Raccoon Lake 7-19-11

[Greenedog]

Chase and me got up at 3:30 this morning and drove up to Cecil M. Harden Reservoir(Raccoon Lake ) to troll for stripers, using live bluegills for bait. We had the lake to ourselves, but the fish weren't cooperating. I fired a text off to ericjeeper for advice and he didn't disappoint. He shared his "hot spot" and we immediately started marking some big fish. We had a couple down rods off the side of the boat that the graph was picking up and we could see big fish coming up to our baits, but they just wouldn't take it. Eric suggested dropping a spoon down in them so we tied on a Weldon Tackle #3 spoon that Brian had sent us to try out, but they still weren't interested.
After a few more hours we started getting hot and decided this would be our last pass. The wind changed directions and picked up and when we got to the wind blown bank the fish were just piled up underneath us. I dropped the spoon down and bam! Fish on! It was about a 14" white bass, but I was glad to have the skunk off. I ended up catching a 13 and 15 incher too before they scattered.

The catch and Weldon Tackle spoon. Thanks Brian!

We lasted about 7 hours before the heat drove us off the lake. No big ones this time, but we'll give it another shot when it cools off. We did have one short run without a hook up and when Chase reeled it in half the gill was gone.

Thanks again to ericjeeper for all the help!

[jsanders]

I thought that boat looked familiar. I was in the kubota rtv and running the chain saw picking up limbs this morning. How deep were you fishin? I was talkin to a guy today that said they were about 13 foot down and he only had two.

[B-rad]

i c ya caught those by the dam(;

[Greenedog]

Jul 19, 2011 15:16:53 GMT -5 jsanders said:

I thought that boat looked familiar. I was in the kubota rtv and running the chain saw picking up limbs this morning. How deep were you fishin? I was talkin to a guy today that said they were about 13 foot down and he only had two.

We wondered if that was you. Looked like you were doing more riding than working.

The 3 I caught were all in 20 feet, right on the bottom. But they were only there when the wind picked for a little bit there and the waves were rolling pretty good. They are fun to catch. I wouldn't mind going back and just fishing for white bass!

[jsanders]

My experience for white bass at the lake is pretty good but always on top. Usually see them hit top and throw a spoon or something really shiny and chrome. I've been wanting to take my lil 14 footer out to catch them but I've never ate them. Are they good eatin? You should throw a lil tourney out there sometime. I will go if it is on a weekend or evening.

[Greenedog]

Jul 19, 2011 16:10:33 GMT -5 jsanders said:

I've been wanting to take my lil 14 footer out to catch them but I've never ate them. Are they good eatin? You should throw a lil tourney out there sometime. I will go if it is on a weekend or evening.

I think temperate bass(striper, wiper, white bass) are real good. The thing is that you MUST cut out the red meat, which is fat and nasty tasting. The fat is on the outside of the filet against the skin and there's also a strip down the middle of the filet. Get rid of the red and you're left with some excellent meat.
Here's a link I just found that shows one way to clean them. www.blueheronguide.com/recipe.html

We might have to do a tourney one of these days. I'm not much of a "tourney fisherman" but they are fun!

[brutom]

Those are some nice fish, guys!

Boiler-Up, Chase!

[jsanders]

Gona have to try them now. I can't pass up cajun....anything. Thanks for link.

[Brian]

Nice catches guys. I'm glad the Weldon spoon helped you guys catch some fish. hopefully you'll get the big ones next time.