Longpoint Bay with John F.

[The Urban Fisherman]

Hey guys! I'll let John do the talkin' as I've got grass to cut and house projects to get finished so I can sell this joint! Thanks for comin' out with me John! It was a great time out on the water and I'm looking forward to hitting the lake with you once again soon!

 

runnin out

 

decent fish but skinny...

 

fish water?

 

johns first of the day

 

big fish of the day!

 

Cheers,

Ryan

[Pigeontroller]

Whats with the glove? Don't like to touch the 'icky' fishies?

[danbouck]

How did you get the bay to look like that? lol I had an extremely wet ride back in yesterday. Doesn't matter who you are the first fish of the day in Long Point is a Rock Bass!

[Twocoda]

Looks like a descent bass !! Nice shootin! ....

[JohnF]

Whats with the glove? Don't like to touch the 'icky' fishies?

 

Between pike stink , rock bass spines, and city boy thumb rawness from lipping bass I'll take the wussy route. I started wearing them last year on a very cold day when I decided there was no way I was spending 4 hours out in the water without some kind of gloves. I tried 'em and liked 'em. Golf gloves don't impede casting or really anything else. They handle lots of water very well. Just be sure to get the good cabretta leather ones. The cheap ones just fall apart. I have a bunch of them in my golf bag so why not?

 

I worked on the kill floor of a slaughterhouse for two summers so I'm way past squeamish. I'm okay with sticking my thumb down a bass throat but if I don't have to ....

 

JF

[fish-miester]

good stuff! ps do you have a pic of your boat?!

[danbouck]

good stuff! ps do you have a pic of your boat?!

 

 

[fish-miester]

haha well thanks for the tease Dan

 

I know it looks like Daves boat. but i wanted to see pics

Edited July 18, 2010 by fish-meister

[danbouck]

haha well thanks for the tease Dan

 

I know it looks like Daves boat. but i wanted to see pics

 

lol that's the only pic I was allowed to post at the time (The show with it didn't air yet)

[JohnF]

Hey guys! I'll let John do the talkin' as I've got grass to cut and house projects to get finished so I can sell this joint! Thanks for comin' out with me John! It was a great time out on the water and I'm looking forward to hitting the lake with you once again soon!

 

runnin out

 

I met up with Ryan at his house fairly early this morning. I just had to watch for the canary yellow XTerra and the Subway Baby Bassboat. With the intros out of the way we dumped my gear in his SUV and headed out. One quick stop for gas and then we were heading out Long Point to the marina.

 

Loading went quickly and in no time we were heading out of the marina. The bay was like glass and we had a sweet smooth ride out to the first stop.

 

decent fish but skinny...

 

Have you ever noticed how soliticitous, even guilty, the guy sounds when he's invited you out to his "spot"? Like he owes you fish now that he's dragged you out. Well, Ryan's no exception. Of course that didn't stop him from bagging the first couple of fish. I want you all to take note of the fact that he didn't post a pic of "his" rock bass.

 

fish water?

 

Whoda thunk water like this wouldn't hold some bass. Nuff said.

 

johns first of the day

 

Ryan had pretty well guilted hisself by the time I caught this monster and he wanted to preserve the moment for posterity. I guess he figgered I'd be fooled into thinking it was a major catch.

 

big fish of the day!

 

But then, just when we were about to give up, we were desperately working the boathouse row going into the marina with wacky worms and plastic jig craws, Ryan snarled "Get yer worm into that boathouse, now!". Well, perhaps snarled is an exaggeration but he said it with authority. Never being one to question those smarter than me I complied, stuffing my little worm way back in the boathouse. It didn't even get time to settle before .. BBBAAAMMMM .. this little freight train nailed it. Then it got kinda funny. Just as I was about to drop to my knees to lip the little guy I'm less than elegantly pushed to the side by Ryan scrambling to get to the fish. He apologized later but explained that he didn't wanna take any chances on losing this trophy for the day. Whatever.

 

It was a nice fish. We were wishing we'd had a scale cuz it was one heavy little bugger for the length.

 

So that explains the pics. Now for some observations.

 

1. Chandos Lake has more pretty girls than Long Point Bay, not that I was noticing particularly. Avery is just a tad young to be mentioned in this context, and if I did Ryan would probably hit me. But she sure is cute, and chatty.

 

2. LPB is very shallow. I kept asking Ryan what all those guys sitting out in the middle of the bay knew that he didn't. He says that as far as he knows that's how you fish the inner bay. Just sit there with a lure out and wait for a fish to come a-knockin'. But then he went on to say that he's got a lot to learn about LPB and maybe one day he'll fish it like that.

 

3. Dark green worms seem to be the order of the day there. My bubble gum worms caught bupkis.

 

4. When riding across the bay at 24 mph in a jon boat one is advised not to sit on the front platform. But if you must then try wearing a jock. Your boys will thank you. Ryan was thoughtful enuf to provide a sling chair which I used religiously after the first long move.

 

5. Aside from the jewel rattling characteristics a jonboat is not a bad way to fish without blowing the budget. It's got nice flat floor space and has room to set it up with a trolling motor and front and rear sonar/gps/whatever.

 

5a. It's kinda fun watching folks watching you as you cruise by in a wrapped boat. Ryan's is a Subway ad and definitely stands out. I'm sure a lot of folks watching assumed I was Mercer. Sorry Dave.

 

6. Ryan didn't provide quite the running guide monologue that Garry does but in his defence he did point out that he's still learning the bay hisself. It was interesting to hear a few stories about how they do the Facts of Fishing Show and he did give me a few useful tips on Phish Photography 101.

 

7. There's a submerged tree somewhere in the middle of the bay that has fish on it. I caught a few there dropshotting. Actually we both did but mine were more meaningful.

 

8. When someone is generous enuf to invite one of us Great Boatless Ones to join them on their boat for a day of fishing in their backyard they really don't have to apologize if they don't produce instant fish. But for some reason they do, so for you others like me, when you get a chance to join someone on their boat tell them clearly beforehand that you understand that fishcatching is a hit and miss proposition and that it's enuf just to get out on the water, see some new fishing terrain and try some methods you might not get to use at home - that you're just happy to be fishing.

 

9. Close the rear tailgate on yer suv when backing the boat into the garage. Don't ask me how I know.

 

Conclusions:

 

1. Ryan's a real nice guy. Who else would give up a shot at a boathouse bass after a kind of skunky day.

 

2. There's gotta be more to LPB fishing that I'm missing. The conditions I saw either didn't seem right to attract fish, and where they did, it wasn't working. We motored out to join the flotilla herded together on the flats, worked around them for a while and then headed off for another jewelbuster ... mmmmm ... ride to find a more interesting place to play. We covered a lot of water this morning.

 

So Ryan, thanks. I enjoyed my day. It was definitely worth the trip, even if I hadn't caught your bass at the end of the day.

[danbouck]

2. LPB is very shallow. I kept asking Ryan what all those guys sitting out in the middle of the bay knew that he didn't. He says that as far as he knows that's how you fish the inner bay. Just sit there with a lure out and wait for a fish to come a-knockin'. But then he went on to say that he's got a lot to learn about LPB and maybe one day he'll fish it like that.

 

The channel out there is deeper and holds a lot of fish. You are almost guaranteed to catch fish out there. Just sit and drift minnows or leeches. I grew up fishing like that with my Dad. These days I get too bored

 

2. There's gotta be more to LPB fishing that I'm missing. The conditions I saw either didn't seem right to attract fish, and where they did, it wasn't working. We motored out to join the flotilla herded together on the flats, worked around them for a while and then headed off for another jewelbuster ... mmmmm ... ride to find a more interesting place to play. We covered a lot of water this morning.

 

Because of the weather this year the Smallmouth have moved far out early. If the weather is good you can drive out and catch smallies all day.

[smally21]

nice weather on the bay - good for you. i dont usually get as deep into longpoint as where you guys are, usually further out by ec10 and pottohawk point. finally got into smallies around the channel past the bar the other day - lots on jigheads with worms and gulp leeches. for the amount of fish reported to be in the bay it can be tough fishing so i hear you brother. i always seem to catch the'off day'. im there about every other week so if you see the blue stratos stop by and i'll tell you what's not working.....

[Guest Johnny Bass]

At least you got out there and no one got skunked or injured!

[JohnF]

At least you got out there and no one got skunked or injured!

 

I suppose I should have ended with "No thumbs were destroyed in the making of this story".

 

Although I did manage to stick a hook up under a fingernail.

 

How is yer thumb doing?

 

JF

[solopaddler]

Glad to see you guys made it out and actually caught some fish!

 

Ryan, good luck with the house sale. It's usually the initial burst of interest/views that sells it, otherwise it'll be a long wait.

 

John, you look a lot different sans beard. Younger and more vibrant, yet somehow less distinguished.

The Sean Connery look was cool.

[Spiel]

 

John, you look a lot different sans beard. Younger and more vibrant, yet somehow less distinguished.

The Sean Connery look was cool.

 

LOL....I was thinking the same thing.

 

Nice to see you getting out and about John, always makes for some good reading.

Thanks for the thread Ryan.

 

 

 

 

[The Urban Fisherman]

John - Funny and well written report as usual! That's why I figured I'd let you do the talkin' - One last time, thanks again for the company and the real estate tips! You're a cool dude!

 

Fish-Meister - I honestly don't know if I have any pix of the boat from the outside... most of my pix are from the inside with a fish in my hand!

 

Dano - I could never just sit there anchored waiting for fish to come to me! I don't know how the local guys do it... I just don't have the patience! We toyed with going out to EC1 etc. but decided to stick with largies on the inner bay which may have been our demise but what're you gonna do.

 

Smally21 - Thanks for the heads up! I prefer fishin' smallies in the deeper water but with my little jon boat there aren't many days I can get out to them. I've only fished the bay a half dozen times or so and have been frustrated with it but have a couple of spots to call my own and hopefully with time I'll put a seasonal pattern together for what will soon be my "home" body of water. Keep your eyes peeled for me as well and hopefully we'll bump into each other on the water soon.

 

JB - No lost fingers, John made sure of that by wearing his shark gloves! but let me tell you we came damn near close to a skunkin' We likely would have been better off staying on spot #1 because we were seeing fish all over but they were lock-jawed. So we figured the right thing to do would be to leave the fish? lol oh well - we eliminated some water on the bay which is part of learning a new lake. Lukily I was sleeping at the wheel on that last good bass and he was willing to eat Johns follow up bait...made up for a tough day on the water.

Edited July 19, 2010 by The Urban Fisherman

[JohnF]

Glad to see you guys made it out and actually caught some fish!

 

Ryan, good luck with the house sale. It's usually the initial burst of interest/views that sells it, otherwise it'll be a long wait.

 

John, you look a lot different sans beard. Younger and more vibrant, yet somehow less distinguished.

The Sean Connery look was cool.

 

 

Yeah, but I get tired of fighting off older women.

 

JF

[JohnF]

So we figured the right thing to do would be to leave the fish? lol oh well - we eliminated some water on the bay which is part of learning a new lake. Lukily I was sleeping at the wheel on that last good bass and he was willing to eat Johns follow up bait...made up for a tough day on the water.

 

I like checking out unknown water. The fish you catch are always more like a reward. If I go to proven water then I feel doubly let down when I get skunked.

 

As for you being asleep at the switch I think it was more a case of you wanting to be a good host and letting me get the big fish. Boathouses are fun, even if people do look askance at you.

 

JF

[JohnF]

John, you look a lot different sans beard. Younger and more vibrant, yet somehow less distinguished.

The Sean Connery look was cool.

 

I looked at my avatar again and realized yer confusing a distinguished look with pained. In fact I was just out of the water after a 45 minute dive in temps just barely north of freezing. That on top of climbing about 40 steps with a heavy pair of tanks on my tank. Mebbe all that Bond stuff made Connery look pained too.

 

JF

[Guest Johnny Bass]

JB - No lost fingers, John made sure of that by wearing his shark gloves! but let me tell you we came damn near close to a skunkin' We likely would have been better off staying on spot #1 because we were seeing fish all over but they were lock-jawed. So we figured the right thing to do would be to leave the fish? lol oh well - we eliminated some water on the bay which is part of learning a new lake. Lukily I was sleeping at the wheel on that last good bass and he was willing to eat Johns follow up bait...made up for a tough day on the water.

 

Finger is feeling better John. Just dont know if I will ever be able to bend it....

 

Urban.The best thing to do would be to get a lure that casts really far from the boat. The ones around the boat are spooked. But sometimes they do turn on right underneath the boat.

Edited July 19, 2010 by Johnny Bass