The plan was to fish Fairfield easy in the cool of the night. Instead we went during the heat of the day on Sunday and fished the hard way! (Insert Tim Taylor grunt here) Man it was hot! But we were rewarded with this trophy. She weighed in at 14.1 pounds and did NOT want to come in the boat. She fell for live perch under a balloon with no weight about 15 feet deep. Watching the balloon go under is pretty cool, I highly recommend it. More pics at my site.

Nice red!

Nice red... Looks like I am going to have to make a run over there after I give exams on tomorrow.

How were the ramps? Any problems?

We used the first one and the water level was closer to the end of the ramp than to the top of it. I'll take a picture of it next time. We were able to launch without the trailor falling off, I assume because of the rocks The Man put in, but we also put an ugly ding in the prop. So its a tradeoff; you can launch but at the peril of your boat. For me, I'll do it again but I don't have a $40,000 boat.

Thanks for the update, I will just use the T-motor at the ramp and keep the engine up.

that is one awesome fish.

I'd like to learn more about balloon fishing - if you have any links, that'd be great. I checked your website but haven't had time yet to look in more detail - if there's more how-to stuff on there, I'm sure I'll find it.

What size perch ya'll like to use? You're castnetting them, right?

Do ya use the same techniques at night?

Is that one of the state park ramps over your left shoulder? (Don't want to pry - if you'd rather not give up your honey hole, I understand and I'm prepared to beg. Just kiddin ) no, more like the left end of the dam.

Planning a campout with the nephews in a couple weeks & I really need to put 'em on to some fish. Doesn't have to be Fairfield but it does need to be a state park, and that's one of my favorites.

Thanks!

Nice Red! I've never caught one but I know that was fun . Congratulations.

XYZ - Good idea! I might try the trolling motor launch and load next time.

bama - Man was it ever fun! It was about a 10 minute battle. It is very exhillerating hanging on as they take drag. Then after you've made up so much ground they take it all back again.

jtexas - Just make sure the balloon knot is tight on the line. That way it'll still slip through by hand but not by the fish. My fishing bud is better at it than I am. The catfish had to wait while I cut the balloon off the line because I tied it incorrectly and it wouldn't slip at all. I could picture the fish checking his watch.

We net the perch up alright and usually use whatever the lake gives us, big or small. Sunday they were kinda small. We hook the perch behind the dorsel fin with no weight and let him go where he wants although making sure it is well away from the boat seems key. It is real fun to watch the balloon start bouncing as the bait attempts to flee just before the entire thing goes under. We use the same techniques at night but its hard to see the balloon.

About 1.5ft is left under my keel at the berm crest at the south ramp, (south side of that two lane ramp.) PS for those not compass oriented the dam is on the north end of the lake.

Guys line up on your trailers 2-3 boat lengths out from the dock corner, get a slow glide going. Trim the engine up to 60 degrees and glide over that bern. If your draft is to low and you stick in the berm, back out move north (toward the dam) and try again. Once you are inside the berm crest you can lower the big engine or use your trolling to line up on your trailer. You have 4-5 ft deep water at the concrete edge that will let you drive the boat up on the trailer with the big engine, and about 1.5 boat lengths to do it in.

Wet your bunks if you can, the boat slides easier.