Montauk Fishing Trip June 2021

We took another family trip with some family friends out to Montauk State Park in Salem, MO. Our friend has been fishing there since he was a kid, and he has helped my son and I become avid trout fishermen. This was our third time fishing at Montauk and every time we go we learn something new. 

The fishing was really good. On our last day, we caught our limits in less than two hours fishing! It was an amazing morning of fishing, and our strategy around some different lures was the key to our success.

I was specifically having some success with this rooster tail pattern. I caught two rainbows on it early Sunday morning. This one was a 1/8 oz rooster tail. 

They were also hitting some of my Marabou Hair Jigs.  I was able to catch rainbows fairly consistently by jigging and bumping on the bottom.

The weather was hot. It got into the 90s by mid to late afternoon. We wore our waders even in the afternoon when it got warm.  The spring water stays very cool, and it was refreshing even with waders on.

Secret Lures

All I can say is Lil' Shaka and I also tried out some different lures we have never used before. It's called "Let's go to Academy and see what kind of mastermind lures we can come up with". Hah!  What I will say is that we were able to catch a lot of rainbows on what we came up with.

Stay Committed, Stay Driven my friends.

Fishing Thoughts End of June 2021

The fishing has been great in June depending on which ponds I am fishing. The wacky worms are still producing fish. Yesterday was one of the first times I have focused on switching between specific colors of the stick baits. It is truly amazing how sometimes the fish will bite anything, and other times they are very favorable to a specific color pattern. Yesterday they were really hammering the craw colored stickbait by Creme. 

I also tried a bubble gum pattern stickbait by Bass Pro, but no hits.  I also tried a green pumpkin stickbait my son found on the bank (I don't know brand) and it produced a few fish. It wasn't as favored by the fish like the craw colored stickbait.

I switched over to a weightless Texas rigged worm that my son found on the bank again! Thank you Lil' ShakaOG!  I was able to get bit and pull this bass onto the bank!

Tight lines to you all! Stay Committed, Stay Driven.

June 2021 Fishing Adventures Are On Fire!

 

Lil' ShakaOG caught a nice 3 pounder yesterday.  Most of the ponds we fish in right now most of the fish species are in post-spawn.  The bigger bass seem to be hiding a bit deeper now.  But, you can clearly see the smaller bass running the banks right now.

Bank Fishing Secret

The biggest thing I think that has lead to our current success catching bass during the post-spawn has been making sure we are not positioned right next to the bank and next to the water.  THE FISH CAN SEE YOU!  They can also hear you, and feel the vibration of your steps as you walk around.  So right now, I can say our success in catching bass from the bank has absolutely been how we approach were we are positioned on the bank.  We are throwing our lures to the bank, but we are 5-10 yards away from the actual bank.  This as proved to be a gamechanger.  I think we are not disturbing or scaring the fish away when we do this, and we are getting the bites because of it!

Tight Lines to ALL OF YOU! Stay Committed, Stay Driven!

Lil' Shaka hitting some fishing goals

 

Goal 1: Catch a fish in a rainy overcast day.

Lil' Shaka was able to achieve goal 1 fairly quickly. I think on his second cast he had a bass come up and chomp on his Yum Dinger. We were specifically using a green pumpkin and white belly pattern.  I think the bass can really see this pattern in an overcast day. Even though a cold front moved in, we both noticed the fish and the water was still warm. So the bite seemed to continue to be on!

Sure enough, we both continued to catch bass on our Yum Dingers with wacky rigs. I actually wasn't using a Yum Dinger.  I still had an orange crawfish color "Bama Craw" stick bait from the company Creme. I picked these up from Walmart a while back, and I have caught some big bass with them!

Goal 2: Catch a Fish in a Specific Pond using Wacky Rig.

The Lil' Shaka caught this 2lbs bass yesterday at one of the ponds that is in the regular rotation. He caught this one on a Yum Dinger in a Wacky Rig configuration. He was casting into an area where there are some good size logs.  He was rewarded with the fish from the pic you see above!

The Goal: Catch Fish at a Finicky Pond

We have a pond not far from where we live that has been elusive to my son and I in terms of catching fish. We usually take our bikes out there with some fishing poles and try like hell to catch fish. Goal completed!

The last couple of times we fished there we were successful with our wacky rigs. I think this pond gets fished quite a bit, and I am guessing this is not a lure that the fish see that much.

I also notice that the bass we catch there are all fairly good size. All of them have been about 1.5lbs to 2lbs.  It seems like there are less bass in this pond, but they are definitely there.

We caught 4 bass on this day and we walked all the way around the pond. On this day, son was using a Yum Dinger in a black with red and gold flake pattern that was working really well.  I continued to use my Creme Bama Craw stick bait.

I hope you are all having a great weekend. Stay Committed, Stay Driven...

 

Big Mama said hi to Lil' Shaka and me

Lil' Shaka and I went fishing yesterday. The Big Mama that you see in the photo was a 4.5 pounder. This is one of the biggest fish I've caught in the last year, and definitely one of the biggest I've caught at one of our favorite ponds. The wacky rig with the Yum Dingers has proven to be an unbelievable combination for catching bass right now for us. 

Lil' Shaka got into the action as well. He set some goals for this session. The first goal was to become comfortable with the Ugly Stick bait caster I bought for him some time ago. It is a heavy power and fast action rod, and I think a 6'6 or 7 foot rod. He was casting his lure, and I noticed he was doing it with little to no backlash.

His second goal was to try and catch a bass on a wacky rig. Well, he accomplished his second goal as well by catching not one, but three different bass on the wacky rig that day!

In terms of the environment we were fishing in, the water was warm as it was around 87 or 88 degrees out and sunny. The water was very clear, but the pond had a lot of grass and weeds. It was fun to watch him hit his goals on this day!