With the weather finally warming up I had to make the most of it and hit the river again this weekend. I was greeted by water tempatures much lower than the past weeks, but they were on the rise once again. By the end of the day on Sunday the warmest temp I found was 45.5 degrees. That is right around the magic number to get these fish into spawning mood, which they WERE and WILL be!
Saturday brought some beautiful weather. Calm winds, Bright sunshine, and around 60 degrees. There is not much more you could ask for, except for the fish to cooperate, which they did.
Spent most of my day on saturday pitching to shallow sand flats that were on the inside of the current seam. Depths ranged anywere from 4 to 13 feet of water. The current seams that were there the last couple of weeks have now expanded and are reaching out towards the main channel. That works to most peoples advantage now because you have a little more area to target. Our best presentation for this day was pitching the firetiger 1/4 oz. blades out toward the current seam and working them in a sweeping motion until they were behind the boat. Most of our fish came just inside the seam.
With the nice weather and some good fishing on Saturday I didn’t know how Sunday could get any better. That was until the tempature hit 70 and the fishing was even better! Sunday found us pitching the same sand flats as yesterday early and late, while mid-day we targeted shorelines with deeper water close by.
We didn’t have nearly the numbers as I saw other boat catching but that was mainly because we were in search of the big girls. With all the boat traffic out there this weekend it pushed the fish that were normally hanging in that 6 to 14 fow out to the deeper break lines during mid day.
While pitching blades to the shallow sand flats early and late our best colors were gold, black, and firetiger, in that order. During mid day we found ourselfs pitching ringworms in the more natural colors such as firecracker chartruese tail, and oystershell, with a 3/16 oz. orange/chart precision head.
Overall we didn’t caught a huge number of fish but the size sure made up for it!
For those that have been asking about my new "ride" here it is. It’s a 185 G3. It has been a very sweet boat so far for me. It is in the shop this week getting the final touches on it for rigging. When it is all said and done I will have: T8 kicker, the new 80 lb terrova, 2 Garmin locators, 6 ram rod holders, and plently of other goodies! I have to give out a huge thanks to Mark Strickland over at Marine Specialties for going way beyond my expectations on customer sercive. He worked his magic to get me my trolling motor this week which are very hard to come by right now. He also came over to Evert’s and picked up my boat and brought it over to the shop. It all has been very hassle free!
Good luck to all who get out fishing this week, it should be a great week with the spawn back in full swing!
Until next time……….
Those are some awesome looking eyes Eric
Man I need to get out there and soon
Very nice fish! Congrats
Awesome report Eric.
Hey that is a sweet ride.
Hope to see you out there this weekend.
Take care
Greg
Thanks for the report Eric. Very nice fish. Looks like it was a very nice weekend for you.
Thanks, Bill
Quality fish Eric. Way to go!!
Here are a couple of other pics of the boat.
# 2
# 3
I’m thrilled you like the boat, buddy! I’ve fished out of it… in fact we filmed out of it this past Saturday. It handled and fished wonderfully although it could use a tie-off cleat on the bow (right Deezee?!
).
From the results of our last two reports I’d say that boat has the “luck” on it. My guess is about 3 heavy coats.
Thanks for the excellent report. Nice fish and even nicer ride! Wish I could make it down this week
.
Like I said in my last report… this was going to be the week.
Those are some nice fish there Eric and love the boat my local dealer is going to have G3’s as well very soon…
Eric…..Nice boat,But why is the boat Red and the seats Blue?
I didnt like the looks of the red seats. The blue ones went better with the inside of the boat
Nice report and a nice bunch of eyes. Where in the world do you find sand flats that don’t have so much current you can actually feel your jig?
Sweet ride! See you this weekend!
Thanks for the use of your boat Eric. It sure is a fun boat to fish and film out of. Who needs a anchor cleat when you have a sucker up front willing to be a anchor slave all day!
Nice fish Eric and congrats on the new boat purchase!
I would say that you got that boat christened the right way!
Nice report Eric.
Congrats on the new boat. Looks like a fish machine.
Curt
Have Dean order you up a Troll Master!
Then get that baby down to Pepin for some trolling! You will really love that! Once the pitching bite dies down anyway.. 
I love that color!
It will be out on pepin within the next couple of weeks. Once I get down there I will let you know how she handles in the big lake.
Great report and fish Eric!!
Great report and pics!! I like the new rig!!! It looks good!!
Mike