Early Release Problems at Round Lake 7-19-2016

[djkimmel]

I think the Dog Days of Summer are hitting Round Lake hard right now as the bite has gotten a lot tougher and slower in general. The pike are still biting better unfortunately but add to the day that I had problems with quick release and I don't have many pictures to share this time...

I started out fishing as as I usually do and catching a couple dinks on the KVD 1.5 crankbait (green flash) but no good ones. I fished 2 points with only 1 producing the couple little bass.


Out of the side of the tip of point 2 I switched to the Bullet Craw in KLK color (I'm running low on black and blue) to get popped by my first keeper. On the initial drop off the side so it must have reacted to the splash. It was a decent bass.


I worked back down the side a short ways when I got hit hard and set the hook! Zzzz! the drag singed a little and after a minute or so I landed a good-sized keeper pike this time. It was long and lean. It had a bunch of sores on both sides that almost looked like shark bites maybe?!? I couldn't tell if they were bite marks, prop marks or illness sores but another small pike I caught earlier also had sores on its sides...

I didn't get any other bites from keepers on the side so I moved to the tip. It was breezy so I would drop the anchor and cast all around the boat. I was anchored on the tip of the point when I got popped again on the Bullet Craw. I set the hook and a bass came straight up and jumped immediately throwing the hook! It didn't feel that big but when it cleared the water it was a nice one over 3 pounds - long and lean! Darnit! I hate losing fish!

I worked that area hard without any more bites so I would move the boat 15 or 20 feet and cast all around again.

Shark!


I was pulling the Bullet Craw through some milfoil strands when I got thumped again. This time my drag really sang!! I had to fight for several minutes before I got the big fish to the top - my biggest pike of the year so far I think! Mid-30 inches!


Took me several minutes to wear it down enough to be able to land it in hand. Always risky with a hook in the mouth and all those big, sharp teeth! I lifted the hefty pike up and took one picture of its head. I crack myself up with the look on my face I didn't know I was making at the time. I let the pike go to bite off other people in the future!

I kept working my way out and around off the tip of the point out farther and deeper trying to find a school... After a time I switched to a bulky jig and pig hoping it would turn on a bigger bass out there somewhere in the firmer bottom and sparse weeds. I tied on a black and blue 3/8 oz Kustom Kicker Dock Monkey with a #11 black and blue pork.

Sure enough, I felt the old familiar double tap of a bass and set the hook. I guess this bass was because it apparently ran right at me full speed so I had no idea how big it was. And then it rocketed to the surface right next to the boat... and threw the jig right back at me!! @#$%@! Another really good bass over 2 1/2 pounds or so! Did I say I hate losing bass?

I kept working all over the deeper water and could not get another bite to commit. I think the few bites I had were pike that would hit fast and hard without getting the hook in their mouth.


I worked my way all the way to another hump/point. I threw the same jig and pig towards the weed edge and again a bass hit the jig hard right after it splashed down apparently reacting to the splash in high speed.

That was my final decent size non-pike, non-dogfish bite of the day though I tried shallow and deep for a while after that. Caught a few dinks outside sparse weeds on the Berkley Power Worm on a lighter bullet sinker (black and silver).

Would have had some nicer picture to share if I didn't suffer from early release but that's fishing, right?