Dec one and two

     Got started Thursday 12-1 AM by checking the lots up and down- pressure is OFF cept in Altmar where they insist on loading up below the bridge.
  Went to Tressel South and was the only car there. Took a hike up to Bovines and worked down-had the whole half mile or more to myself .. Had several very quick hits on blue sacs and one decent head shake- that was it.   
Used the Switch rod with 10 lb leader and #10 hooks- and blue sacs-switched to  #8 hooks and 8 leader after several misses= no change.    Like Metal said the other day-short hitting on the end of drifts. 
    Spent pretty much the day up there cause its where I generally do OK. Was all alone on the river for the 1st time all year.  Tried it all -close-far- rocks- logs - undercuts flat and movin water .
    Not one single drift boat- and there were many - stopped to fish anywhere along that stretch . A couple drifted quickly down with rods out but they were not hanging out up there at all. They were moving down and not hanging around about it. Not even in the turn above Tressel or in Tressel where one or two guys showed up.- just buzzin through to someplace. Kinda told me somethin bout where I was fishin cause those guys know where fish are for the most part.
  Later in the afternoon checked the lots again and went down by DSR and there were only 5 cars in the lot- up above there was only one guy in the Kiddie pool and a lot below the bridge. Every place else was pretty much only a cupla cars cept around the Pineville bridge where there were more cars but the guys were real spread out.
  This morning more of the same with even less fishermen. When the snow started I bugged for CT. No fish fought or landed.
  Guess the action was lower than where I was.  Yea yea 90/10- hey been fishin  there over 30 years and doin OK- sometimes they just aint bitin what your offerin where ya are that day.
   Great trip anyhow. They are all appreciated despite catchin or not.
Boyz on the other forum fishing a half mile below me did no better according to their reports.
Got no doubt whatsoever that this water should bring in Steel - that said for a lot of us this has been a different year.,

Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself Trevor. Beads are pretty killer...

hey did you switch up your colors on sacs? Whenever I use sacs
I be sure to have 4-6 different colors and most times one color works better than the others. The past 2 years I've gone back to using sacs and I've found white pink and orange have been my most successful colors. Blue is a good producer as well but I always switch it up to see what they really want.

Thanks again for the update

Thanks guys- Had a great time working the Switch despite the lack of players-     
     Yea Dime - generally carry a tube of mixed colored sacs- this time - just picked up some fresh Blue- thats  OK cause Blue is usually a good producer. Had flies but was havin fun with the sacs.
Charlie- -Just couldnt  go  up there and stand in line when had the whole other place to myself- fish or no----
  Understand bout the beads bein big fish geters- gotta get over that bare hook thing in my head  before using them- or stick some kinda fly in there just to calm myself.

ORIGINAL: dimebrite



hey did you switch up your colors on sacs? Whenever I use sacs
I be sure to have 4-6 different colors and most times one color works better than the others.

Another reason I like my eggs on the softer side---pretty much forced to change em up.

I use a Gammy or Mustad ultra pt in size 10(that way u can thread a pink worm on too)---these hooks r tiny but hook and hold great--the short hits of the other day I don't feel would've been solved by a bigger hook.I think that as people evolve --they tend to finish their drifts(not swinging in the middle)--alot of my short hits come when the sack,fly, or whatever is directly below me.

RT nice report and sorry folks for the lack of interaction lately.. Busting my azz on 3 houses, cutting firewood (for next year) and sitting in the woods.. I'm balls out with little internet time...

Things will slow down soon (I hope) once the snow flies

P.S.
Jack, hope you are well, I owe you a call & many drinks..

ORIGINAL: retired guy

You guys are hittin nails on the head with that drifting straight down stuff- I fish like that a  lot around logs and into pockets as opposed to swinging the bait through. Looks like that style may have a lot to do with the short hits.

Trevor; try to have your rod tip up once you get towards the end of your drift (when targeting fish downstream). Sometimes some mending is necessary to accomplish this... this will allow you to drop tour tip as your bait/fly goes downstream which will make it sink better; also it will give you the slack to give the fish by dropping your rod to the striking fish....also; you should always try to swing your rod to the downstream on a striking fish in most cases.... if you pull upstream it will usually pull it out of their mouth... tight lines...

Dood on the other forum reporting he and his buddy had OVER 6o hookups on Saturday and landed over half-- YEEEEEEP - and ya wonder why the crowds are up there.
BTW- they never moved all day - did it in one spot  WOW what a river......


  Shoulda  stayed another day and visited the Hatchery- would like to have seen them fishing.

Thanks for the tips Charlie- I put the other answer in your mailbox.

Now they got a guy sayin he and his kid each hooked up 25 times Friday and Sat- They only fished half a day Fri too.  HEYYYY thats 25 each person for each day. 100 hookups in a day and a half WOW is the fishing ever GREAT.
  Well guess they musta ran real big time right after I left- also figure the crowds are comin back.
  Excuse me while I go puke.

Couldnt agree more Charlie. Carefull though whenever this comes up I always get more of the 90/10 stuff- Think you will be able to avoid that though.

Clint - please allow me to chip away at that learning curve (in regards to deciphering most of those 17 for30 reports that the high water heros report)..

alot of those guys dredge the flooded diversion channels.
seems when the feesh are pre-occupied with keeping their dorsals wet, and their bellies off the bottom, they let their guard down and WHAMMO - right in the mouth

quite sporting - if you are a nitwit...

seems like you got the right idea - a peaceful stroll along places where the word challenge still applies...

  Glad to see the river up to 1500 - it will clear out lotsa dead stuff and get the remaining leaves out too. May even put a stop to some of the crowds along with the colder weather . Gotta be loosing lotsa Steel to the keepers this fall.
  Looking forward to some cold weather fishing in the next few weeks and months. Just hope it happens as IMHO the preceeding season just wasnt up to average par. Yes there were a few decent weeks  but in general just didnt seem quite normal.
   Earlier in the season some mentioned having reservations what with  this being the return year after the drought of a few years ago-gotta wonder...
   Did miss some of my favored late Oct and early/mid  Nov fishing that may have improved my annual opinion here but didnt quite see what I felt was normal this time around.

   Thanks Metal- Hey I'm spending most of my time with that new Switch Rod- love it- but a big learning curve here- find myself using way too much line too often just cause I can---
  Am sure if I went back to the noodle in many of those places there would be a positive result but -hey- wanna  use the other rod---its funner--sides aint bout the numbers in my book.
  Think maybe one reason am kinda down on the season is causa those long lines of guys in the low water posted on every run a few feet apart all day long snaggin everything in sight- made real fishin kinda hairy for quite  a while.

RT--hear u on the evolution---DT---can't speak for RT,but the short hits I'm getting r at the very end of drift when it's hanging on a tight line--hardly the same as feeding a drift w/ a bobber.