Jugging and Jigging
By Bob Zettler
July 5, 2015
While I actually used minnows, I had a good Fourth by
past standards.
Went over to Leprechaun Landing early afternoon on Friday
to work on boat. I had to replace the
transponder on the bow as it was showing a flashing 60 for depth and do some
other minor maintenance. Finally got to
the line at the ramp after six and discovered it was the high water ramp which
I hadn’t used before – it is STEEP!
Anyway, no fights getting it on the water and was able to
head out by 7 PM. Man was it still
choppy! Had minnows, worms and leaches
on board and decided to hit at least one spot for Crappie before my friend,
Benny shows up for “jugging” and let me tell you it is rough trying to find the
spot and hold on it without that front unit as it still didn’t work! Seems that
now the fuse was blown and somehow my container of backup fuses was missing –
should have checked it BEFORE I hit the water…
Next on the list was my remote for the trolling motor
wasn’t working – either a dead battery on the remote or??? So back to the foot pedal and now the on/off
for the motor wasn’t working! And I improvised
by turning the switch to on and simply sliding the speed control but then the turning contacts on the right
side acted up and I got pissed and smashed the on/off for good I’m afraid…
My Noodle WIP |
Only caught a couple of small Crappie and one nice one
before it was time to head back to pick up Benny who had so graciously picked
up some fuses from Casey’s. Now I hadn’t
finished my noodles for jugging but I had ten jugs on hand that Virgil Smith
loaned me from Leprechaun Landing – THANK you Virgil and Benny had another
eight so we had enough to get stated.
Neither of us had been on Shelbyville to Jug but I had
thought going up Wolf might produce so we motored up there in the
darkness. No one else was there and
Benny tried his hand at netting some shad and after a dozen+ tries gave up and
it was up to the leaches and nightcrawlers.
We baited all 18 jugs and placed them around and thought we would try
out my LED light for the first time in a couple of years – the last time it’s
predecessor shorted out and almost got me twig and berries as I was sitting
above the compartment where the battery was stored!
We went to one tree that Benny liked and tried our hand
for 90 minutes or so and did terrible - just a couple of small Crappie and Whites. I took the time to put together six of my
Noodle Jugs and we went back to check on things. At first it looked like the jugs were where
we had placed them but then we noticed several had been pulled into the flooded
brush. The first one had a straightened
hook which meant we lost a BIG one. Another
came up with a carp and the third had a really nice Catfish on it that had
tangled himself in the brush. Finally
got him in the net and as Benny did, it came off the hook – good timing!
Benny's Catch |
That was it. SO we
decided to make sushi out of the Carp and baited them all again and my six
noodles and then placed them in another area hoping for the best. As it was getting late, we only fished for
another hour and went back to check on things and lo and behold I had a fish on
one of my jugs. No, not the new ones but
the loaner. Wasn’t anywhere as big as
Benny’s but it was my first. Seeing
Benny was now several hours late getting home (I told him to tell his wife to
blame me), I dropped Benny off at the ramp while I cleaned up.
Sunrise July 5, 2015 |
As it was breaking light, I went north to try a spot I
found a few weeks ago on the main lake before the onslaught began. Again, it was near impossible to locate and
even hold on that spot so after an hour I gave up and hit some brush in a cove
nearby that had produced fish for me last weekend. Around 7 AM I was interrupted by Brian
(Crappie24) who tried to help me and marked another spot nearby before heading
out.
I decided to stay where I was as I could see the drunks
waking up and hitting the main lake making waves and I was catching fish. It wasn’t as good as last weekend but ended
up one shy of my overs when the minnows ran out and had kept a few unders as
they had eaten their hooks earlier. As
my gas gauge doesn’t work, and not being sure how much I had consumed last
weekend and the past night, I hit the Findlay Marina for gas just in case as I
had really consumed the power in my batteries.
It was a zoo what with people pulling into refuel and then leaving their
watercraft there while they did whatever.
I finally got gas and decided against more minnows (a first) and headed
back to Wolf. What a ride as the wake(s)
from everyone was hard on me. Had water
in my face most of the trip back.
Final Catch |
Then it was dealing with idiots at the high water ramp. There are way too many idiots and
self-centered people out there with watercraft.
I mean what possess people to drop their boat off in the water, take up
the only places you can tie your boat too while you run get your trailer, AND
THEN start loading their boats! They
should have loaded their boats long before putting them in the water. And then this one “family” waits on three
additional trips for gear while the one guy holds it against the middle of the
dock so no one can tie up behind or in front of him. And on the other side, after 20 minutes or
more, they finally decide to leave and he doesn’t even turn around and almost
plows into me!!!
After waiting nearly 30 minutes I tie up ALL the way to
the front of the dock, grab my trailer and try then to get the boat on it. With no help and battling the others, I get
it loaded and pull out to tie it down only to discover my one bottom board on
the trailer had broke and was only holding on by its carpet. Pulled it the rest of the way off, wrapped
the carpet around the trailer and went on to Leprechaun Landing where I store
it. That’s when I discovered one of my
borrowed jugs must have flown out of the boat as I battled the wake. Not a great way to end the last 20 hours but
at least I was alive, had fish and time to rehydrate on the way home. In fact, I finished three 12 ounce Coke Zero’s
and three Gatorade’s before I made it home and didn’t even have to stop to pee.
Wow!
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