3 in 1

It's either too cold, crowded, or late. The past 3 days I made it my mission to try again at longwood and try again. So far nothing has happens, big surprise there, but I had my hopes. My new boilies smell pretty good but nothing has picke them up. The alarms have gone off a few times and I've seen the line move but I'm guessing the wind did it.
The fish may not have been active but I have. Bringing my sketchbook has been good to keep me busy. At least I'm not completely wasting my time here.

TL;DR
No fish but good ideas

Not a record breaker

It was the hottest day in awhile and I decided to go fishing. Lucky for me it paid off to go. I managed to stay out of the sun by sitting on the other side of the lake on a picnic bench. I had brought the usual equipment and bait, but decided to bring my sketchbook to keep me busy. Most of the time I end up sitting in my chair listening to music while the bait sits in the water. This time I needed a table to work on and had to move around a bit to find a good spot. I chummed the water with corn and put on various boilies for bait. After an hour of sketching I looked up and say my ultralight was bent and pointed at the ground. I knew I had something at this point because whatever picked up the bait was hooked since the bail wasn't open. I knew I didn't have a carp because my pole would have been making a lot more noise being tossed around. I reeled in and the fish put up a fight, which was nice. It was a 18 inch and 1.5 pound channel cat, so far the biggest thing I've caught this year. After that I caught 2 more and missed one that took the bait before I could set the hook. The last one put up the biggest fight and thought it was a small carp. I'm hoping that with the new boilies I made I'll catch a carp soon, but the catfish are worth the wait too.

TL;DR
It's hot and I caught me some catfish.

Fish On?

Making plans to get in the morning to go fishing usually works out nicely. 7 am was the time we set on my phone and surprisingly I did get up at that time. One this that has made it easier to get moving was the promis of a burger king breakfast. We should have just turned around after we got in line for the drive through. It turns out the sandwich I went there to get was no longer being sold, this was not a good sign. It took me awhile but I figured out what I wanted and then we were on your way to Beartown. Our goal was to bet there by 8:30 and we were only being a few minutes behind.
The sun was out and it was starting to warm up slowly. After awhile the wind would bring a cold breeze across the lake. We walked around and cast after cast nothing was happening. It seems that the fish aren't interested in anything we're throwing. This year has been very disappointing for bass fishing. So we called it and went to our next destination before going out to the camper.
Punderson was kinda packed with people near the boat ramp. The only spot open at the time was next to the boat ramp. I had brought my boilies and set up my alarm and cast my bait. Every 10 minutes or so a boat would either come in or out, so our bait wouldn't be sitting in one place long enough to attract something. It was annoying to get up and reel in the line, wait for the boat to leave, and cast it back out only to start the cycle over. It was a lot colder out there and once 1 hit we left for the camper.
The camper, like always, was a bust. There were no signs of bass anywhere in the lake, but the crappie population seem to be stable. We couldn't even get the bullheads to bite at night. This year has been rough for fishing everywhere and isn't showing signs of getting better. The weather has been rainy or in the 90's, yet another reason nothing is hitting. The crappie out at the camper all seem to be the same size and only put up a fight if you put the drag almost to 0. It's fun after awhile but knowing nothing else is bitting sucks. They want to try and improve the lake but its not going to show signs of good fishing for years. All the more reason to not want to go.

TL;DR
7 am wakign up in the mornin, no BK breakfast hamlet on sale, beartown's not producing, punderson is all fail, and fishing is not up to scale.

also it's not friday

WEEEEEEEEEWH

Fresh boilies- check
Nice weather- check
A bag full of optimism- Check
That's all I need to get me out of the house.

Even though the boilies came out great I wasn't too happy with the fruit punch kool-aid I used for flavor, strawberry would have been the better smelling choice. That didn't stop me from using it. I imagine that even if the carp try it I'll still get them on the hook. That didn't happen this time, surprisingly. But I caught my first bass of the year and that felt great. It hit nicely but went into the weed and couldn't put up a fight. I didn't get a picture or measurement because after I put it down and went for my phone it flipped itself back into the water. It wasn't anything to brag about but still.

TL;DR
I dun caught me a bass!

Mondays

There's a new trend going around in nature where it's cool to rain all the time. This is a false statement and it's starting to make it difficult to actually fish. I knew there was going to be a thunderstorm, but didn't get the news about the tornado. Apparently those are all the rage too.
I made it to longwood just time time to watch the sun disappear and black clouds roll in. I had set up my boilie and got in a few cast before it got cold and dark. So after ten minutes I packed up and left. The storm came pretty fast and wasn't as bad as the news made it out to be, what else is new

TL;DR
Weather sucks.

What rapture

Turns out the world didn't end on Saturday to everyones relief. The only thing that was saved was all the fish that decided not to bite. This weekend was the first time out at the camper for me. Last year wasn't that great for fishing there and I imagine it's not getting any better. The water may be clear now but in a month it's going to be a mess. Bass do hit off the surface of the duckweed but when it gets to thick they can't. Seeing how that's the way I caught most of my fish last year.
Chris and I decided to try fishing in the very far back of the lake. There was activity but nothing hit. We saw a few bubble trails under the water where snapping turtles were moving around. I touched one with an ore and it took off in any direction it could. Didn't take long before we realized nothing was going to happen. As of now we haven't caught anything, excluding the trees chris snagged.

TL;DR
Camper still sucks and I like turtles.

Beep beep

Today I set out to try my new bite alarm I got off eBay. I made a stand for it out of a PVC pipe and a threaded metal bar. I tested out the different settings and found out that they reset when it's shut off. That wasn't a big issue so I packed up and drove to longwood. The sun was out and my sunglasses helped me see in the water. Some kids were trying to catch fish with a net and a plastic container. It was funny watching them go in the water the try and net the fish. Then they made their way around the lake to me, and like all kids they say Hi and start asking questions. After 5 minutes I changed my setup and tries to catch them something so they woul go away. While I was doing this I heard beeping from my alarm and saw I had something. By the time I made my way back it stopped and lost whatever was one it. Though I didn't get anything it got me super excited to hear it go off. I put new bait on and cast it out once again. Some time passed and nothing happened, what a shock.

TL;DR
Tried new bite alarm, it went off, I didn't make it in time to set the hook.

Stupid Sun

It was out when I left and gone by the time I arrived at longwood. I set up and watch black clouds roll in. The wind soon followed, then thunder and more darkness. I got maybe 10 cast, one of them was to scare away a giant muskrat that was in my area. Didn't take very long till I packed up and left. It started raining as a drove home and I probably wasn't even gone for a half hour.

TL;DR
just read it...

Rain is wet

I decided to go fishing this afternoon when I woke up from my nap. It looked like it was going to rain and rain it did. Only once I was under the 82 bridge did it start. I was given a rain jacket for my birthday and brought it with me. I also waterproofed my boots the other day and now was the best time to see if I did it correctly. The rain was light at first then kept going away and coming back. That didn't stop me from fishing. When I arrived under the bridge I saw the current was moving pretty fast and knew this would be a problem. I did some scouting before I set up under the bridge. I knew the water would cause me problems and once my bait it the water that became true. The water took my bait down river even with the weight a had on the line. Cast after cast I wound loose my boilie and would have to tie on another. After about 5 cast of the bait not staying still I packed up and tried the creek next to it. I knew there were carp in this section from seeing them last year. The water level was low and made it hard to find a spot. I set up my bait and kept moving it every so often. The rain kept coming back, worse each time, but my rain jacket kept me dry. My boots also stayed dry the whole time and that also kept me from leaving. It wasn't long till I was bored and decided to leave. And like clockwork the second I take my bait out of the water I see a nice size carp swim out from the deeper water...

TL;DR
Went under the 82 bridge in the rain, lost boilies, stayed dry, didn't catch anything.

Fishing for water

Longwood, the only place that shows signs of life, still doesn't produce anything. I go there because it's close and if I don't catch anything it's not out of my way. But when I discovered how awesome carp fishing is I put all my efforts into getting another one at longwood. I made some dog food boilies the day before because it started raining right after I made them. I still think the boilies I make lose most of the flavor in the cooking process. The strawberry flavored boilies still smell like they could be fresh. So far they are the only ones to show signs of activity.
Like always there is a group of people on the dock so I tend to stay away from that area. One thing about fishing is that everyone always ask "catch anything" when they see you carrying equipment. It's not that I don't like talking to people but I don't see why they just can't nod or say hey.
Anyway, I put my rod holder in the dirt and walked around with my ultralight. I constantly look at it to see if its moving, but I know it never is. Once I get the bit alarms off of ebay I won't have to worry about anything because they will signal the second anything happens. Otherwise it was a pretty normal trip to the park, say some fish and none of them hit my bait.

TL;DR
Longwood is lame, but I keep going.

Press Start

It doesn't take much to get me to go fishing this time of the year. The sun was out and that's about all I need to convince myself. Luckily it was just as easy to make Chris come along. The water is still pretty cold because the weather hasn't been warm long enough to keep it steady. So with that in mind we headed to longwood to get the need for fishing out of my system.
I put on a new worm and left my bag in the car for once. The sun was no longer out by the time we got there. That makes the second time the sun has been shinning and I managed to get there in time to see it covered up by clouds. This time the wind was blowing but the breeze was warm. Surprisingly on my first cast I had something on the line. At first I thought I snagged something when the wind moved my line, but in this case the wind doesnt fight back. I didn't set the hook so I ended up not landing it. It felt good to have something pull back on my line so soon. It's a good sign for this year, I can feel it.

TL;DR
Nice weather, went fishing, didn't land the fish on my first cast, and started this years fishing "competition" with Chris.

Hello Sun.

It's been over a year since I started this blog and somehow I keep losing track of it. This year will be different, or so I hope.
Today I went out and got my fishing license, a new bag of worms, and a container full of dreams. Well not a literal container but the point is that this year will be better then the last. I plan on pursuing a lot more species of fish and plan to actually document it. My new phone will help me do this since it has a camera and the capability to use the internet anywhere. Yay mobile blogging! Now that I have a phone with a nice camera I may start doing video like I wanted last year.
With my hopes for the new fishing year I went to longwood. I knew there was no chance of catching anything since the water is still freezing. I wanted to go regardless just to walk around in the nice weather. I did see a carp in the water briefly and that was exciting. The second I can go fishing when I know the water is warm and they're bitting I'm going to sit out for hours trying to catch them. I'm pretty excited to make boilies again and try new flavors. Plus any bad batches can be used for catfish. I can't wait!

TL;DR
Yay fishing 2011!