November / December 2017 Newsletter
In This Edition
|
|
|
Club Board Members
|
Committee Chairs
|
Lake Clean-up
Cindy Turlington Club Photographer Bob Rowe Joe's Coffee Joe Wolf Christmas Party Rick Boettcher Tournaments Steve Nagel |
Upcoming Meetings & Events
Unless otherwise noted, Club meetings are held at 7 pm, the 1st Friday of each month at the Moneta Community Center - in the back-side, lower-level of the Pharmacy building on Rucker Rd, just off VA-122. Visitors and New Members are always welcome.
November Club Meeting - 11/3 - Chili Night! Bring your best pot of chili to share with other members! We will be holding our annual business meeting - with the President's Report, Membership & Treasurer's Reports and electing board members for the 2018/19 term. Please make it a point to attend this important meeting.
Striper Mafia Fall Classic - 11/11 - The SMSC is a sponsor of the Striper Mafia Tournament Series - the 1st SML event of the season is on 11/11. During this event, as a way to honor our veterans, they will be collecting items for Care Packages to send to our deployed troops overseas. Tournament participants and and the general public are welcome to participate. The post-tournament check-in will be at 4pm on 11/11 at the Inn at Halesford Harbor. For more info go to www.StriperMafia.com
SMSC Christmas Party - 12/1 - We will hold our annual Christmas dinner at our normal Club meeting location. Cost is $15/person and must be paid by the November meeting. We are asking members to bring a toy for a boy or girl to be donated to Lake Ministries for distribution to families in need. For any questions, contact Rick Boettcher.
Striper Mafia Winter Open - 12/9 - The 2nd event of the Striper Mafia Tournament Series will be held on 12/9 with the post-tournament check-in at Crazy Horse Marina at 4pm.
November Club Meeting - 11/3 - Chili Night! Bring your best pot of chili to share with other members! We will be holding our annual business meeting - with the President's Report, Membership & Treasurer's Reports and electing board members for the 2018/19 term. Please make it a point to attend this important meeting.
Striper Mafia Fall Classic - 11/11 - The SMSC is a sponsor of the Striper Mafia Tournament Series - the 1st SML event of the season is on 11/11. During this event, as a way to honor our veterans, they will be collecting items for Care Packages to send to our deployed troops overseas. Tournament participants and and the general public are welcome to participate. The post-tournament check-in will be at 4pm on 11/11 at the Inn at Halesford Harbor. For more info go to www.StriperMafia.com
SMSC Christmas Party - 12/1 - We will hold our annual Christmas dinner at our normal Club meeting location. Cost is $15/person and must be paid by the November meeting. We are asking members to bring a toy for a boy or girl to be donated to Lake Ministries for distribution to families in need. For any questions, contact Rick Boettcher.
Striper Mafia Winter Open - 12/9 - The 2nd event of the Striper Mafia Tournament Series will be held on 12/9 with the post-tournament check-in at Crazy Horse Marina at 4pm.
President's Corner
Nope - you did not miss or lose the last couple of newsletters - things got hectic for me over the last couple of months and I was not able to get the newsletter out. I REALLY would appreciate someone stepping up from the Club to either take over the newsletter or at least assist with the content creation. I know we have some talented folks out there that could do an excellent job with this and after publishing the newsletter for the last five years, it would be good to have some fresh editorial input.
As we come to our November meeting, we will be electing members to serve on several vacant board positions. As I often say, this is YOUR Club - as such, it is important that everyone take a turn at helping to lead the Club through a Board position. But that is not the only way you can serve - there are plenty of other ares where we can use your skills and abilities to assist the Club in terms of planning events, meeting topics, etc. The more folks that take on a piece the easier it is for all - and the more you will personally get out of the Club. I ask you to thank about how you can assist your fellow members, and setup up to volunteer or say "yes" when asked. We have several well qualified folks that have been nominated to serve on the Board and will be voted on during our November meeting - you will see more about them later in this newsletter - if you have a strong interest in serving, let us know as well ASAP - or consider helping out on other capacities.
Fish On! - Mike Ward
As we come to our November meeting, we will be electing members to serve on several vacant board positions. As I often say, this is YOUR Club - as such, it is important that everyone take a turn at helping to lead the Club through a Board position. But that is not the only way you can serve - there are plenty of other ares where we can use your skills and abilities to assist the Club in terms of planning events, meeting topics, etc. The more folks that take on a piece the easier it is for all - and the more you will personally get out of the Club. I ask you to thank about how you can assist your fellow members, and setup up to volunteer or say "yes" when asked. We have several well qualified folks that have been nominated to serve on the Board and will be voted on during our November meeting - you will see more about them later in this newsletter - if you have a strong interest in serving, let us know as well ASAP - or consider helping out on other capacities.
Fish On! - Mike Ward
Member Fishing Partner Roster
At the October club meeting, we discussed ways of improving membership, participation and meeting member interests. One topic discussed was publishing a directory to enable members to contact each other more readily and hook-up (20th Century definition) with new partners to fish, learn and make new acquaintances. Dick Justice has agreed to take this project on. In the near future he will be contacting club members by email, asking each their desire to share their fishing interests, methods and willingness to be contacted by other club members. This is a voluntary activity and our plan is to distribute the list in hard copy at club meetings. We do not intend to post the file to a website. We encourage each member to consider adding their name and associated info to the list and also offer suggestions for how we could make this more effective. So, when you get an email from "iznojustice", it's not SPAM!
2018 Board Member Elections
During our November meeting we will be electing Board members for the 2018/19 term. Current board members Rick Boettcher, Khris Bradley, Joel Janecek & Michael Ward have one year remaining on their term. There are four seats open for election:
The following members have accepted to have their name submitted for consideration:
The following members have accepted to have their name submitted for consideration:
- Tony Bolt
- Jim Perry
- Joe Prinzinger
- Joe Wolf
Member Catches
SMSC Members have been getting it done this Spring! It's great to be able to share and enjoy these images of others catching fish - please submit yours - you can post them to the Club Facebook page, or send them to [email protected].
Striper Mafia Tournament Series Kicks Off on 11/11
The Striper Mafia Tournament Series kicks off its third season in a few weeks on 11/11. The SMSC is a proud Gold Sponsor of the tournament series, partnering with the Striper Mafia to help spread the word of preservation of our striper fishery on Smith Mountain Lake, as well as to help promote awareness of the SMSC and facilitate opportunities for those members which wish to participate in competitive striper fishing.
Last season we had strong participation of SMSC Club members taking part in the events, and we look forward to seeing great representation of Club members in the events as well this season. If you are not going to be fishing, come on out to the post-tournament check-in & awards to root on your fellow Club members - or consider volunteering on tournament day to assist with the tournament setup / break-down and some of the other day-of logistics - if you're interested in assisting in this way, give Mike Ward a call at 336-437-4114.
Last season we had strong participation of SMSC Club members taking part in the events, and we look forward to seeing great representation of Club members in the events as well this season. If you are not going to be fishing, come on out to the post-tournament check-in & awards to root on your fellow Club members - or consider volunteering on tournament day to assist with the tournament setup / break-down and some of the other day-of logistics - if you're interested in assisting in this way, give Mike Ward a call at 336-437-4114.
2017 Fish Ladder
The fish ladder is shaping up with some outstanding catches this year - but there is a whole lot of year left for other great fish to be logged - bumping others around on the ladder. Keep the catches coming! We have until the end of November to turn in entries for 2017, with the winners presented at the Christmas Party. The current standings as of 10/29/17 are:
|
2017 Christmas Party - Signup by 11/3
It's Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas.... Ok. well maybe not from a temperature perspective but Christmas will be here before we turn around - we will be kicking off the Holiday Season with our annual Christmas Party on Friday, December 1st. As we did last year, we will hold the party at our normal meeting location. Dinner will be catered and the price is only $15/person. We ask each member to bring a toy for a boy or girl to be donated to Lake Christian Ministries to be distributed to families in the local area in need. I also have it on good authority that Santa may just pay a visit for those good boys & girls out there.
Signup / payment must be made by the November meeting to secure your spot. This is always a fun event, and an opportunity to meet our member's significant others. Contact Rick Boettcher for any questions. We look forward to seeing you there! |
Thoughts & Prayers for our Members
We have several members which are currently battling various health issues - we ask you all to keep these unnamed members in your thoughts & prayers for a speedy recovery. If you are aware of a member facing heath issues, please drop a note to us at [email protected] to help make us aware.
Tackle Tip for November - Pig-tail Swivels
With Fall here and temperatures dropping, getting your fingers to work can sometimes be a little challenging. Many planer boards come with cheap "snap" swivels which can be difficult to get open and closed on the best of days - much less than on those crisp mornings in the Fall.
A great tip passed on to me some years ago by Capt. Todd Keith of the Shad Taxi is to use "pig tail" swivels. Offshore Tackle makes these and they can be purchased at local tackle shops such as Captain's Quarters. The closed swivel end attaches to the planer board via the large split-ring, and then your line attaches to the "pig tail". All you have to do is to make a loop with your line, and then put that loop over the wire opening, and follow the "tail". There is not a quicker way to attach or remove your line from your planer boards, and your fingers will thank you for not having to work those tough little snap swivels |
Fishing Outlook for November & December
Fall has been a long time in coming this year - but the water temperatures are finally starting to reflect more normal conditions of Fall, and as such the striper are beginning to move into their normal Late Oct / early November patterns. That said, there have been a lot more fish way down the lake then normal this year so they may hang down lake or in the lower/mid lake major creeks where there are concentrations of bait-fish - but look for many to be moving up the lake arms.
In the early part of the Fall pattern concentrate on the main lake channel and specifically points and flat. However, don't hesitate to check the backs of the creeks in early mornings as the fish move in and then back out to feed. As we move further into November the upper lake creeks will be good areas to target, often throughout the day - but certainly in the first few hours of the morning and then just before dark.
Pulling dollar-bill sized gizzard shad (of which we have millions at the moment) to larger shad behind light-lines or free-lined planer boards is always a go-to technique in the fall. However, keep a casting rod with a top-water bait at the ready as you'll often encounter some breaking fish this time of year as the striper feed on young-of-the-year shad. For those fishing artificial, casting to points with swim-baits or jigs/flukes can be productive techniques.
As we move into December the pattern will largely depend on how quickly Old Man Winter decides to arrive. If things stay mild then the November pattern will continue - but if it cools more quickly then look for the fish to move back into the main channel, school up some and move towards the mid-lake areas. This is a good time to break out the jigs & flukes or 4" swim-baits to cast & retrieve.
Don't forget that as of November 1st the protective slot is back in effect - no fish 30" - 40" may be harvested from November 1st to May 31st. Let Em' Go & Let Em' Grow!
In the early part of the Fall pattern concentrate on the main lake channel and specifically points and flat. However, don't hesitate to check the backs of the creeks in early mornings as the fish move in and then back out to feed. As we move further into November the upper lake creeks will be good areas to target, often throughout the day - but certainly in the first few hours of the morning and then just before dark.
Pulling dollar-bill sized gizzard shad (of which we have millions at the moment) to larger shad behind light-lines or free-lined planer boards is always a go-to technique in the fall. However, keep a casting rod with a top-water bait at the ready as you'll often encounter some breaking fish this time of year as the striper feed on young-of-the-year shad. For those fishing artificial, casting to points with swim-baits or jigs/flukes can be productive techniques.
As we move into December the pattern will largely depend on how quickly Old Man Winter decides to arrive. If things stay mild then the November pattern will continue - but if it cools more quickly then look for the fish to move back into the main channel, school up some and move towards the mid-lake areas. This is a good time to break out the jigs & flukes or 4" swim-baits to cast & retrieve.
Don't forget that as of November 1st the protective slot is back in effect - no fish 30" - 40" may be harvested from November 1st to May 31st. Let Em' Go & Let Em' Grow!
Fishing Report - 10/21/17 - It's Almost Fall
Weather: 40's & foggy to start, clearing of to mostly sunny with temps in the upper 60's
Water temps: 68 in one spot - 59-61 where we spent most of our time, visibility of a few feet
Techniques: Pulling dollar-bill sized gizzards on free-line planers
Time Fished: 7:30a - Noon
Slid out on Friday evening about 5pm and threw the net in the creek to catch some bait for Saturday AM while waiting for the wife & kids to get up to the lake and head to dinner. 2nd throw yielded 24 or so dollar-bill sized baits, but I threw for another hour in the creek trying to see if I could find some larger gizzards - but nothing doing.... Left about 3 doz shad to marinate in ShadCrack for the evening....
Tyler joined me on Saturday AM and we hit the water about 7am as the sun was coming up good. Some light fog as we made our way to our destination fishing grounds. We made one stop along a stretch which typically holds fish for us and pulled some baits but either the fish were not home or they wanted a bigger snack than we had.... Plenty of bait near-by for them to snack on anyway....
Water temps: 68 in one spot - 59-61 where we spent most of our time, visibility of a few feet
Techniques: Pulling dollar-bill sized gizzards on free-line planers
Time Fished: 7:30a - Noon
Slid out on Friday evening about 5pm and threw the net in the creek to catch some bait for Saturday AM while waiting for the wife & kids to get up to the lake and head to dinner. 2nd throw yielded 24 or so dollar-bill sized baits, but I threw for another hour in the creek trying to see if I could find some larger gizzards - but nothing doing.... Left about 3 doz shad to marinate in ShadCrack for the evening....
Tyler joined me on Saturday AM and we hit the water about 7am as the sun was coming up good. Some light fog as we made our way to our destination fishing grounds. We made one stop along a stretch which typically holds fish for us and pulled some baits but either the fish were not home or they wanted a bigger snack than we had.... Plenty of bait near-by for them to snack on anyway....
We moved on in search of some cooler water - found it and put out the boards..... Wasn't too long and we had a few nervous baits - then one of the boards pulling across a shallow flat got slammed - Tyler grabbed the rod as the fish peeled drag, then turned to run at the boat... Was a decent fish - probably in the mid/upper teens based on the way it fought but it threw the hook on him just as I took a picture......
We pulled on for the better part of the morning with really no other action. We moved back to the area where we did have the earlier action and had a few more chases and swirls but could not get the fish to eat - some of the chases/blow-ups acted like small fish - but then again it may have been a pig playing with our small baits and wanting a big ol' gizzard.
We headed to the house around noon - passed a bunch of other boats on our way back - not sure if they were in fish or not - but was nice to fish were we only saw one other striper boat all morning. Things are not quite "right" yet, but getting there very quickly - this week of cooler temps and some rain is going to get the Fall pattern going I think....
We pulled on for the better part of the morning with really no other action. We moved back to the area where we did have the earlier action and had a few more chases and swirls but could not get the fish to eat - some of the chases/blow-ups acted like small fish - but then again it may have been a pig playing with our small baits and wanting a big ol' gizzard.
We headed to the house around noon - passed a bunch of other boats on our way back - not sure if they were in fish or not - but was nice to fish were we only saw one other striper boat all morning. Things are not quite "right" yet, but getting there very quickly - this week of cooler temps and some rain is going to get the Fall pattern going I think....
Tackle Tip for December - The Kite-Fisher Snell Knot
The Kite-Fisher Snell knot is one of the simplest ways I have found to snell hooks. I like to snell all my Octopus style hooks (both regular Octopus as well as Octopus Circle hooks). My friend Travis Patsell, of Cats-n-Stripers Guide Service, turned me on to this technique and he has a great little video on YouTube that shows how to tie this snell - you can find it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPnnfm6pGeg.
When you tie this knot you'll question its holding ability as it seems the whole thing will just unravel, but tension on the line holds this knot in place and I have not seen it fail yet due to unraveling. The only down-side to the this snell technique is that you must have access to both ends of your leader. However, it is such a quick, efficient and elgant knot that when snelling a new hook onto an existing tied on leader, I'll just cut my leader from the swivel, snell and then tie the leader back to the swivel with a uni-knot or Palomar knot.
The below write-up comes from "Paul's Fishing Kites" web-site - http://www.fishing.sh/htmfiles/knots/snelling.html
Snelling is a very simple method of fishing hook knot tying and the snell knot is the strongest of all saltwater fishing hook knots.
Tying fishing hooks
When you tie this knot you'll question its holding ability as it seems the whole thing will just unravel, but tension on the line holds this knot in place and I have not seen it fail yet due to unraveling. The only down-side to the this snell technique is that you must have access to both ends of your leader. However, it is such a quick, efficient and elgant knot that when snelling a new hook onto an existing tied on leader, I'll just cut my leader from the swivel, snell and then tie the leader back to the swivel with a uni-knot or Palomar knot.
The below write-up comes from "Paul's Fishing Kites" web-site - http://www.fishing.sh/htmfiles/knots/snelling.html
Snelling is a very simple method of fishing hook knot tying and the snell knot is the strongest of all saltwater fishing hook knots.
Tying fishing hooks
- First pass the trace through the eye of the hook from the front of the hook. Only pass it through about half an inch.
- Hold the shank of the hook and the half inch tab end and wrap the trace around both the shank of the hook and the tab end 7 or 8 turns.
- Pass the trace back down through the eye of the hook from the back of the hook.
- Pull the trace tight while holding the hook to set the snell.
- There should be very little or no tag end protruding when the knot is set.
2018/19 Board of Directors Ballot
Please vote for up to four members which have been nominated for the Board of Directors to serve during the 2018/19 term. If you are unable to attend the November 3rd meeting in person, you may submit your vote via e-mail to Michael Ward - at [email protected]
____ Tony Bolt
____ Jim Perry
____ Joe Prinzinger
____ Joe Wolf
____ Tony Bolt
____ Jim Perry
____ Joe Prinzinger
____ Joe Wolf
Please Support our Club Sponsors & Advertisers
Our Club Sponsors and Advertisers provide a valuable support to the Smith Mountain Striper Club and our membership. When in need of goods or services, please give our sponsors consideration and also let them know that you appreciate their support of the Club.
Smith Mountain Striper Club members receive a 10% Discount
Call or e-mail for details. [email protected] / (304) 928-7653 www.rockcreekplaners.com/planer-boards/ |
Check us out on the net at www.castnets.com or call us at (800) 332-6387 ext. 100 and tell them you a member of the Smith Mountain Striper Club to order your nets and receive a 50% discount of list prices.
|