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Back on Croton with Better Results

2191 Views 14 Replies 12 Participants Last post by  pigsticker
Got out on the Croton with Ronnie the Bass Stalker again, this time on my boat up on the Hunterbrook section. The conditions were tough, with air temps ranging from the mid 30's to the mid 50's with a stiff wind that seemed to change direction every time we did. The fishing, however, was better than it has been in a while. The fish were moving into a more traditional fall pattern, and we managed abouth 10- bass with a few pickerel in the mex.

I had a rough day with breakoffs, losing 5 fish to breakoffs, some on hooksets, some during the fight. My most productive bait was the micromunch jig, 1/8oz flipped into weed pockets. Unfortunately for me, I had 4 breakoffs on my 8 lb XL. The fish were all over the little jigs, hitting willingly and often. Too bad my line wasn't up to the test, costing me 4 jigs before the day was done. I also picked up a couple of senko fish, including my best, a 3lb. 13oz big mouth off an inner weed edge:


My best fish, a 3lb. 13oz. largie with a huge mouth and a stubby body!

Ronnie fared much better, landing 8 bass and 2 pickerel, many on a white spinnerbait fished over the weeds. He also had a nice flurry tight to a rip rappy shoreline with a t-rigged tube. He also picked up a nice buzzbait bass over a large weedbed. One tackle issue he had, which hopefully will make it over to the tackle and tactics section, was Ronnie's difficulty t-rigging a snoozer tube. Anyone t-rig Snoozers, either the 2.75 or 3.5 inch with an internal weight? If so, what weight and what hook?

Anyway, Ronnie's best fish, a 3lb. 9oz largemouth, came off a shoreline lined with riprap. He got it on a t-rigged tube:

Ronnie's best fish, the second to last of the day

The little jig (1/16th or 1/8thoz) has been a great weapon for me, ever since Joe P showed some tips on Whaley. Not to pander to the sponsor, but Craig's MicroMunch jigs have been treating me right, enticing a lot of bites this fall. I only wish I has tried this more during the summer. And I also wish I could fish light line in weed beds without losing so many fish. Perhaps some PowerPro is in order. Anyway, the fishing was certainly more exciting than it has been in a while. Looks like the Croton has finished turning over and the fall bite is on. We worked hard for our fish today, braving the cold and high winds, but it was worth it!

Mark
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Sounds like you guys did pretty well to me. It was damn cold and windy out there today. Do you know what the water temps were?
I'm thinking low 50's, but the fishin' buddy needed new batteries, so I didn't evfen break it out. Huge, when are you coming up to Westchester for some Reservoir bassin?

Mark
Mark, Glad to see you guys had a good day at Croton. I think we all needed that after the friday at Kensico. After fishing with Steve on Sun, I decided to put my next boat on Croton.
The extremely ((((((windy)))))) and cold conditions made it a brutal day on the lake today....it even snowed for a couple of minutes !!!

I thought the unfavorable weather conditions would shut the fishing down but it didn't. There was no quantity to speak of but the quality was good. All the fish ranged between 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 lbs. with the two biggest pushing almost 4lbs.

I felt bad for Mark today as he broke off on five different occasions....he was not having a good day after that....Mark, I have two words for you my man....Power Pro !!!

Till next time......


Ronnie
maximus10k said:
After fishing with Steve on Sun, I decided to put my next boat on Croton.
Max: Great choice....overall it's the best reservoir....Croton Rules !!!


Ronnie
Nice Job Guys...Good fish...I'm jealous...

Mark nice fish...

But, you gotta figure out that break-off issue...That's the most ridiculous scenario I have ever heard...Once, OK...Twice, somethings wrong...But four or five times is a must change situation...Put some braid on there and rip and pull their faces into the boat...Don't sweat it...

Good to see EW's jigs are happening...That joe p is the man with that small stuff...

Ronnie, nice job man...

But I don't understand your "tube predicament"...The Snoozers are a little "bubba-like" in that they are very thick walled as most of the generic Mizmos are...If you wanna rig it internally, like with a Glider, no problem...But, the disadvantage is that skinning the hook requires a certain characteristic in the wide gap hooks to be used...I prefer the EWG over the X-points in this case b/c they have a straighter hook point that doesn't curl back into the plastic as much as some other hooks...That is a lot of plastic, so i don't want that...I want it perfectly skinned paralell to the tube wall for an easy out penetratin on the pull...The size of the hook should be easy enough to figure out...The bend on any of the hooks should support the Glider...Use a smaller Glider for the 2.75" tubes and perhaps a 1/0 or 2/0 hook...

In all fairness, I don't rig those thick tubes in that manner...Thinner diameter, thinner profiled and thinner walled tubes like Gitzits, Canyons, Budz and Tenders, are better suited for the Glider in that they get better action from it...They swim downward more naturally and erratically a lot better than the thick tubes...I can very simply just "float the texposed hook" inside the hollow of the tube...It penetrates those types of tubes from inside there surprisingly easily...But if you are determined, the internal weights should work with any tube to some degree...Don't know if the action they impart to those "thicker-walled tubes" will be as good though...I would be interested to try this experiment with you side by side...Unfortunately we have to do it NEXT SEASON !!!

Mark D
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........"I had a rough day with breakoffs, losing 5 fish to breakoffs, some on hooksets, some during the fight".......

I can't speak on that body of water but..... earlier this year I had (4) straight breakoffs to a certain area of water in a matter of minutes..... frustrated I switched rods thinking I had bad line or something....... on my next cast I hooked into the biggest pickeral I had ever seen in person.... probably had a belly full of Senkos too.

PS:nice pictures and good catch
Mark and Ronnie,
Glad you guys picked up some quality fish on a nasty day,that 4 lber had some mouth on him/her....
Hope you figure out that line issue. Sounds like the braids are the way to go. If you want to stay with mono try Berkley XT, I can't break it when I try,my fingers are full of scars.....

Good job
MikeM
sounds like a good time.i hope i can get 1 more trip in this year.mark,i was thinking of trying power pro this year.went out and bought some.:beerchug:
Thaks for the responses guys. Yeah, a braid setup is in order. Doesn anyone think there are any negative aspects of using barid when pitching/flipping? I know braids are great, but I also have heard that they are not a panacea for all applications. Perhaps they are in this case, but I just don't know enough to be sure. I do know that I got frustrated with the breakoffs. The ones I broke off while fishting the fish I can live with. I'm sure with time and experience I'll adjust. But the ones on the hookset are harder to deal with. Perhaps there were just a lot of pickerel around. Getting sawed off setting the hook into a pickerel is just part of the experience. It happens. Maybe not with the regularity it happened yesterday, but it does happen. We did boat a couple picks, so there were definitely out and about. Perhaps I just had an unfortunate amount of pickerel bites.

The last breakoff came on a hookset using 14lb. Silverthread. I can't imagine it was anything other than a pickerel. Ronnie and I almost rigged up a wire leader, but it was late enough that I just said the hell with it.

Oh well, I have a spair spool or two I can rig up with braid for the next time I want to pitch some jigs. Perhaps I'll pickup a proper pitching stick this offseason as well...

Mark
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First of all, congrats on an EXCELLENT trip, considering the conditions!

Mark: I agree with what Miester alluded to, could have been picks and even higher test line might have been broken off.....

as to the Snoozer situation: I have yet to come up with a consistent working rig using thicker walled tubes when t rigging them....I am still not happy with any combination I have tried...the truth? I think t rigging tubes is a better bet with conventional softer tubes......

I prefer open hooks on my snoozers......

I will continue to experiment with combos on the T-rig........
John try the thick tubes t rigged with the brass and glass. See my post in Earthy's tube thread in tackle in tactics. Enjoy-Joe
MARK G I WAS UP THAT WAY ON FRIDAY THE 28 th.GOT 6 MYSELF FROM LAND.I 2 HAD 2 WORK HARD 4 THEM. LOTS OF MOVEING AROUND.ANYWAY POWER PRO IS THE WAY TO GO.I STARTED USING IT 3 MAYBE 4 YAERS AGO.I WILL NEVER USE MONO 4 A MAIN LINE AGAIN.UP THERE I USE 20LBS PRO WITH 10 TO 15LBS MONO LEADER.GREAT FOR FISHING IN THE WEEDS. HOPE THIS HELPS GOOD LUCK ON YOUR NEXT OUTING.
Happy New Year Mark and guys!
I experimented extensively with Spectra when it was released. A strike on a spinnerbait with this stuff will scare you out of your pants! Downside is that if you fish a jog or worm with slack watching the line the bow does not telegraph a strike. Only good for tight line fishing. Also, with the more sensitive graphite rods, if you set the hook hard you will eventually break your rod! A medium action is best. Right now I only use the braids for slop or chestnut, which cuts the weeds really well. Otherwise, there are some good fluorocarbon lines - Seaguar has worked well in heavier pound tests on baitcasting, and the Toray or Varivas (only available on the internet) aren't too terrible to use on spinning. Case in point is I have been using 6 pound or 5 pound Toray on my light jig/worm rods, and have had minimal issues. Just important to tighten the line to the first guide before reeling after a cast with spinning tackle. And you will feel more strikes than someone using mono!
Regards,
Chris
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