OK...The long winter wait is over ! Met Chris (aka doctorxring) a little after daybreak at Fayette. Water temp 74-75 degrees. We each fished from our boats & split up in the beginning to search for these guys. The wind was relentless, so I tries a wind sheltered area 1st & bingo. Talked to Chris on the cell & and he joined in on the action. We only tried 2 areas because of the wind but they were there in the reedbeds in both areas. The guy in the Duracraft pic is Chris. I ended up with 1 big cat, 10-15 bass, & around 30-35 sunfish. I believe Chris said he had around 25 sunnies. I caught mine on night crawlers & Chris used these little maggot like creatures (meal worms?) plus real worms. Chris kept some to eat & I released the ones I caught. I had planned to stay all day, but left around 2:00 pm due to whitecaps.

Awesome as usual!!

Steve's bird dog was hunting better than mine today. He homed in on some Bigguns !
One of my best days on the water ever !! Until today, I had caught 2 perch over
a pound. Both red ears on Dunlap during 2014 season. Today I caught 3 perch over
a pound in one day !!! I just can't stop grinning I'm sure some of Steve's
were over a pound too. Thanks a million Steve. I had a great time team fishing with
you today. Hope to go again soon !!

First perch fry of 2019 tomorrow. Can't wait !

P.S. That was as BIG bass that Steve caught today. Had him going LOL !!



Note on maggots --
Maggots are the larvae of the blue bottle fly. The northerners call them "spikes".
One of the moderators on the Panfish forum on the Crappie.com forum swears by
them for perch so I tried them. I've had good luck with them by themselves or as an add on to the
Bait of Champions. I put a maggot on the hook first, then a little piece of
worm, then another maggot. I think the combo works well in two ways.
The perch loves it and the maggots "pinning" the worm on the hook make
it tougher for them to strip it off. I caught fish today under a quill and on drop shot bottom rig.

"BINGO"





Side Note: Good job Steve and Chris!

A note of thanks to you as well Chuck. I learned today that you put Steve
on to the idea of trying Fayette for perch. You have created a monster LOL !!

.

Chris you and Steve deserve a lot of credit braving that wind. Was thinking about you guys and the white caps. Glad you found some wind protected coves and were able to put the hurt on those sunnies. Again super job.




Side Note: Any of the sunnies carrying eggs?

Double WOW!!!!! Mighty fine catch and reports. Dang, one day I hope to catch just one Bluegill over 10". My salute to both of you.

Hang in there Rick! You will get that 10" Bluegill soon or a later!

Chuck

The only one that had eggs was the yellow one that weighed
1.052 lb above.

Thanks Chris!

Great post and fish. Good job guys. Will be heading to Fayette soon with two of my fishing pals. How was the water clarity? Also did you fish any of the stick-up's. Again great post and fish.

Wow! Three one pound plus sunfish in one trip! Great fishing guys.



Side Note: Have either of you ever caught any Rios on Fayette?

Laker...The water clarity is good, and getting better with each trip.

Gitter...I had probably 6-7 over a pound, so lets jut call it double digits In all the years I have fished Fayette I have only caught 1...that's one...last year on a night crawler...and it was small.

Thanks Vogey. Just wondering,I have not seen all that many Rio catches coming from Fayette!

As much as I have fished Fayette I think I can count on one hand the total Rios I have caught. They are in that lake it's just a matter of finding them.