Arthur memorial weekend or LABOR DAY, whatever. Calendars are dumb.

Anyone else get out?  Had plans to go Friday night but got blown out.  Headed out for bait around 3pm and the trees on my road were bent in half.  If it is blowing that hard in Zelie generally the lake will be a nightmare.  Bagged it until Sunday.  Weather finally cleared up around 6pm and I bullied my wife into a short evening trip.  Got launched on a glass flat lake at 7:30pm.  Bait everywhere, whole place looked fishy.  Very few boats out.  
 
Got to our spot and put 6 baits out, and... nothing.  Fished until 10 and the only thing we caught was bullheads.  Which I find entertaining when they are hitting between wipers and channels but we skipped those fish.  Didn't even pick up a random panfish.  Pulled the boat around 10pm and we were the only trailer in the lot.  Maybe we didn't get the memo.  

In the last few trips to Arthur with my boys and I, we've done very poorly as well in spots where we were doing pretty well at this time last year.  Even the normally abundant bluegills for my 7 year old have been tough to come by.  One channel cat in our last 2 or 3 trips, and a few dink bass.  
 
Have started to see wipers busting alewives on top though in the last hour of daylight.  
 
 

Porktown

rsquared
 
Have started to see wipers busting alewives on top though in the last hour of daylight.  
 

That is awesome when they do that.  Only issue is, they don't last long.  Like said, about an hour window.  Then usually a minute or so for each pod of alewives they are harassing.  Just long enough to spot them, motor to them, and they are gone...  I've driven myself insane going from pod to pod, and maybe get a cast in while still busting.  Still pretty cool to watch though.

About 10 seconds of busting is the longest I've seen so far this year, although have seen longer in the past.  But not much longer.  
 
Being shore bound, it's tough.  Busted up my noodle rod last week trying to reach 'em.  Had a 1/8 jig head with a 3" gulp minnow and a weighted cigar bobber.  I can huck that outfit a long ways, longer than I can a Bomber or Thunderstick.  Bobber hit about 1/3 of the way down the rod on one cast and that was all she wrote for that rod.  Fortunately, it was only a $25 Pinnacle that's easily replaced.  Got about 5 years out of it.  
 
Did have one very, very quick hookup and hook spit doing that, although it wasn't a huge fish.  

Just to bust your stones, it was Labor Day, not Memorial Day...  Funny thing is, I did the same exact thing, sending an email last week.
 
Yeah, a minute or two, was very generous.  The longest that I have ever seen, was probably much closer to the 10 seconds that you mentioned.  I have seen a few that will bust on one pod of alewives, then almost immediately on a second pod that is 30 feet away.  May or may not be the same school of wipers.  Usually those pods of alewives are maybe 50 or so, skimming the surface.  I've seen enormous schools of them, 20 feet wide to as deep as I could see.  That is very rare, and was in May when I saw them school like that.  I definitely see large bait balls on my electronics, that are likely that thick.

You're welcome.  The new title sounds better!