Another SKUNK! w/ questions????

Hey guys.

Maybe this should be in "fishing reports", but I thought I'd get a few more answers here.

Had a great day yesterday (depending on your perspective) on the river (Meramec) with my daughter. Originally set out to scout some uncharted territory for the spring with the intent that if things looked good, then we'd try to catch a few.

So, we ran down river about a half hour to where the Meramec dumps into the Mississippi. Very nice ride and found lots of spots that I wanted to hit on the way back. A couple of those spots proved to be loaded with fish. Well, at least that's what I was seeing on my finder. I've never seen so many fish, big and little ones too, on the finder. They filled the screen from side to side. They seemed to be holding up in the grasses off the rock retainer walls. I was really hoping for some smallies, but after fishing with everything we had, we only generated a couple small bites. (DENNY...those were on your baits) Unfortunately...not a one of them took anything even remotely hard enough to set a hook. Cranks, plastics, wacky, carolina, spinner, etc...

So...what do you think??? Was I trying to catch a bunch of "crap"...I mean carp? :shock:

Can any of you tell anything about the fish (other than location) on your finders?

I've never had much luck using my FF for finding fish and catching them, and basically use it for the depth feature, as I'm normally in some pretty shallow water around here.

Waterwings said:

I've never had much luck using my FF for finding fish and catching them, and basically use it for the depth feature, as I'm normally in some pretty shallow water around here.

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Hmmm...not a good example to support the purchase of a new fancier and expensive FF is it? #-o

Maybe it was the Asian Crap...(asian carp)...they get so thick they literally can jump into your boat...did you see anything jumping ????

Outdoorsman

fender66 said:

Waterwings said:

I've never had much luck using my FF for finding fish and catching them, and basically use it for the depth feature, as I'm normally in some pretty shallow water around here.

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Hmmm...not a good example to support the purchase of a new fancier and expensive FF is it? #-o

Click to expand...

Good point, and the two places I frequent here basically have no bottom structure or weeds. It's mostly a smooth mud bottom. Schools of fish swimming inside the contact area of the FF are fleeting and rare. I have the Humminbird 525 model, and it has large numbers which are easy to read without straining the old eyeballs, lol.

Outdoorsman said:

Maybe it was the Asian Crap...(asian carp)...they get so thick they literally can jump into your boat...did you see anything jumping ????

Outdoorsman

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I did consider the Asian Crap.....but nothing was jumping as it has in the past. Maybe 20ft deep was enough to not bother them. Usually, when they are jumping, it's from the vibration from my trolling motor. I've had them as big as just under 1lb jump into the boat. (Very slimy fish) I did see the shad jumping in other places of the river (on occasion) but far enough away for me to be confident it wasn't from my troller.

Last time that happened to me I almost threw my pole in the water. Guys that were catching fish were pulling in crappie with live bait. Otherwise, the fish were not biting.

Just another $0.02

wasilvers said:

Last time that happened to me I almost threw my pole in the water. Guys that were catching fish were pulling in crappie with live bait. Otherwise, the fish were not biting.

Just another $0.02

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Oh I wasn't all that discouraged...but really was hoping to catch something. Maybe live bait would have been the ticket??? No idea as I didn't see anyone land a fish yesterday. Mostly joy-riders while I was out. That actually disturbed me most....but that's another topic for another day.

Fish finders lie...

Mine is good for depth and water temp, sort of good for speed too, but fish? Nah.

A couple times out ago we drifted over a school of cats in a hole about 8' under the boat and they never showed up on the reader.

I sight fish boulders and eddies usually with good results.
Jamie

The first time I really used my fishfinder for fish was drifting over a weed edge. About 10 feet off the edge there were schools of fish, and the finder said they were decent size. I fished that pretty hard for 45 minutes, getting bites on lots of baits, but no hookups. Finally I hooked one and it was a small (6 inchish) yellow perch. They bit fairly light and I had the dangest time hooking them, senkos, worms, rapalas, etc..

Just a thought??? When I was a kid, my dad catfished the Ms River a lot. He would use his depth finder around the current breaks to find schools of shad. The screen would be filled with fish icons.

fender66 said:

Outdoorsman said:

Maybe it was the Asian Crap...(asian carp)...they get so thick they literally can jump into your boat...did you see anything jumping ????

Outdoorsman

Click to expand...

I did consider the Asian Crap.....but nothing was jumping as it has in the past. Maybe 20ft deep was enough to not bother them. Usually, when they are jumping, it's from the vibration from my trolling motor. I've had them as big as just under 1lb jump into the boat. (Very slimy fish) I did see the shad jumping in other places of the river (on occasion) but far enough away for me to be confident it wasn't from my troller.

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Last time I went out on the meramac we had a 3lb carp jump and land in the boat just south of the George Winter boat ramp. I've never done all that great on the Meramac although I haven't ventured as far down river as you were.

I'm beginning to think they were carp, but I won't know until I go back a few more times to see what I can catch. Either way...it was a nice spot and I'm sure there's other species in those rocks. I hear them calling my name! :twisted:

As the seasons change so should the techniques.

I use my fishfinder to locate cover, structure, and fish. No point fishing the "perfect spot" when no one is home.

Not sure what technique you where using, nor do I fish for smallies so I can't offer any tips. However river conditions change and thus affect the fishing. Been pretty dry and unseasonally warm for this time of year. Taht combination plus the fact that typically at this time of year most lakes, rivers are below normal pool. I could see the water being too warm, and too shallow for cold water fish like smallies to be active, thus making it even harder to figure out a pattern. Log what you tried, and try a different technique next time the same conditions present themselves. Eventually you'll figure out the pattern and put fish in the boat.

Hey guys,I hate to put my 2cents in on this,But I've been on the Meramec from Castlewood State Park To the Mississippi.And my take is that it is INFECTED with carp.They roam in herds of hundreds. If you want to catch anything but carp,I believe you need to go above Pacific.I've caught many Bass up that way,but have had my best days out near St.Clair.