Williamsport 4-13-2012
 

Spent a nice couple of hours at Blue Cat Lake at Williamsport today. Started out on a Gill bed I have already caught several hundred fish off of...haven't kept any yet. Then started trying to find some Shell Cracker beds. Found them in the back of the lake on steep banks in about 5 to 6 feet of water out about 10 feet from the bank. Caught around 50 of these until I came home and decided to clean up kayak and car...LOL. All the Red Ear were about same size.....7 to 8 inches. Also caught around 50 nice size Gills in the 6 inch range...very meaty fish. I need to try Shell Cracker Lake one day. People have told me that Blue Cat is full of huge Gills but I have not been able to locate them....maybe Shell Cracker has more of the big boys. I also caught quite a few Black Nose Crappie today but as all the Crappie I have caught there this Spring all are about 10 inches but no shoulders......don't know why that is as everyone tells me the lake is full of shad minnows. Sure do enjoy the fight those Red Ear give on 2# test line!


Regards

Nice ones. Redear can get fairly big compared to bluegill also. Pretty fish.

On 2# test and an UL rod it is way too much fun. While any Shell Cracker over 6 inches gives a good fight I am looking for the 12 to 15 inch ones. I am hoping to get to Dale Hollow before the Red Ear bite is over. Twelve inch fish are common there. I landed an 16 inch Shell Cracker on Center Hill a couple of years back....had no camera nor cooler....so back in the water she went.

Those are some nice-sized fish. If you don't mind me asking, are you using fluoro or mono? I put some 2-pound test P-Line Fluoroclear on my ultralight reel and it breaks too easy. I may have got a bad spool but I had it breaking on me even after tying a hook on and then pulling gently on the line to test knot strength. (and yes, I did wet the line before tying the knot).

I use two brands and type of line. I use P Line CX Premium. It is great line....casts good and stays limp...is fluorocarbon coated. But knot strength is not good. I have found the best knot for it is the Fish'N Fool knot. Now I am talking about the 2# test here. In 4# test and above in that brand a simple Palomar knot will suffice.....but the 2# test in their line is so fine it cuts into a simple Palomar knot. I also use 2#...3#...4# test NanoFil line. It will cast forever but you have to use a double Polamar knot. Now I have not used NanoFil alone....I always use a 2# test fluorocarbon leader....which is a pain in the rear when you need to retie after losing a Trout Magnet. I have to put on new leaders and then the jig. The pros of the line are it will cast a country mile...is strong...no memory.... super sensitive and you can get about a year of constant use out of one spool. The cons are price....color....it frays and stay away from metal ring guides with it. Now I have exchanged several emails with NanoFil's Pro Staff and they assure me unless I am fishing for trout I don't need a leader. To be honest I don't know as I have not given it a good try without a leader. I started using NanoFil because of casting distance...and that claim about that line is not hype....it does increase your casting distance a lot. Mostly for the past year I have exclusively used the NanoFil. Yesterday I took out a rod spooled with the P Line CX Premium. I can't see either of the two lines as both are small diameter and..I am 60 years old with glasses...LOL. But switching back to the P Line for a while made me realize how much more sensitive the NanoFil is. A lot of fish had the jig and I did not know it...missed a lot with the P Line. I miss very few with the NanoFil. Now people either hate or love super lines. I know I will use it as my only line for Crappie fishing. NanoFil floats and will slow the fall rate so much on a 1/64 ounce jig over regular mono I think it helps me catch more Crappie. I don't know how long you have fished 2# test line but it took me a while to get used to it. Once I learned that it is like sewing thread and treat it as such I have no problem with it now.




regards

There's my first mistake; I was tying palomar knots.

Haha I have the same problem with seeing the line; to do anything with it, I have to hold it in front of something dark. The smallest I've ever fished before was 4-pound test mono, but I was having a hard time getting bites and I read that with the trout magnets, you should either use a 2-pound fluoro leader or use 2-pound fluoro so I gave it a try. Thanks a lot for the tips, I'll keep at it.

This is the knot I use for fly fishing and the magnets tied on 2lb test.

I have never had a problem with it breaking or pulling loose.

http://www.fcff.org/images/Learn%20I...avy%20Knot.jpg




It is also the knot I tried to explain a while back talking about knots and failed miserably. LOL...

Found the name for it finally and it is this above.

Nice Shellcrackers. Sarah caught her largest bluegill at Williamsport last year it was over 12" so they are there.