11/16-From Champ to Chump...

[bulletbob]

met a couple guys I work with at the Susquehanna River early this am.. I couldn't stay too long, but did have a few hours.. About my 2nd cast with a Gulp minnow jig, I got slammed hard.. At first I thought I snagged one of the 100,000,000,000,00 boulders in the river, but then the boulder started to move.. Long slow fight, and then i saw a huge golden flash .. It was a really big Walleye .. I got her in on the rocks, and I mean this thing had shoulders like a carp.. probably 28 inches, and as big around as a damn football.. maybe 7-8 pounds or so.. For just a second I thought about taking her home,[lotsa good meat there], but that big breeder is a lot more valuable in the river than fried and in a sandwich on a hard roll with cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo..
I was feeling pretty good about myself , and reveling in my great angling skills.. However that was my LAST hit..

A guy in a boat anchored up close by us, and instantly started BAILING SMB , one after another... Ok, he's in a boat, maybe he's on a little piece of bottom, thats loaded. My friends were casting live minnows in the exact same water he was, and NEVER had a hit...

Then a guy comes down, and starts fishing not 3 feet from me. nice guy, lots of room for everyone, .
I told him about the Walleye I caught, he said he would NEVER let a fish like that go... i told him the SMB bite was slow except for that guy in the boat near my friends... he says, "well, I'm about to get some too"..
I though yeah, good luck with that.. My jigs haven't been touched in an hour.
Of course, he started bailing fish after fish.. One bass after another fishing shoulder to shoulder to me... He was using tannish color tubes.. Nothing special, Just throwing and slowly jigging them in same as me...
He saw my dismay, and tossed me a few of his tubes... Needless to say, I was never touched while he continued to pound the fish relentlessly.. He was there to fill his bucket with bass, which he did quickly sad to say.. i went home with my tail between my legs like a whipped pup... Its not the first time its happened, and I will never understand why it happens.. just something those 2 guys were doing that I wasn't doing was triggering the bite, and it was relentless, while mine was non existent after the big PB Walleye. jeez,I HATE when that happens..

I had the same bite last week.. Caught 15 fat keeper size SMB [all released] in 1/2 hour in the same spot, a legal fish every 2 minutes!.. This week, I looked and felt like an incompetent moron.. Biting fish all around me, and I never had a tap.
There have been a few times in my like when I was the guy catching all the fish in this type of situation,, but I'll tell ya' its does NOT make up for the times, when you get your clock cleaned... These guys were catching bass by the dozen, and we didn't get one!


Happens a lot on party boats too.. Some guy gets hammered right and left, and is boating fish after fish and the guy 1 foot from him[me usually!] using the same rigs, and same bait never gets touched...


So on the day I got a really nice PB Walleye, I came away feeling deflated and inadequate.. I need to get out and hammer those bass again before it gets too cold.. Just to prove to myself I,m not a horrible fisherman... I hope at least a few of you veteran fishermen can relate to my angst... bob

[FASTEDDIE29]

I feel your pain Bob. I'm having a rough go at GWL, while other anglers are doing well. At least you got the BRUISER of the day! I know and you know that once the SMALLIE bite dies down it's all Walleye. With the cold coming in on Tuesday, the SMALLIE window is almost closed. You can get em in the colder months, just takes a little more finesse. My favorite month for Bronze is March.

Anyway TIGHT LINEZ buddy! You'll get yours next time. Monster WALLEYE, congrats!!!

[bulletbob]

I feel your pain Bob. I'm having a rough go at GWL, while other anglers are doing well. At least you got the BRUISER of the day! I know and you know that once the SMALLIE bite dies down it's all Walleye. With the cold coming in on Tuesday, the SMALLIE window is almost closed. You can get em in the colder months, just takes a little more finesse. My favorite month for Bronze is March.

Anyway TIGHT LINEZ buddy! You'll get yours next time. Monster WALLEYE, congrats!!!

Its not the fact that the bite dies down or anything for me.. If I was alone, it would have been fine... Its the fact that guys only feet from me were hammering the bass left and right using the same techniques.. I mean it was awful.. i felt stupid... ah, no biggie, i have mohawked the SMB there many times before, yesterday i just wasn't "dialed in" and other guys wer.. It sure hurst while its happening though!... March for smallies?.. lol.. Up here we're still locked in ice in March! April and May are good, but we aren't allowed to fish for them, even C&R.. Big fine if you get caught too... bob

[FASTEDDIE29]

I catch the Smallies jigging for Walleye in March. Not necessarily targeting them, they are just hungry. This is usually on the BIG D or the Raritan.

[AndyS]

Cool report, congrats on the PB walleye !!

[Eskimo]

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Bulletbob, I feel your pain.
I have bad luck. I don't know how many times I've sat there watching my limp line or lonely lure in the water while everybody around me was jumping around ecstatically landing big fish.

There's few a reasons why I prefer to fish alone. One of them is that awkwardness that comes from fishing right alongside somebody that having a great day while I'm getting shit. If I don't catch anything, I'm satified to say that NONE of the fish were biting today. I don't need somebody carrying a full-stringer of fish to show me that the fish weren't biting just for me.




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[bulletbob]

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Bulletbob, I feel your pain.
I have bad luck. I don't know how many times I've sat there watching my limp line or lonely lure in the water while everybody around me was jumping around ecstatically landing big fish.

There's few a reasons why I prefer to fish alone. One of them is that awkwardness that comes from fishing right alongside somebody that having a great day while I'm getting shit. If I don't catch anything, I'm satified to say that NONE of the fish were biting today. I don't need somebody carrying a full-stringer of fish to show me that the fish weren't biting just for me.

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It really is an awful feeling.. Most fishermen can relate..
As I stated in my post, just a week earlier standing on the same rocks[alone], I caught 15 nice keeper size bass in my first 1/2 hour.. A legal bass every 2 minutes, and totaled 22 bass in about an hour and a half..
So I usually know how to catch SMB.. However, on the day in my report, using the same methods and jigs, I couldn't get a touch while others a foot from me were catching fish after fish after fish... There has got to be a reason... Whenever this has happened, I took careful notice as to what the "lucky " guys were doing, and did the exact same.. Its never worked, not even once!.. lol.. I have plenty of good days, and I usually catch my share, so i am not really complaining.. just would like to get a better handle on exactly why it happens sometimes, and even making adjustments doesn't help... bob