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Amazing Fishery in my Backyard


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I went out yesterday to test a new yak so I stayed close to home. I went to the lake in my community where I live. Its the lake where I learned how to fish and spent many years of my childhood fishing it. Its private and stocked by the association.

 

I got a few bass but was spending more time looking for trout since my dues pay for them. Didn't find trout but went over to Beach 1 where big bass like to hang. Its a no fishing zone. As I drifted with the wind I came over a school of large yellow perch and then there were these very large fish and lots of them. They were to big to be bass and they were the size of good sized carp but they definately weren't carp. They were big and fat. As I got a better look at them I saw the stripes! Hybrids or also known as Rockets! The small ones were in the 5# range and some were around 10 or more! When I got on top of them they swam off as the big yellow floating object in 2-3' of water was very suspicious to them. To bad the wind was blowing me so quickly as a calm day would have allowed me to stay far enough away to observe without spooking. I spent some time relocating them a few times. Then I went fishing some more and ran into a gent on a boat dock and we started talking and I mentioned the Rockets. He said that he had caught a 12 pounder the past summer. Now our lake doesn't stock Rockets. They've been sneaking in from the lake above via our inlet stream. Its a sportsman's club. The Rockets are doing so well that our lake is putting in 400 next month. They're going to be 12" fish and its expected by fall they'll reach weights near 5#s. They're called eating machines and are one of the best fighters in freshwater. I once attended a seminar on them and the lecturer rated the fighting ability of many sport fishes. He gave stripers a 4 and Rockets a 10. Hence their nickname. While chatting with the gent on the dock I learned that the Walleyes that were put in 3 years ago as 14" fish are up to 9#s and should be nearing 12#s this season. The night fishery is excellent for them on trolled lures along 2 particular shorelines. Also a 25# Tiger Musky was caught last year.

 

So looks like I'm going to be spending some time in my backyard. I can bring guests.

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10# Hybrids from a yak cwm24.gif Them things will drag you all over the lake biggrin.gif I fish for them down here and they are a blast. I've fought plenty in the 8-12# class all the way to the boat and had them take off again, over take the boat, stripping out drag the whole way, trolling at 2-3 mph biggrin.gif Serious fun on the end of your line. Be for warned, you do not have one beat until it is in the cooler, with the lid closed, and latched. One trick the larger ones like to try around here is to fight real hard for a couple of minutes, then turn and come full speed at the boat. If they do not get enough slack by the time they are right in front of the boat, they'll suddenly dive straight down to the bottom. Post some photos when you guys get back.

 

Jigman

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Scott, its my backyard and jenty drives very fast cause its more like 35 minutes for those of us without a get out of ticket card. biggrin.gif Scott, that's 35 minutes closer to you. Now I've got to figure them out.

 

Jig Man, I hear you on the fight. I haven't got one yet but my buddy got a few aproaching 10 pounds in PA. They call them Rockets for a reason. How do you fish for them in your parts? The gent I spoke with who got the 12 picked it up on a Spittin Image. I'm going to use Storm Wildeyes and up at Wallanpaupak my buddies use either live bait which we can't keep of our treble hooks the baits so thick or suspending stick baits.

 

I'm also going after them with the fly rod biggrin.gif .

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by JonS (edited 04-17-2002).]

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JonS, I have pretty good luck with those hybrids here trolling rattle traps. Chrome has worked best. One small and one big. Which ever hits first I switch over. I still have not managed to catch both when they go off. I am thinking that I look like I am having some kind of fit when I am fighting two at one time, A*#holes and elbows flying everywhere. Still smiling though.

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Beagle, sounds like a you know what fire drill.

 

The lake is shallow with the deepest part being only 9'. The majority is much shallower. Raps would probably not fair well and get covered in weeds.

 

[This message has been edited by JonS (edited 04-17-2002).]

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JonS,

 

Will depend some on what forage fish are in the lake. They stock them in some of our smaller lakes to keep the gizzard shad populations down. They heart.gif those shad. Like landlocked stripers, they target shad almost exclusively. Lures that imitate shad are real good choices. Those wildeyes should be a good bait. Other options are topwater baits like the spittin image, zarra spook, popr, tiny torpedo, etc. They like noisy things. Throwing flukes or fin s fish type plastics is another good option. The rattle trap is a good choice too. You can throw them rather than troll them. Most of mind are caught while trolling bucktail jigs with twister tail trailers off the downriggers, though this is later in the year. The other thing to try is a minnow type bait like a red fin (or a metal lip swimmer). A 5 inch red fin reeled very slow across the surface creating a wake will cause some very viscous strikes. I'm sure plug master Jenty can whip up a few swimmers in the 4.5 to 5 inch range for the job. Paint them up to match the main bait fish in the lake.

 

You can also try live bait such as shad or shiners. Freeline them or run them behind planer boards or balloon rigs. If the latter two, let about 10-20 feet of line out before attaching the balloon or planer. A single hook or a circle hook will do better than a treble. They'll be running shallow, so you will not need any weight other than the hook and barrel swivle. They also feed them chicken parts at the hatcheries in many places, so a chicken liver can also be a good bait.

 

Beagle, a 8.4 and 9.2# at the same time (my best double shot) running 2 rods off the riggers, I know exactly what you mean biggrin.gif Whole lotta fun.

 

Jigman

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Ok...i'm ready to go. i've done well on tiny traps and rapalas. I can't wait to go for them again. I target them at Spruce Run Reservoir and with the current conditions if you have a yak you pretty much have the whole place to yourself. Reason.. the reservoir is at 40% right now. Water is 15 to 20 ft down from the ramps. those fish have got to be tightly packed. We should set something up and go for them.

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