Fishing a flurry! (not a snow flurry)

A heck of a lot of em, but anyone who does a lot of fishing will on occasion run into these things. One of the m,ost fun, and most puzzling was on a lake very close to home, a windy mid afternoon, so bad I anchored and let out a lot of tow line, I was about 25 yards from a wave washed point, tried a small silver rattle trap, and in about an hour must have caught 20 or thirty wipers,these were nice fish in the two to three pound range. Tried it again same lake similiar conditions, and it never happened again.

I've been fishing Lake Cumberland for many years and have never seen the stripers in the jumps until last year. My buddy and I saw some birds working and we took our time getting over there because we knew it wouldn't last. We finally get over there and there are stripers everywhere. We fished them for 45 minutes before it got dark and they went down. The next day we try a different spot. It was high pressure blue bird skies and our plan was to bottom fish. We see a couple of birds hovering. We go over to them and there is a small school of stripers moving fast. We gave up on them and went to where a couple of the birds flew off to. Got over there and nothing. Then all of a sudden fish start busting right in front of us. For the next 3 hrs we caught stripers out of a school of surface feeding stripers that was at least 300 yards long. We kept looking for other fisherman to show up, but we had them all to our selves. The fishing ended only when the sun went down.

When i think of my most memorable "flurries" takes me back about 7 years ago. It was about 80 degrees out and the water felt perfect! My fishing partner and i were wading some new water of our favorite creek for smallmouth and came upon a long, wide pool, about waste deep that looked very promising as the wind was blowing just enough to create a light ripple on the water and the sun was dancing like diamonds on the surface. We both had our light spinning combos with 1/8 oz buzzbaits tied on. I don't remember how many smallies we caught or how long the bite was on, but i know we counted at least twenty over fifteen inches, and the biggest was close to twenty three inches in length. I also lost a smallmouth that i saw and believed was the biggest i had ever hooked. It sounds a little unbelievable and i still wonder if it was a dream sometimes, but my fishing partner that day must of had the same dream because everytime we see each other the first thing we alway say is " man, you remember that day?" i have gone back over the past few years and have never done well again in that spot. It was just one of those days i was blessed with and will always remember. There's just nothing to me like a smallie busting topwater!!!

[QUOTE=kygorski;396729]A heck of a lot of em, but anyone who does a lot of fishing will on occasion run into these things. One of the m,ost fun, and most puzzling was on a lake very close to home, a windy mid afternoon, so bad I anchored and let out a lot of tow line, I was about 25 yards from a wave washed point, tried a small silver rattle trap, and in about an hour must have caught 20 or thirty wipers,these were nice fish in the two to three pound range. Tried it again same lake similiar conditions, and it never happened again.[/QUOTE]

kygorski-
Nice to hear somebody else call hybrids "wipers"....that is generally a western term for the striper/white bass hybrid. Where did you pick that up from?

-Rich

Dont know for sure, probably in northern Indiana or Illinois where they stocked a lot of them.The wiper is one awesome fish.White bass are eating machines, combined with stripers, they are a lot of fun. I have never fished barren river lake, but plan on spending some time doing that this year. What I like about them is that run they make when first hooked, just like the striper. Over the years you get to notice that the fighting caracteristics of fish are different.Most bass are a fight in one spot,not like a salmon or stiper who take off and make you battle them all the way to the boat.Its only my opinion, but the wiper is the king of light tackle fishing.

Farm pond with my son and daughter, about 3 years ago.

A light rain started as soon as we got there. I tied on a buzzbait and caught one on the first cast. I made the kids put down their bluegill poles, and they took turns with my rod, catching 1- to 3-pound bass for about 20 minutes, almost every cast.

Hooked them on fishing for life and a great dad memory.

[QUOTE=smljaw;396339]I know you have all had those fishing flurries that stay in your mind for life! You know what I'm talking about. You've fished all day and you pull up on that magic spot and just whack em! Here are a few of mine.

1) Fishing Cave Run Lake in June, probably 20-25 yrs ago. Jabbo and I fish all day. We managed about 5 dinks. At about 7PM we motor into Scott Creek and see a guy slinging a topwater bait. We chat with him for a few and he says, "Boys, don't leave this creek tonight without throwing a Rat L Trap." Ol Jabbo and I look at each other and tie one on. If memory serves correctly, we go on to catch 17 bass from 7PM til dark. Most were 1-3 pounds. I think we had a couple in the 3-4 pound range. Jabbo busted one off that probably went 7 or so. He would tell you it was 10.

2) Fishing Shenandoah River, Virginia back around 1995. Waded up river throwing a grub. Found a good looking spot in the river and locked in. Caught 17 smallies in 21 casts.

3) Fising a deep hump on Lake El Salto, July 2005. Caught 15-20 bass in about 45 minutes. 1 over 7 and 2 over 8.

Well, there are a few of mine. Great memories that I'll never forget. What about some of your flurry memories?

COME ON WARM WEATHER!!![/QUOTE]

Great post smljaw, for the winter time cabin blue!
Demodan's tournament flurrys win-place-show

1) Falls of the Ohio - - - - - "BBBC tournament" - - - - - -For the win
It all started when "Dog and Money" (Big Dog calls me Money, becouse when Im his partner, ...we win money) ha ha.
This all started when fishing a Plapps River Rumble tournament togeather, in the summer of 06. We did well that blue bird day..we caught a small limit of smallies a couple of largemouths...over at the falls of the Ohio. We came in 7th place that day with just over 10 pounds..and won $900 bucks. But as we fished that day...I saw a 5 pound largemouth fallow my Crank Bait back to the boat...and we saw a competitor loose a bass that looked to be around 5+ on a jig! We knew that the Big Bass Big Cash tournament, sposored by the Ky. Resturant Assocation...was in just a few weeks. So we entered the tournament on it's final day ...Sunday; hoping that we can catch that 5 pounder, to win the 50 grand!...At 6:05 on tournament day...I rig up a buzzbait with a Gary Yamamoto salty grub, and a red trailer hook. Bass was busting shad all around us like crazy!!! On my first cast..I caught a 2.9lb largemouth...And on my 4th cast I catch a 5.18 Ohio River smallmouth of a life time...and we won $50,200.00 that day!!!!...Folks, that isn't the flurry! 11 month later...we fish all three days of the BBBC..in the first hour of the tournament on day one...same bat location..same type of bait...Big Dog hooks into that 5 pounder (4.71) largemouth;...it hold out to be the largest again for the tournament...and we take home another $20,000.00.
So in review....Within 11 months...we only fish a total of maybe 4 hours, in the Falls of the Ohio...catch 23.59 pounds of bass, both largmouths and smallies (counting the small limit we caught in the Plapps tournament)..and we won over $71,100.00 of tournament money!! That to me is a Flurry...And maybe one of the Greatest sporting events to hit Louisville in years...and it goes mostly unnoticed.

[QUOTE=demodan;396887]Great post smljaw, for the winter time cabin blue!
Demodan's tournament flurrys win-place-show

1) Falls of the Ohio - - - - - "BBBC tournament" - - - - - -For the win
It all started when "Dog and Money" (Big Dog calls me Money, becouse when Im his partner, ...we win money) ha ha.
This all started when fishing a Plapps River Rumble tournament togeather, in the summer of 06. We did well that blue bird day..we caught a small limit of smallies a couple of largemouths...over at the falls of the Ohio. We came in 7th place that day with just over 10 pounds..and won $900 bucks. But as we fished that day...I saw a 5 pound largemouth fallow my Crank Bait back to the boat...and we saw a competitor loose a bass that looked to be around 5+ on a jig! We knew that the Big Bass Big Cash tournament, sposored by the Ky. Resturant Assocation...was in just a few weeks. So we entered the tournament on it's final day ...Sunday; hoping that we can catch that 5 pounder, to win the 50 grand!...At 6:05 on tournament day...I rig up a buzzbait with a Gary Yamamoto salty grub, and a red trailer hook. Bass was busting shad all around us like crazy!!! On my first cast..I caught a 2.9lb largemouth...And on my 4th cast I catch a 5.18 Ohio River smallmouth of a life time...and we won $50,200.00 that day!!!!...Folks, that isn't the flurry! 11 month later...we fish all three days of the BBBC..in the first hour of the tournament on day one...same bat location..same type of bait...Big Dog hooks into that 5 pounder (4.71) largemouth;...it hold out to be the largest again for the tournament...and we take home another $20,000.00.
So in review....Within 11 months...we only fish a total of maybe 4 hours, in the Falls of the Ohio...catch 23.59 pounds of bass, both largmouths and smallies (counting the small limit we caught in the Plapps tournament)..and we won over $71,100.00 of tournament money!! That to me is a Flurry...And maybe one of the Greatest sporting events to hit Louisville in years...and it goes mostly unnoticed.[/QUOTE]

Kentucky Lake......Sportsman Marina Tournament....for the "place"
This tournament was the last weekend in March...going out of the Kentucky dam Marina.
It was cold and very very windy...water temp maybe just over 50 degrees. Wind blowing 20-30mph...So we forgo out spots on South Kentucky Lake..and we fish a little less than a mile from the marina...to get out of the wind. We kept saying to our selves...lets just have fun and go fishing today. We are forced to fish in areas we never fished...or at least haven't in years. In the last 4 hours of the tourmament, we get into a great crank bait bite in one small area...We catch 9 keepers...we cull two 3 pounders, never done that before..and we have close to 22 pounds of bass (5-fish limit)!!! We caught them all on what we call the Taylorsville Special CB (you will hear more on it on my "show" post). You can buy it at Wallyworld...but they stop making it in this color. I have only 4 left, and treasure them highly. Were thinking we have this tournament in the bag; to win over 10,000.00!!! A BFL tournament went out the weekend before..and with those guys...it took just 19lbs to win it all...So we were pummed up!!! We call our wives and my family in Hoptown...they all make the weigh in at 3pm. They all see us finish 6th place...we win only 700 bucks???!!! The winners of this tournament had the largest sack of smallies I've even seen in person at a weigh in. The had 28+ pounds of smallies, all over 5 pounds each!! All caught on the LBL said of Kentucky Lake...all on a Lucky Craft jerk bait dd. They claim they had 12 keepers....most all of them over 4lbs!!!

About 3 or 4 years ago, I caught Cumberland River in June right before a big low pressure system moved through. The water was low that day and I had paddled my canoe to a shoal on a large bend in the river. I got out and waded with the fly rod. I found one spot where the fish must have been laying on top of one another. I stopped counting at 50 rainbows (all were released). I caught 12 fish on 12 cast and could predict the bite based on where my strike indicator drifted. In fact, if I didn't catch a fish on 2 or 3 cast, I knew my line was tangled or I had moss or something on it. I even caught a few stripping my line in to re-cast and some on the swing at the end of the drift. I had the bend to myself the entire day. Never had another day quite like this. None of the fish were huge, but catching that many sure was awesome. It was a day I'll never forget and I keep searching for that next one.

The days are getting longer!!!!!

[QUOTE=demodan;396891]
Kentucky Lake......Sportsman Marina Tournament....for the "place"
This tournament was the last weekend in March...going out of the Kentucky dam Marina.
It was cold and very very windy...water temp maybe just over 50 degrees. Wind blowing 20-30mph...So we forgo out spots on South Kentucky Lake..and we fish a little less than a mile from the marina...to get out of the wind. We kept saying to our selves...lets just have fun and go fishing today. We are forced to fish in areas we never fished...or at least haven't in years. In the last 4 hours of the tourmament, we get into a great crank bait bite in one small area...We catch 9 keepers...we cull two 3 pounders, never done that before..and we have close to 22 pounds of bass (5-fish limit)!!! We caught them all on what we call the Taylorsville Special CB (you will hear more on it on my "show" post). You can buy it at Wallyworld...but they stop making it in this color. I have only 4 left, and treasure them highly. Were thinking we have this tournament in the bag; to win over 10,000.00!!! A BFL tournament went out the weekend before..and with those guys...it took just 19lbs to win it all...So we were pummed up!!! We call our wives and my family in Hoptown...they all make the weigh in at 3pm. They all see us finish 6th place...we win only 700 bucks???!!! The winners of this tournament had the largest sack of smallies I've even seen in person at a weigh in. The had 28+ pounds of smallies, all over 5 pounds each!! All caught on the LBL said of Kentucky Lake...all on a Lucky Craft jerk bait dd. They claim they had 12 keepers....most all of them over 4lbs!!![/QUOTE]

And 3 for the Show . . . . . . . . . Taylosville Lake.........2007 Kincaid Bassmaster Club Classic
It was mid Oct., leaves turning colors...beutiful blue bird days...just the right amount of wind blowing out of the west. It's our club's end of the year classic! The kincaid Bassmasters... it's the largest (most members), and the oldest club in the state of Kentucky. When I joined...years ago, I was told if I want to run with the big boys...this was the best fishing club to do just that, they wern't joking. We have 12 tournaments a year (all in Kentucky), and a two day classic, this year... Tayorsville was voted as the classic sight. I was amazed...and thrilled! I've been fishing this lake 3 years after they built it...and practacly grew up fishing this place. I had an Aunt that lived right there. I tell eveyone that you can take all you ever learned about bass fishing..and throw it out the window, when it comes to fishing this lake. You have to unlock it's secrets, after years of fishing it...you just might find out what gives there. Our club usually don't fish Taylorsville Lake...maybe three times sence I've been a member. I guess most members thought that this lake was tough..and a "fair" place for all to take the challenge, a level playing field for most of these northen kentucky boys. But it played right into my hands (most didn't know this...but they do now!!!). This was my first tournament I fished as a boater ever, I had to grab the opportunity;...using my friends old pro-craft...you know...the old ones that were the first fiberglass boats they ever made. All the electronics were busted..and the trolling motor just had maybe one life left. But my confiedence was over the top. I even told a few members ....that were the ones to beat, in the parking lot that first morning..."that this was going to be my break-out tournament". I was prepared to fish my ass off...to make it happen. The first day...I fished very hard with my 'Taylosville special",...a crank bait that has never let me down on the lake...I seem to allway at least catch one keeper on it...know matter when I fish the lake. The first day...9 hour tournament...I scratched out 4 keepers!!!...All suspended fish, maybe 3 feet from the bottom...and holding real tight to the standing wood, and way off the bank. If I got my CB to wack the tree down there, and bounce off of it...I'd get a strike...sometimes. My friend (his boat), fished in the back...he just had a knee injury...so he just sat in the back..and did the best he could...he blanked the first day. But my 4 keepers..one being close to 4.5 pounds, had us just an ounce in second place after day one!!! Going into day two..(only a 7 hour tournament final day)..I was pummed. But after 12 noon...I had zero fish..I was just about in panic mode;...2pm and and this show would be over. My friend said he knew a place about half way down the lake..mid lake area..and he usually does well there. So I thought what the heck...my fish weren't on...or gone from where I thought they would be. So off we go...were got to his main lake point, he showed me on the map...with deep channel water very close by and good standing timber on it. I stood up,..and made my first cast...it was 12:30. My partner made his first cast also...with a CB that didn't dive as deep as mine...and wham!!!! I see him fighting a nice keeper..it jumped, and I got him out in the open so it wouldn't hang him up in the wood. I netted this nice 3 pounder..my partner found the deal..and he didn't even know it!!! That fish told the tell...they were suspended again...but this time..maybe only 3-4 feet from the surface! So I tied on a Taylosville Special that only dived to 4 feet, with 15 pound big game line. In about 10 cast I boated 4 keepers..all off one point...with wood...boat in about 15 feet of water. What a Flurry!!!! It's 1:15...With a nice limit...non very big..but his 3 pounder was a nice kicker I thought. It was his only fish for the tournament...but he did his job!! I was ready to make the move back to the ramp...wanted to be sure we made it back in time, I had a funny feeling though...I thought maybe we have enough to win the tournament. Our Club classic pays big!!! We had over 40 boats that classic...and in our club...if you win the classic...you get two checks...one there at the ramp...and another at our annual meeting the fallowing year. We are a non-profit organization...so at the end of the year..any money left in the clubs bank account...all goes the the top 4 winners of the classic! We make it about 200 yards..and the motor blows up...dead in the water! I was now in full panic mode!! I threw the trolling motor in and stomped on it and screamed at my partner to keep trying to start it. About 30 min later..it started...but not in as good way. We had about half the lake to run..and maybe we were going 15mph...blowing smoke..spitting...puttering...I was going crazy!!! We made it back to the no-wake zone with only 3 min left in the tourmament. We won by one ounce...My buddy buys a used motor...a 115 hp..with his winning...I buy him all new batties..and one of my Tayorsville specials!!!!

All the times above listed by smalljaw are good memories,I don't know if I would have said 10 about the one at Cave run but it was a mule for sure:D
About 2 years ago I was down at my wife's grandfather's farm in Benton Ky. He has a 26 acre lake. I fished for about 2 hours around half the pond and caught about 30 fish. About 3/4 of the way around by the mouth of a little feeder creek, I caught about 35-40 on a buzzbait in about as many minutes. Literally every cast. I would have paid 5000 dollars to have my sons in the boat with me at that time. They would be hooked for life!!
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Same trip with smalljaw at Shenandoah River in VA. 13 fish in 14 casts in one hole and several holes real similar to that.
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Small pond in Nicholasville, Catching fish in the rain while wading about a 4 acre pond. caught 1 about 5.5-6lb walked around the pond to weigh it and pick up pocket scales. make another cast on that side and catch another one 5 pounds. walk back around to the other side with Smalljaw and get back in the water make about 2 more casts and catch another one about 5.5-6lbs.. Ohhhhhh God is so good to us for giving us these Green Beauties!!