Daily Routine: January Pond Bass Fishing

We got out sunday to do a little pond fishing and even though the temperature never got past  33 degrees the bass action was hot. We originally went to this pond to see if we could locate a school of crappie. I had an idea where the deepest water would be and I assumed they would be tight on the bottom in the deepest spot in the pond. We started probing the deep area with crappie jigs tied on a dropshot rig. It didn't take long for Collin to hookup with the first fish a 10 inch largemouth. The cold water made fishing easy almost like you had live bait you would cast it and almost let the lure sit still. The strikes were subtle but you would either feel solid weight on your line or your line would go slack and the fish would be on.

This was Supoposed to be a 2015 Recap

This was supposed to be a recap of my fishing in 2015 it was going to break down every species I caught and when and where I caught them. But If you want a recap you should just go through the archives of the blog its all there documented in real time.What I will say about 2015 is I caught 16 total species with 6 of those being new to me.

one of the many new species I caught in 2015

My biggest fish of the year a 29 inch bluefish in New York

Last year I posted a list of places I wanted to visit. I didnt quite make it to all of those places http://fishxscale.blogspot.com/2015/01/top-ten-destinationspart-2.html so in 2016 I am definitely going to finish this list. I also set a goal in 2015 to catch a Cobia, Tarpon and a Snakehead. The first two I didn't even get a chance to pursue but the snakehead I spent two months chasing with none to show. Even though I saw them everywhere I could only get one hookup which eluded me as I tried to net it.

Winter Kayak Pickerel Fishing

I finally got back out in my kayak after well over a month long hiatus.  This trip was planned a year ago when I first arrived in Virginia. The plan was to hit the Severn river the day morning after making the 16 hour drive from New Orleans to Northern Virginia. Needless to say we didn't wake up that morning and we opted to head to a closer small local lake where we didn't catch anything. So after a full 365 days passing we finally scheduled a day to make the trip. We Loaded up the gear the night before and got out early Monday morning. We launched and immediately began fishing I headed for some branches in the water Collin began fishing a transition from rocks to a wooden break wall. On what seemed like his second cast I hear him yell fish on and he landed a 20 inch Pickerel.After fishing that area with nothing else to show we relocated to another area with more boat slips and docks. Collin was using a 3 inch paddle tail jig on a 1/4 ounce jig head and erratically working it through the middle of the water column. His technique was working well as he landed 18inch another pickerel while I was shuffling through my rods and lures looking for a the perfect solution. After trying a fluke ,spinner bait, and the same jig Collin was using with no success.

Daily Routine: Winter Warm Spell

 Yesterday I took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and an unexpected day off to do some pond fishing. Despite the air temperature being in the mid 60's  the water has long been in the 50's and dropping. As I learned last winter cold water fishing is not my strong suit but I am always trying to learn new tactics and improve my skills. I consider myself a patient fisherman and am willing to spend hours without a bite but I am horrible at slow presentations. 

Neglect

This is the  last fish  I caught way way back on november 2nd.