A Mixed Bag and a Beast Bowfin

A Mixed Bag and a Beast Bowfin

            With Thanksgiving and our annual family hunting trip coming up next week, I took advantage of this last weekend to try and bag a few more citations before the break.

I geared up to try and take down a few more White Perch or possibly another big Channel Cat but I quickly realized it would not be that simple. After scoping out some of the deeper creek channels it became pretty apparent that the lake was in the beginning stages of its “turning over” period. Lake “turn over” happens when the hot days of Summer transition into the cooler, shorter days of Fall.  This prompts the warmer surface layer of the water column, once heated by the Summer sun, to cool and sink, which in-turn pushes the bottom layer up towards the surface, lifting leaves and light debris to the surface with it. Once late Fall and Winter sets in, after the turn over, the deepest layer of the water column is also the warmest and most stable, far less effected by daily changes in temperature and weather pattern. This is why the vast majority of your fish will always be found deep this time of year.

It took a while but I eventually found a pocket of fish. I proceeded to land White Catfish as fast as I could reel them in and I even picked off a decent Channel Cat and a few straggler Perch.

The day was capped off by an absolute monster of a Bowfin that came as a welcomed surprise after the endless supply of White Cats.  Upon coming aboard, she quickly displayed her displeasure with the situation by obliterating my measuring board. Not before I got a measurement though! 31 inches long, 10 pounds 12 ounces, A Virginia trophy fish and my second trophy Bowfin of 2015!

It was a fun little trip before a week of family, food, and tradition. Time to relax a bit and recharge the batteries before we charge into the cold, bitterness of Winter fishing.

Fish Hard or Stay Home,

JoshD.