my Dad and I went on a long drive and stopped in Greenfield MA. I think it was a reservoir and all the signs said "NO FISHING" but my Dad said no problem. That guy.
Anyways, saw tons of bass but could not get one to bite. Dropped a nightcrawler near a small inlet stream and caught a perch. Then another. On the third one a monster pickeral slammed the perch. Our first ever of them! We started catching perch as bait and landed about 10 large pics. Unexpected and fun.
Nice!!! Looks like fun. Always great to get a surprise fishing. Where was that at?
yeah i was dissaopinted at first cause i thought i was outgunned with my tiny tackle lol but in hindsight i probably got so many bites because of the light line and tiny little hook. this was at indian lake down the street from my house, i didnt get any perch so it was still kind of a wash but i had alot of fun bass fishing on waaaay lighter tackle than what im used to and it really changed my opinion on fishing light tackle for big fish lol. the little bass fight like hell too but man a mediocre 2lb bass on an ultralight with 6lb line feels like a marlin lol . and to make things even sweeter i only got one bass all winter ice fishing so today was really my first day since last october that i was catching bass.
how do you plan to keep the perch alive till saturday? gallon bucket with ice cold water?
55quart coleman cooler with an electric aerator and 10 gallon aquarium filter ( in the picture was a 2.5 bass at an ice derby and i was running a battery power aerator and no filter cause the fish was only in there for 10 minutes for the walk to weigh in and back) i have a fully functioning bait shop in my basement lol, its all concrete down there so the temp generally hovers around the 68 degree mark and my water temps generally are around 64 to 68. i keep perch as a pet and have no issues with them as they are a pretty easy fish to care for and they go nuts over little rosie red minnows after i turn the lights out for the night they turn into jaws and start hunting. the tricky thing is conditioning them to be used to the water temp you will be fishing them in so they dont go into shock, i have a 5 gallon bait bucket with portable aerator that the night before wachusett ill fill with water and put my bait limit for the day in there and leave the bucket in my back hall which is basically outside so the next morning the water temp in the bucket will be much cooler then it was down in my basement but its will cool gradually overnight so as not to shock them.
how do you plan to keep the perch alive till saturday? gallon bucket with ice cold water?
oh and to add to this i have a dozen shiners left over from an ice fishing derby i went to in february that are in my bait cooler downstairs and they are actually getting bigger than they were when i bought them lol, keep the water nice and cool and feed them tetra granules and they appear to be very healthy, i do partial water changes twice weekly to keep ph controlled and ammonia levels down.
how do you plan to keep the perch alive till saturday? gallon bucket with ice cold water?
oh and to add to this i have a dozen shiners left over from an ice fishing derby i went to in february that are in my bait cooler downstairs and they are actually getting bigger than they were when i bought them lol, keep the water nice and cool and feed them tetra granules and they appear to be very healthy, i do partial water changes twice weekly to keep ph controlled and ammonia levels down.
A little Tris base and the pH will stay good for a while.
Brilliant Brooksy! Good luck Saturday.
thanks! ive never got a laker before , hell ive only ever fished for them twice lol so im excited to hopefully catch my first and seeing as its wachusett res maybe ill be the luckiest boy in town and snag me a new record? hmmmm? yeah right in my dreams but you never know lol.
