Thursday, June 30, 2011

New boating law

For those of you who like to drink a cold one while you're on the water, listen up! Starting tomorrow the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) for boat operators will be .08 instead of the .10 which it had been. With the new law, law enforcement will surely increase their patrols and checks. Be careful guys.

Monday, June 27, 2011

The R word

It started raining around 8 P.M last night and has been raining since. Wait, I haven't got to the good part yet! Here goes. The Skunk has come back up three feet, give or take an inch or two. I don't believe the river will ever get a chance to settle down. Does anybody know where a guy can find a good checker board? Seriously!


UPDATE: WE'RE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE, AGAIN!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Out of practice?

I spent two hours on the Skunk and got two bites but missed them both. I can't imagine that I'm out of practice. It's only been weeks since I caught a catfish. Then it clouded up and all I could think was that I should get off the river before it storms. I found it impossible to relax and fish. It's unfortunate that a guy can't relax and focus on catching fish because the weather is so consistently threatening. I really didn't expect that the fish would be biting but I had to give it a try. Nobody else was on the river but there were a few people on or around the dam. Nothing going on.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Rained out!!!!!!!!!!!

I went to bed last night with tentative plans to hit the Ol Miss with T.C. but I chickened out this morning since we had rain on the way. It's a good thing though because it rained all day. Its getting so my street doesn't even get dry before it starts raining again. I think I might trade my SeaArk in for a crappie boat, or better yet, maybe a checker board. What do you think?

Friday, June 24, 2011

Crappie, again?

Yea, I did it again. I tried to be a crappie fisherman again but I didn't do as well as yesterday. Five hours of fishing, two crappie. Maybe I should stick to chasing catfish, if the weather and river ever allow. There is no doubt I will stick to catfishig but I reserve the right to hit the crappie, bluegill or whatever other fish I can catch when I can't get to the catfish.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Roy, Crappie fishing?

The Skunk is still falling, seven feet in three days, but I figured the fishing would still be off so I wrote off the river. I'm almost ashamed to admit it but I spent the day on Lake Sugema crappie fishing. It was the first time I have fished for anything other than catfish in years. It did feel a little weird but it wasn't all bad. I managed to catch seven which isn't even half of what Chub caught. In addition to catching more fish than I did, Chub laughed at me all day because I didn't bring my rain suit. I was wet and cold all day. Yea, it rained on us. The wind was blowing so hard that I almost fell out of the boat several times.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Against my better judgement I decided to force the issue and soak some bait on the rapidly falling Skunk River. With a few green sunfish I caught from Pond X I headed down to the river. After trying the culvert on both sides of the road and along the fence by the dam I gave up. Nothing doing. The Skunk fell a little over three feet to just below flood stage, since midnight last night so I wasn't expecting a lot of success. I just wanted to give it a try. It had been so long since I fished that I almost got a bird nest on my Garcia 7000. I'm glad nobody was around.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Weather man?

I've come to realize that at some point I have morphed into some sort of arm chair weatherman. I suppose even I can't help but pick up a thing or two about meteorology after watching the Weather Channel non stop for four years. It was quite a surprised when I received my honorary doctorate in meteorology.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Vacation day 8

The Skunk is still two and a half feet above flood stage and it basically rained all night. The rain and thunder woke me up at 1 A.M. and it has been raining since. For all intents and purposes the best fishing of the year, April through June, has slipped by. Thats not to say that we won't catch a fish or two later in the year but there won't be any days where we can anchor up and catch a limit of keepers in one spot. I have to admit that I have already written this year off so if things turn around and I am able catch a fish or two at some point, it will be a bonus. I am already looking forward to next spring. Hopefully the weather will be better that that of the last four years.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Still nothing

I saw a catfish today. I saw an advertisement for In-fisherman on the Outdoor Channel and they showed a blue cat. Other than that I still don't have anything good to say. Sorry!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Don't say anything

It's only 7:45 A.M. and the news is already bad. I turned on The Weather Channel and what did I see? The radar shows all the red, yellow, orange and green headed straight for us. Rain. When I was growing up my mom would tell me "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all".

Friday, June 17, 2011

Vacation day 7

Last night I was looking for any glimmer of hope that the weather might someday turn around
and let us fish so I gave T.C. a call. T.C. wasn't able to tell me things would get better anytime soon. He wasn't able to tell me where I could go to catch some catfish today but he made me laugh as he always does. THANKS T.C.!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Speechless

Honestly, I don't know what to say. I guess the good news is that the sun is shining. Unfortunately the damage is already done. The constant rain is pushing the Skunk River upwards toward the nineteen foot mark this time. Nineteen feet is four feet above flood stage. Again, I have a long weekend coming up and my local river will be out of control. I'm speechless.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Do I have to say it

You know what I'm going to say don't you? Come on, say it with me. It rained all damn night and into today. The water level of the Skunk is still falling as of 4:30 P.M. but I guessing it will start to rise any time now. The best part is that The Weather Channel says rain five out of the next seven days. Quality fishing time has been minimal and we're half way through June. The chance at some of the best fishing of the year, the pre-spawn period, is all but gone. In the next two weeks the spawn will be in full swing and the fishing, if there is any, will get tough. Anybody want to buy a boat?


THIS JUST IN, THIS JUST IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Weather Channel just anounced that the Skunk will start rising tomorrow and crest Friday above 19 feet. I'm glad I have Friday and Monday off. Man, its just keeps getting better!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Vacation day 6

The Skunk is high but falling, for now. I had the dam to myself this morning but the floating logs and debris make it difficult to fish. I couldn't give a sunfish away. After moving over to the culvert I caught two small flatheads and missed a couple. I decided to fish the ditch and caught a six pound flathead immediately. I'm thinking I should have dumped a nightcrawler in the ditch to check for channel cats.


I almost forgot to mention that we are getting our daily dose of crap. That crap being rain, wind and thunder. Yea, I must have the day off. Another vacation day wasted.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Falling

As of sometime this afternoon or evening the Skunk River has crested and is falling. On a recon mission down to the river I saw that there was almost nothing going on at Oakland Mills. A couple people on the dam, a few people on the rocks and no fish hitting the beach. The weather and the up and down water levels have the catfish so confused they don't even know if they are hungry or not.

I tried

I rolled my tail out of bed at 5:30 this morning and headed for the dam. Nobody else was there and now I know why. The fish didn't want to play and everybody else was smart enough to sleep in. I moved over to the culvert but my luck didn't improve much. QJC was fishing the ditch and had several nice fish, 2,3, and 4 pounders, so I moved into the ditch. Ended up with one small flathead. On the way home I stopped at Pond X and caught some sunfish. You never know, things might calm down again and I might need some bait.

As of five 0'clock this morningnthe Skunk was still rising. Will it ever end?

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Good News

The Catfish Insider is out. I stopped in Big Creek Outdoor Supply this evening and Jim Smith hooked me up with my copy. He said his remaining copies were all spoken for so you will have to find your copy elsewhere but at least they are out.

Jim and several other people said there was a 20 and a 25 pound flathead caught off the dam sometime today. They actually saw the 25 and heard about the 20.

I have to go so I can read my Catfish Insider.

Rising waters

The Skunk is still coming up. I tried the culvert this morning, didn't find any fish at the river end of the culvert but there were some smal flatheads by the culvert in the ditch. They were taking sunfish. Those on the dam were catching carp, didn't see any catfish. A local bar had a tournment scheduled but I'm not sure if it happened. There were a few boats in the river. They might be part of the tourney.

Update:So far the Skunk is up about five feet since it started rising yesterday

Friday, June 10, 2011

The word of the day

What do you think the word of the day is? Just in case you can't figure it out, let me give you a hint. It rained all day yesterday and all damn night last night. Yea, the word of the day is RAIN. It seems like that is all it does anymore. You might also be able to figure out that the Skunk River is coming up again. A couple days ago it got down to a comfortable level but now we're right back where we started. Balls!

I had to stay home from work today because I had the weight of two schools sitting squarely on my shoulders, literally. While I was working I didn't have any problems but as soon sat down for the evening, at about 8:45 P.M., my back tightened up and my left forearm was burning and felt like I had strained or pulled something. I guess if they want to use me as the district pack mule they can pay me to have a day off now and then.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

RAIN, AGAIN

Well, what do you know? It rained all damn day. I had a surprisingly good day on the river yesterday and was looking forward to going out again tonight but no. Thats a surprise! If that isn't bad enough, The Weather Channel says rain six out of the next seven days. I must have a few days off this coming week. Monday and Friday next week. It'll be great!


Did I mention that it rained all day?

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Lou's hole again

I got a late start but still manged to pull eleven small flatheads from Lou's hole. They were biting to the point that I had a fish on both poles at the same time, twice. They weren't big, the largest was an "honest"seven pounder. OK, maybe six. Honest, I wouldn't stretch the truth. I did try the fast water but didn't connect with any channel cats. Maybe that was the sunfish too. A different bait might have worked better on the channel cats.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Hot

This damn heat will make a fat boy sweat. The Skunk is down to nine feet but still muddy. Depending on how tomorrow goes I might, I said I might, give it a try. If yo follow those who think they can predict the fishing, it is suppose to pick up but not until the weekend, Sunday morning I think.

Monday, June 6, 2011

I did it.

I went fishing. It was a little warm but I needed to go. I had a trap in Pond X but all I caught was bullheads. No sunfish. I used a hook and bobber and caught about three dozen greenies. The Skunk has dropped down to a reasonable level , 10 feet and falling, and I'm wanting to launch the boat. You know what that means. It will probably rain for the next forty days and forty nights. Sorry!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Rain

Well, let me think. I guess there is some good news in that the Skunk River has dropped four feet since yesterday. Now the bad news. We got more rain this morning from a hella thunderstorm that went through at 5 A.M. and gave me an unwanted wake up call. Oh, I need to tell you the rest of the bad news. The Skunk River will probably come back up four feet. Yea I know, its great! Wait, it gets better. A flash flood warning is scrolling across the bottom of the TV screen right now. Even better than that, The Weather Channel is showing rain and storms for five out of the next seven days. Now its really great. Sorry about the sarcasm but I almost tired of it. The Weather Channel must be making a ton of money. I know my TV is on The Weather Channel more than any other channel.




Mt intentions when I started this blog was to write about catfish and related subjects but it has become more of a miserable weather blog. Sorry! Maybe someday we can get back to fishing. So have you had your boat in the water lately?


UPDATE: While I was sitting in the house feeling sorry for myself, T.C. was down at Oakland Mills catching catfish and one big ol' carp. That proves it, even though conditions aren't perfect you have a better chance of catching your fish if you are on the river than you do if you are sitting in the house whining about the weather. Someday it will sink in, I hope.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

I tried

Well, the good news is I didn't have to worry about losing any bait or getting my hands dirty. The bad news is I didn't get a bite. I moved a sunfish around the culvert and the surrounding area for maybe an hour. Nothing! There were several people on the dam, the type that show up once in a while, but nothing was going on. The Skunk fell about three feet today, about two and a half feet since eight o'clock this morning. All I can hope for is the river to stabilize during the next week and maybe, just maybe things will pick up next weekend. I said maybe!

Vacation day 5, Friday, June 3

Nope, no fishing for me. The Skunk is still above flood stage and I don't like it. I spent the day in the house doing a whole lot of nothing. Fun, huh?

Thursday, June 2, 2011

RAIN, AGAIN

It rained all day and put the Skunk River about six inches above flood stage. There were a few people down at Oakland Mills but all they were catching was perch. Tomorrow will be vacation day 5 and things don't look to promising. We'll see.