I Got Nothing... but Ducks.

    Put in at East bank on Thursday with my friend Jim. We mainly fished the lower end. We went to the Dam then up to Lanier Island Bridge. From there we shot over to Big Creek. Noting, so we headed to Young Deer, West Bank and ended up back at the dam.

    We had a couple pull downs and a lot of lookers but they just would not bite. We fished Bluebacks as well as jigged Captain Mac Bucktails and Ben Parker spoons. I even ventured into a pack of guide boats... nothing.

Here are some ducks we fed a Blueback to...

Maybe next time....

Predator to Litte Ridge 8.16.2017

    I had not been out in the kayak for a few months so when my buddy Jim asked if I wanted to go I was all in.

    We met at Little Ridge Park at about 8 am and unloaded. I had never used this boat ramp before and it turned out to be pretty nice.. and free! The only issue was the dock was beached from the low lake level. That would make dealing with a boat challenging but doable. Luckily we only had out kayaks so no dock needed!

    We worked our way around  the docks for a while, only landing a dink each.

    Then we headed out to deeper water in search of schooling fish. We marked lots of bait and a few fish here and there but could not get anything to take the bait. Mostly we just trolled around talking and enjoying the day on the water.

    Around 12:30 the sun really started to beat down so we called it a day and loaded up.

    Another great day of fishing on the books!

Lights On The G3

    Since adding the t-top, I needed to relocate the anchor light from the stern to the top of the t-top. The existing light pole was a bit short once the top was added. It was also in the way back there with all of the rod holders. Adding a light to the top also allowed me to remove the holders for the pole lights (anchor and red/green navigation) running along the port side. These holders kept me from using that space for standing or placing rods up out of the way.

You can see how  the light laid before I removed the holders (low left in the picture)...

    I went with an Aqua Signal LED light. I decided on a taller light (19.5") so that I could also add a flag. The top came with three mounting plates so I installed the two small ones front and back for mounting the lights and fold down anchor light pole. I drilled the mounting holes before mounting it to the top. Once I had the plate mounted I used a soldering iron to make corresponding holes in the top fabric. I then put one gorilla sealant to the bottom of the light bracket and installed it on the top.

    From what I have seen in my night test, it looks like a very nice light.

    I did run into a problem with the flag. If I have rods in the holders while under way, the flag risks getting hooked while waving between the rods. I think I will pick up a few lure covers to cure this.

    Speaking of rod holders... I finally got my other two holders for Stryker for a total of 4. They look great. I also changed the angle from 40 to 30 degrees to stand them up just a little straighter.

    Since I had to run wires for the anchor light I went ahead and picked up two small LED lights from Walmart. The ones I sued were labeled as truck accent lights. They are small round lights that stick on. I  think they have 2 LEDs in them and they have a domed lens that makes them somewhat directional. I put one in the front of the top and one at the back. This lights up the entire area under the top very well.

Here is a shot with the flash on. Note how the flash lit up the defective material on the cord I used on the t-top in addition to the original lacing.

    I ran the wires in plastic conduit and secured the conduit with camo Gorilla Tape rather than zip ties so that the top material would not be subjected to fraying form rubbing on the plastic. I did use ties on the uprights leading down to the console.

    At the console I wired in a trailer plug. This allows me to unhook the harness when I take the top of to get into my garage. I have one space left on the plug for another accessories if needed. I wired up the other side of the plug and dropped it down through one of the rod holder holes on the console rather than drilling another hole. Tapping into a ground and power source where easy for the lights. I just had to put a blade on the power wire and tap into the last open switch on my new panel. As for the Anchor light, I tapped into the existing anchor light switch on the panel. This was probably the harder part of the install... finding out which wire was the one for that light. Once found, I tapped into to it and now I can still run the back light if I ever feel the need and I still use the original switch for the new light up top.  Win Win!

     I rarely fish at night but I look forward to trying these lights out. I hope to add flood/spot LEDs on the t-top at some point for lighting up docks etc while night fishing.

Rough Rainy Day on Lanier

    I hooked up with my buddy Jim and decided to try to dodge rain drops and search for some Stripers. We were to meet up with another fellow fisherman later in the day. Luckily we both had rain gear!

Rain

    We decided on an East Bank launch so I stopped at the bait shop on the dam and picked up 2 dozen Bluebacks and headed to the ramp where Jim was waiting for me. It was raining a little bit and the wind was up which made for some rough water once we were out on the main lake. For the most part it just slowed travel between spots. We were on the water for over an hour searching for schooling fish without even dropping a line. It was starting to get a bit frustrating. We checked around the dam and then headed over to Burton Mill. From there we went to Van Pugh to fish a bit while waiting on our third, Greg to arrive. We picked him up at the ramp around noon.

Jim manning the boat.

   
    The dock at Van Pugh is almost out of the water but we managed to tie up. Greg was nice enough to supply lunch then we headed out in search of fish. Greg got a Striper almost half an hour out then it was pretty much a bust after that. We tried over at Vanns Tavern around the humps without much luck, although we did mark a few fish.

Greg got a Striper

    By this time it was getting late so we headed back to East Bank to unload. While waiting on Greg's wife to show up we fished the cove at East Bank for a bit and marked a lot of fish. We only managed a decent catfish.

Joint effort (Jim & I) catfish

Jim & Greg monitoring the fish finder.

    Despite the rain and rough water, it was a great day to be on the water. The rain actually kept it nice and comfortable rather than burn up for the heat. The T top was awesome for helping to keep the rain off of our heads! I think we could have been more productive if we could have traveled faster between locations. One of the cons of a small light boat.

    All of the fish were caught on Bluebacks down about 25-30 feet while spot locked over them. Greg tried jigging a Bucktail and Captain Mac spoon but they just would not bite.

I look forward to fishing with these guys again.

T-Top Test Run,a Striper & Food

     After a long span since my last fishing trip I decided to take the boat out and hunt some Stripers. It also gave me a chance to try out my recent bait tank updates and my t-top install.

    I took the boat out of the garage on Wednesday and got the top put together. Once I got that back, I loaded my gear in the truck (man I love the camper top!). Thursday morning I headed out to get bait and meet up with one of my fishing buddies, Jim. We arrived at East Bank at around 8:15 or so. I know a lot of you think that I should get on the water much earlier. I agree! But my real job is making sure my better half is ready and off to work. She leaves the house around 7 which does not free me up until then to gather my last minute items and head out. Also I hate getting up early in the AM so even if I left her to fend for herself, I would probably still not get out at the crack of dawn LOL.

    The t-top seemed to handle the ride to the lake just fine.  I still have a bit of mistrust so I strapped the front legs down. Also technically the 5200 needed 7 days to cure and it had only been 4. While on the lake it felt sturdy and did not show a lot of movement while under way. I was careful not to put my full weight on it while making my way past it to go from one end of the boat to the other. I may still order the support bars available through Stryker for the front legs. I still need to get use to the lack of head room at the back as I hit my head on the rod holders a couple times! Overall the top was a blessing and made a world of difference in this Georgia heat.

    The Striper are down deep in the colder waters this time of year so we searched around near the Dam for a while. We only located a few fish here and there, not the "spaghetti" you would want to find. I did manage to land a 25.5 inch Striper over one of those spots down about 45 feet. This turned out to be the only fish of the day. We moved around looking for them from the dam all the way to Old Federal but just could not hook up. We did have several strong pull downs but they managed to escape.

    One of the highlights of the day was lunch at  Pig Tales on the lake. There is nothing like docking your boat and sitting down to some good old BBQ and Iced Tea!

    The new bait tank set up worked outstanding! I picked up 2 dozen Bluebacks, with an extra bucket of water ,on the way to the lake. As soon as I got them loaded up I turned on the bubbler and light. The light helps keep the bait calm. For the first time since owning the boat no bait died in the tank. There was one exception .... The net was left in the tank at one point and one of the bait got hung up and weakened Once freed he eventually died. I fed him to a duck we met along the way.
    I did add bait saver and a foam preventer about mid day. I'm not sure the saver was needed but the tank was getting a bit of foam that immediately cleared up once the foam preventer was added.
    I noticed very little if any battery drain running the bubble and light all day. The whole system is a win in my book.

Some pics from the day.....

25.5 inches

I usually do not keep them but I kept this one.

Docked at Fish Tales/Aqualand

Sailboats near Old Federal

Jim untangling his Blueback from his Ben Parker :))