jackson  05/09/2009 - 04:22  Friends of MDfishing.org  Black Hills    Finally met and fished with a "MDfishing" member, Tightline! And a very enjoyable outing it was! Good conversation, and reminiscing of common "fishing holes" we both had visited in the past. This was the first time I've ever met and fished with anyone in the "blind". Boy have I been missing out on some good experiences! As it was my worst fears came true! The fish would not cooperate. They are in what I call the "FUNK"! With all the rain, 10 days of continuously cloudy weather, and temps. all over the charts, these lake fish are all screwed up. However, I believe what we were experiencing as we were on the water, was a influx of males moving to the shallows and stumps fanning out beds.

jackson  04/25/2009 - 03:08  Trip Reports  Black Hills   


By this time I usually have at least one 5#er or better, but not the case so far! I did have what I believe was one of at least five pounds last week but came unbuttoned.

jackson  04/18/2009 - 03:44  Trip Reports  Black Hills   

Finally made it out! And may I add without incident with either motors or batteries! But boy did I get rusty and soft over the winter! Got line cuts on left index finger from setting hooks on ghost fish and blisters on right index from reelin! Not to mention backache from standing for 10 hours! Man you gotta love it! Anyway, skies were clear, light and variable breeze,(mostly out of NW), water temps. climbed throughout the day and ranged anywhere from 51 to 60 depending where you were. Fishing was tough for this time of year due to what I assume because of up and down water temps.,but I guess that's true with any spring fishing! In all picked up 14 fish and in total probably did not weigh any more than that. Did hook one pig but came unbuttoned off a crankbait. That's what I get for not changing trebles though. (Getting Lazy) The fish I did pick up were on small shallow benches with water depths of 5ft. or less.

Caught 3 on crankbait, 2-jerkbait, 1-spinnerbait, 8-green/pumpkin tube. Could not buy a bite off jig'n pig! I was slow-rolling a spinnerbait and got hung up on what I thought was a large piece of loose wood but as I was pulling up realized it was a large snapping turtle! Luckily as I was reaching for needle nose it came unhooked, or just let go! That's about the 3rd time I've hooked a snapping turtle on a spinnerbait over the years.

Did see one other noteworthy thing which was a pair of wood ducks breeding on a limb approx. 70'high in large oak tree! I've seen them breeding in water but never in a tree. Maybe they were just practicing!

Munkin  07/25/2008 - 14:29  Trip Reports  Black Hills  Roll Your Own    I plan on hitting Black Hills tomorrow morning if anyone is interested I have a open seat?

Allen

jackson  05/31/2008 - 06:19  Black Hills  Fishing   

jackson  05/15/2008 - 05:02  Trip Reports  Black Hills   

Got out with my fishing partner, Jacob, on Wednesday. Had a stiff SW breeze, and cloudy skies. Water temps. fell 8 degrees to 62, and water level rose approx. 18". The fish did not exactly have the feed bag on, but they are starting to come back. The fish we caught came on a variety of baits and from every part of the water column, up to and including a fish off a spinnerbait in a tree top located in 35' of water. Caught a few on a black/blue 3/8 jign'pig with pork trailer, but most and largest fish, approx. 4#'s, came off a Strike King 1/8 oz. Bitsy Bug with a small crawfish trailer. Did better dragging the jig rather than hopping.We ended up the day with 12 fish.

Even though Jacob did not catch a fish by himself, he is my official fish winderiner and re-leaser! He's a real trooper out there for being only 5 years old! He's got his casting down pretty well and I suspect he'll be giving his Poppy a run for his money by summer's end!! It's been fun, but will be glad when the rivers straiten out so I can get my string stretched by those brown fish!

Good Luck,
Jackson.

jackson  05/09/2008 - 06:32  Trip Reports  Black Hills   

Fished with my brother at Boyds on Wednesday, 6am to 3pm. Air temp. low of 48 to high of 80 plus. Sunny, with little to no wind to breezy And gusty 15+ SW wind. Not only did we have post spawn fish working against us , but also HIGH PRESSURE!! Water temps mainly high 60's to low 70's. Never got on any good pattern, couple off tubes, lizards, jign pigs, and one off a crankbait.

I believe we boated 8 fish total, none of which over 2 lbs. However, off a long shallow point did hook up with a LARGE fish on a Tube. After the cast I picked up the slack and felt weight, set the hook, and without any great fanfare the fish just began steadily pulling my drag. I told my brother this a LARGE fish, and no sooner than I got out of my mouth that I did not believe it was a bass, the fish just came unbuttoned. Pretty exciting 5 seconds though!! On the very next cast I hung my tube up and while attempting to get loose I snapped my All-star Tennessee rod which I've had for probably 20 years. That hurt!

Latter that afternoon, while putting on my long sad face to my wife about how I broke my favorite spinning rod, I am now awaiting a delivery from the UPS Man.! One of my favorite people! Even though it was a tough day fishing we had a good time. P.S. we also seen the creature from the Back Lagoon!

Good Luck,
Jackson!

jackson  04/25/2008 - 18:02  Trip Reports  Black Hills    It never ceases to amaze me how lake fish change up in matter of hours, especially this time of year. You can pretty much throw out every thing I posted regarding my fish report for Thursday. Fished Boyds from 8 till 3 o'clock. Pretty much had in my mind when I started that I was going to attempt to duplicate what I did yesterday. NOT! First thing I noticed was that much of the stain had settled out overnight. However,. water temps. were up to 68/70 degrees. There was very little wind to speak of first thing. With the water cleaner and no wind I anticipated there would not be a good crankbait or spinnerbait bite.

jackson  04/25/2008 - 04:30  Trip Reports  Black Hills    Fished Boyds Thursday morning from 6:00 to 11:00 AM. During this time water temps ranged from 63 to 66 deg's. SUNNY, High Pressure, Blue Bird Skies, with breezy Northerly wind! Began morning with high expectations. That was my first mistake! For this first hour , hit some of my favorite spots for larger staging fish. Nothing! Fished everything from small flats near deep water to sharp rocky drop-offs with jig'n pig, spinnerbait, and crank/jerk baits. Must admit however I did not downsize to any small plastics. Thought for sure fish would be crusing the 2-6 ft. zone. I've noticed, even with the warming water temps., there is still not alot of shallow water bait activity.

jackson  04/14/2008 - 16:36  Trip Reports  Black Hills    It was one of those days at Boyds. It should have come at no surprise considering the weather/temperatures we've had over the last couple days. This time in lieu of a stiff SW breeze, had a gusty NNW wind. Water temps. fell from 58/64 to 54/59 degrees.It took me over 4 hrs. to get bit, but in the end I was thankful to get that! Between 8:30 & 3:30 I only managed 2 fish, neither of which were over a pound. Both on crankbaits. When I arrived At the ramp there was not one other boat! Very, very unusual for this time of year, no matter what the conditions are. What's even more unusual is that not one boat launched all day! At least not up to 3:30 anyway.