RMA Tuesday 5/5

Regulations:
Artificial Fly and Lure Only
Catch and Release Fishing
Barb less Hooks Only
3 Dollar Entry fee
National Refuge/ID Check at the Gate
No Dogs.
Litterbugs will be shot by Security Personnel. (At least that is what I think the fine print states.)

Hit the RMA on a rare Tuesday off. I was supposed to get this day off weeks ago. Instead I had to settle for sloppy seconds at the Arsenal. Late morning start due to a last minute run into the office. Wind and temps were mild with partly cloudy skies. Water temp has to be bouncing in the 55-60 degree range. PRIME!!!! Paid the 3 bucks, filled out the slip and headed for Ladora.

Picked a few spots off the dam and started throwing spoons. With a better start this would have definitely got some fish. Moved to the south side and switched to jigs. Then I started getting bites. No real secret spot or anything. Just fishing the spots that didn’t have people in them. There is just something really fantastic about these fish…even if they aren’t in the best of condition.




Check out some video action of me playing an average sized pike for Ladora these days. There are bigger ones than this but the 40”+ fish are rare. This was my second biggest pike of the day and I guesstimate it around 28-30” maybe? There is some torn flesh around the face. My jig my guess is someone hooked into this fish earlier in the day. This is the one fish I got video of and the other pike pics looked pretty sad to tell you the truth. This video footage is decent in my opinion and brings some of the action of pike fishing to the viewer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCmm_eJHVc4



The big OMG bass game didn’t happen for me on this day. “Day late, dollar short.” I told myself. Maybe I will pick one up on a subsequent trip. Who knows for sure but I won’t hold my breath. About 2PM I decided to bat some cleanup over at Lake Mary.


(This is my feeble tribute to some of the other great bass posted from this place)

Creature baits were not as popular as I expected. Being too darn lazy to switch up so late in the day, I just sped up the retrieve. Heavily pressured fish require precise patterns that fall into exactly what they want. Or you do the opposite and throw something so weird and crazy that the fish attack it purely from curiosity…well that is what I did. The skirt and jig were one color and the grub trailer was another. It looked silly to tell you the truth. First cast and WHAM! It got nailed.

Why argue with what’s hitting? I nailed three or four more fish.

My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic.