# Alum Saugeye 6/5



## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

With my work schedule the next few weeks decided to take a day off yesterday and get in my last fishing trip for a next month.

Went to Alum around noon with plans to fish until dark. Took a little bit or everything with me including my long crappie rods for spider rigging crappie deep and all of the casting stuff, wasn't sure what I would end up doing or where, no real plan of attack, just going fishing and looking.

Launched at the marina ramp which to my surprise wasn't very busy at all. I was able to launch by myself with no other boats at the ramps, unusual, especially for a Friday.

BRIGHT intense sunshine, 80 degrees, very light breeze, HOT! when I started across the South pool to the East bank to talk to Crappiecommander and fishintechnition. They were doing the "Ying thing" and trolling the East shore with limited success. They had been on the lake since early morning and had some good success early and said the bite had died off for them later in the morning.










I left them and headed North. Fishslim was planning on joining me late afternoon so I was going to spend the next few few hours just looking around and started casting points, flats with deep water drops, any bottom contour in 4-12 FOW that wasn't flat. It started pretty slow with a few channel cats and a couple short eyes and just kept getting better from there. Around 3 PM the eyes started getting better, by the time I picked Fishslim up at the dock around 4:30 I had caught 9 eyes with 4 being keepers. It just kept getting better from there until around 7:30 and then it started to slow down a little again. I dropped Troy off at the dock at 8 and headed for my boat ramp to head home ahead of the impending rain.

We caught another 25+ saugeye with many in the 20" range. The average size got better in the late afternoon We kept our 12 and had fun just playing C&R after the 12th was in the cooler early on.










Water temp was 78 degrees. very light NW wind, visibility was around 18", most fish came from 3-10' on drops or flat edges close to the drops. Majority caught on a Joshy 2.3, underspin jig, tipped with a piece of nightcrawler except for when Troy started catching them on a whister jig tipped with a bass minnow, I think he switched to the whister jig for a while just to prove a point to me or something Like he really needs to prove anything, YES Troy, It works!!!,












The fish all still wanted it worked very slow right on *BOTTOM* with little hops while *SLOWLY* reeling. Too fast or up off bottom resulted in not much except white bass. With many of these fish you will feel no "hit" just a mushy extra weight.

I don't think it is a secret that we really like to use the underspin jig heads for everything that swims. The Roadrunner has been the mainstay forever. I started using the Northland Thumper jigs that last couple of trips and I really like them. They have sizes up to 3/8" and a small spinner that works really well at slow speeds. They also have a second wire bait keeper wire in addition to the barb on the jig head. This is a nice feature and works great with the Joshys.










Go get some eyes while the getting is good.


----------



## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Sounds like a blast...
And love the underspin tip... been lookin for a good one!


----------



## 93stratosfishnski (Aug 25, 2011)

Man would I love to have some chartreuse slush....wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.



Bobby the new field and stream store has some of those thumper jigs


----------



## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

Nice report and very informative Lundy...


----------



## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

93stratosfishnski said:


> Man would I love to have some chartreuse slush....wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.


Is that what color that is? I am color blind and Josh has kept me supplied with all kinds of stuff over time. Much of them are not in boxes with labels. I used some one off colors yesterday, seconds, came out wrong color, burnt, whatever, not sure, but they also worked equally well.


----------



## 93stratosfishnski (Aug 25, 2011)

You pros and your bags of "seconds"...sheesh... lol... no fishing for a month? I think I'd go crazy


----------



## deerfarmer (Apr 21, 2012)

Great report.

Sent from my C771 using Ohub Campfire mobile app


----------



## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

93stratosfishnski said:


> You pros and your bags of "seconds"...sheesh... lol... no fishing for a month? I think I'd go crazy


The boat is till hooked up, I might find a way to get in one last trip for a few hours this afternoon.


----------



## tsh4425 (Apr 11, 2014)

Sounds like a great last day out for awhile, nice report, thanks.


----------



## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

I know of a place a little north where that " ying thing" is on fire! Can't troll 2 rods. Sitting here in Hilton head wishing I was on the water!!


----------



## fishslim (Apr 28, 2005)

ying6 said:


> I know of a place a little north where that " ying thing" is on fire! Can't troll 2 rods. Sitting here in Hilton head wishing I was on the water!!


Been there done that no Ying thing though straight up casting more then one of our spots by the way. Hurry home before i catch them all. Lol Hope your having hood weather at the beach i will keep the honey holes warm for you.


----------



## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

You have to get John on the fish. He doesn't think there are any eyes out there


----------



## talltim (Jul 25, 2008)

Great post, very helpful, thank you


----------



## polebender (Oct 29, 2011)

Great job on your catch guys! Sounds like an enjoyable day on the water! Thanks for sharing your techniques and jigs you used. Do those underspins seem to work better than the roadrunner style?


----------



## 93stratosfishnski (Aug 25, 2011)

i find the road runners seem to wobble when you vary speed and run to the side, therefore i like the style posted better


----------



## polebender (Oct 29, 2011)

93stratosfishnski said:


> i find the road runners seem to wobble when you vary speed and run to the side, therefore i like the style posted better


Yea, I definitely notice a wobble or turn to one side, with the roadrunners. The one posted is more of a swim jig. I've had success with that style of jig head and swim bait fishing for bass, but it doesn't have the underspin. Thanks for the input.


----------



## slowtroller (Sep 28, 2011)

Lundy said:


> With my work schedule the next few weeks decided to take a day off yesterday and get in my last fishing trip for a next month.
> 
> Went to Alum around noon with plans to fish until dark. Took a little bit or everything with me including my long crappie rods for spider rigging crappie deep and all of the casting stuff, wasn't sure what I would end up doing or where, no real plan of attack, just going fishing and looking.
> 
> ...





polebender said:


> Yea, I definitely notice a wobble or turn to one side, with the roadrunners. The one posted is more of a swim jig. I've had success with that style of jig head and swim bait fishing for bass, but it doesn't have the underspin. Thanks for the input.


----------



## slowtroller (Sep 28, 2011)

What all reports should be like, everyone could learn from you guys. Great pics by the way!


----------



## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

Now that's a fishing report!

Awesome job gents.... We would expect nothing less from you guys though


----------



## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

polebender said:


> Do those underspins seem to work better than the roadrunner style?


I wouldn't call them better in the 1/8 size, just different. Where this jig is better is when you need to increase weights, 1/4-3/8 oz. In those sizes they offer some advantages for sure, the primary ones being the keeper barb and keeper wire and the smaller blade size. Larger size roadrunner style jigs, 1/4 oz and larger are hard to come by from any store. Steelhauler has a mold and has been making them for a few guys here (NOT ME!). Also the standard roadrunners have a larger blade. The larger blade at speed raises the lure and it doesn't seem to move as well at crawl slow speeds along the bottom. When you are casting crosswind in a strong wind you need enough jig weight to keep the big bow out of your line. A few weeks ago with Fishslim I was fishing a 3/8 oz head in 5-7 ' of water to keep it on the bottom because of the wind.

I still like roadrunner heads, have a bunch of them, will always fish them, This Thumper jig is just another tool to have ready when the conditions or fish tell me to use it.

Troy used one of my jigs this afternoon and I'm not sure how well he liked it, he caught a lot of catfish with it

We fished again this afternoon 3:30 -8, it was like fishing on I-71 with all of the boat traffic. It was much tougher today but we did catch around 25 eyes with somewhere around 18 being keeper size, we had 3-4 really nice ones. Same areas and techniques as yesterday except they were not on top of the breaks as much and were a little deeper. Most of the fish today came 6' or deeper and we had to cover a lot more water and locations.

Troy did catch a lot of kitties, a muskie, and a bluegill along with the eyes, no crappie or white bass today. Troy can catch anything and everything no matter what he throws at them. He is fun to fish with.


----------



## fishslim (Apr 28, 2005)

Lundy said:


> I wouldn't call them better in the 1/8 size, just different. Where this jig is better is when you need to increase weights, 1/4-3/8 oz. In those sizes they offer some advantages for sure, the primary ones being the keeper barb and keeper wire and the smaller blade size. Larger size roadrunner style jigs, 1/4 oz and larger are hard to come by from any store. Steelhauler has a mold and has been making them for a few guys here (NOT ME!). Also the standard roadrunners have a larger blade. The larger blade at speed raises the lure and it doesn't seem to move as well at crawl slow speeds along the bottom. When you are casting crosswind in a strong wind you need enough jig weight to keep the big bow out of your line. A few weeks ago with Fishslim I was fishing a 3/8 oz head in 5-7 ' of water to keep it on the bottom because of the wind.
> 
> I still like roadrunner heads, have a bunch of them, will always fish them, This Thumper jig is just another tool to have ready when the conditions or fish tell me to use it.
> 
> ...


Lol Thanks Kim i strive to be multi species when out there.lol not on purpose. Was enjoyable again today Kim put a hurting on me today with most of the larger eyes up near the front of the boat. Spot lock trolling motor works well for blocking the back of the boat. Lol totally kidding i had the right angle most of the time. Was not moving bait the same way and it made a difference when i figured that out. Thumper jig was just fine actually had a little more weight to it and stayed along bottom better then road runner was doing. Was cool to miss a fish and then just drop jig back to bottom watching your line jump on way down and wham set the hook on a nice eye. Did catch eyes on worm chunks but also got some on wax worm tipped as well. Key being some kind of flavor really means alot right now the way they are hitting. Thanks again Kim will give you some reports while out of town.


----------



## CRAPPIECOMMANDER (Feb 25, 2006)

Nice Pic! You caught me. Lol. All I can say is we were cooking almost to the broiling point then Lundy shows up and the clouds and breeze rolled in and apparently the eyes did too. We got impatient and couldn't refrain from busting white bass and gills when we should have been focusing on the eyes from the sounds of things. I might have stayed longer had Anson not thrown out the idea of iced down beverages and a loaded grill. All and all it was a good day you guys definitely took us to school on the eyes! No issues for me with Wes's RoadRunner mold they have nice small blades .


----------



## All Eyes (Jul 28, 2004)

Nice job on the eyes! Joshy's on a Roadrunner have been working pretty well for me on the walleye also. I mainly use the pro series that come with the size 0 gold willow leaf blade with a red hook. The gap set is a touch wider on them also. More of a live bait hook. I wish they made them with the double bait keeper like the Thumpers. Great for plastics.


----------



## polebender (Oct 29, 2011)

Thanks for the info Lundy! I appreciate it!


----------



## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

To sum your fishing up.
You fish points ( anything that comes off main land and had a cove). You throw road runners or under spins with swims. Tip them with a small crawler has helped. You let it sink to the bottom and reel back slowly twitching as you go. 
Using the trolling motor to move slow through an area. Seems like later in the day has been the key.
That has to be the most precise fishing information ever given!
This will continue for a couple more weeks, then the pattern will change.
Everyone should have some success!


----------



## Skippy (Dec 2, 2009)

Very good posts and pictures. Lots of information to be had by all. Thank you.
Question. Do you think due to water color and/or water depth that using that small spinner jig WAS the key. I know that once catching fish it's hard to try something else. Just wondering. Lets say a red eye, no spinner but plenty of sound. Maybe a flutter spoon??


----------



## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Skippy

Can't say that the spinner was the key, it was just part of the presentation the last couple of days. Location, presentation, Joshy, tipped, who knows. I do know that yesterday that my retrieve made a difference in hits between us until Troy changed his up a little. I don't think there is any doubt that there are other lures and presentations that would have caught those fish. That is just the combo that worked, always works, that we threw a them full time with the exception of the whistler jig and minnow Troy threw some on Friday, which also caught eyes.

I don't know about Troy but I seem to split time around 50/50 underspin and no underspin. I have been throwing your jigs a lot this year. I haven't lost a jig for my last 3 trips so I just haven't changed heads, it's tired but still working.


----------



## CPK (Jan 31, 2015)

ying6 said:


> To sum your fishing up.
> You fish points ( anything that comes off main land and had a cove). You throw road runners or under spins with swims. Tip them with a small crawler has helped. You let it sink to the bottom and reel back slowly twitching as you go.
> Using the trolling motor to move slow through an area. Seems like later in the day has been the key.
> That has to be the most precise fishing information ever given!
> ...


Tried this most of the morning today and yesterday. Didn't do very well. I'm wondering if it's because I was out from sunrise to noon instead of later in the day. Threw all of this for 1dink eye. Oh yea. Had the only good fish of the day come off right when we laid eyes on each other. It was a 20" or so eye.


----------



## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

Skippy said:


> Very good posts and pictures. Lots of information to be had by all. Thank you.
> Question. Do you think due to water color and/or water depth that using that small spinner jig WAS the key. I know that once catching fish it's hard to try something else. Just wondering. Lets say a red eye, no spinner but plenty of sound. Maybe a flutter spoon??


The difference from a red eye or a spoon is drop and retreive speed.
I think a spinner on a jig does several things and based on the conditions they will increase or decrease your hits. 
they slow the drop speed
slow the retreive speed
add flash,
add vibration
Its my opinion that all or these things help for fish that dont want to chase something down and they help them find the bait in dirty water. Its been my experience that in very clear water (3+ ft) you will get less hits over the course of time on a jig with a spinner attached. I just think the more natural subtle action and faster drop works better if the fish already knows your bait is there.


----------



## fishslim (Apr 28, 2005)

Cpk I will say and I always say I like alum from 12 noon on till evening I personally do not fish it much in morning unless I am there before sunrise and then I leave shortly after sunrise. These fish and I have stressed this in many threads and on the seminar video from fishing expo. THIS TIME OF YEAR THRU SUMMER THE EYES EAT WELL DURING THE HOTTEST PART OF THE DAY. Case In point the last 2 days with Lundy were midafternoon adventures and as it got past the heat of 6 o'clock the bite tailed off and was much more work to get bit. That saying alittle before dark usually not always a spurt bite and if in right area when it happens is fast and furious for a half hour or so. Right now 2:00 thru rest of afternoon fish should be eating. Tipping the bait with even a wax worm will improve catch ratio by 80 percent now. These fish have plenty to eat they are laying on bottom just relaxing is your jig gets close and has some smell to it many will at least mouth it to see whether they want it. Hope that helps and good fishing


----------



## Deazl666 (Mar 30, 2012)

Great report Lundy! You might be colorblind but you can still pick out gnat on fly's butt at 100 yards!


----------



## CPK (Jan 31, 2015)

Thanks for the help slim! The bummer is mornings are when I can sneak off before the family wakes up haha maybe I should start waking everyone up in the house at four or five am so they take naps at two so I can fish then!! Lol


----------



## Steelhauler (Apr 7, 2004)

Hey Kim,

If you want some of my road runners you but to ask. Just let me know what sizes and colors you want. 

Wes


----------



## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

Are you scuba diving in that picture?? That is awesome


----------



## Steelhauler (Apr 7, 2004)

Yeah Mike. That was on a diving trip to Bonaire last year.


----------



## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Wes, I was just playing about the jigs, But some 1/4 oz are what I need, I don't care what color as long as they are red.

CPK, Troy has finally convinced me about the afternoon eye bite. My last 3 trips I didn't go to the lake until noon or after.


----------



## CRAPPIECOMMANDER (Feb 25, 2006)

Someone tried to warn me I was going to early Friday wish I would have listened. Hindsight . I think I may have redeemed myself jigging today Kim but Wes is the only one who knows for sure.


----------



## CPK (Jan 31, 2015)

I will have to start trying it. Gonna start taking my kids fishing for pond bass in the morning and I'll go to alum in the afternoons. Reverse my schedule. My 4yr old just caught this bass tonight! All on her own. Gotta love Barbie poles and wax worms!








Kim, if you take me fishing with you sometime I'll get you a matching 'peace love and ponies' shirt!!! Lol


----------



## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

CPK said:


> Kim, if you take me fishing with you sometime I'll get you a matching 'peace love and ponies' shirt!!! Lol


That is an awesome pic of your girl!! I don't think those shirts are available in my size, unless you got it from Columbus Tent and Awning.


----------



## Steelhauler (Apr 7, 2004)

Kim,

Just shoot me and address and I'll ship some to you.

Yeah, Lonnie redeemed himself up here yesterday. We put a hurting on some Smallies and Rock Bass and not one fish was taken by trolling!

Wes


----------



## NewbreedFishing (Apr 15, 2004)

Nice report Guys and thanks for the bag of crawlers Kim!! I got out way too late friday nite due to a rush hour [email protected] the polaris exit. We got into the crappie pretty well but only caught 2 spikes after I met up with you. We were taking our fish dragging and hopping a 1/8oz red RR w/bubblegum 2.3BJ.

I couldnt convince the lady friend i had along that the lightning storm was romantic stuff and that we should stay out longer  We got off the water around 9 and watched 100's of lightning stikes to the south of cheshire.

I am still trying to get in tune with this saugeye stuff but just havent gotten it down yet.
Really appreciate all the information that you guys provide us with.


----------



## jray (Jan 20, 2006)

Nice work guys! It's encouraging to see those bigger fish showing up. We have been out trying the new boat out and having a lot of success with numbers but all eaters only 1 20 incher. Saturday morning there was at least a 20 mph wind and we drifted all morning and got them pretty good. There was an odnr fish survey boat out and he was talking to people all around us. The 6 or 8 boats he talked to I hadn't seen catch a fish and we had 15 in the live well so not sure why he didn't say hey? Also found fish pushing bait in a cove one day last week grabbed a joshy and hit 8 eyes in 8 casts turns out they were all 8 inchers which is very encouraging to see.


----------



## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Thanks for the report...looks like the "piece of candy" on the hook is a special touch this time of year!


----------



## Shields (Mar 30, 2014)

This is the kind of reports I thoroughly enjoy reading. Thanks for taking the time to share this information. It does not go unappreciated!


----------



## fishslim (Apr 28, 2005)

Jray keep at it couple guy got many nice 20+ Sunday morning into afternoon had to work for them slow jigging been really key slowwwww with pauses basically just enough to get alittle flash out of roadrunner. You will find them I am confident in that.


----------



## Govbarney (Jan 3, 2011)

I'm headed to Alum tmwr, will be my last fishing trip for a month due to some surgery scheduled Wednesday. Picked up some butter worms at dicks for tipping the bait. Going to be targeting S-eye. Wind is supposed to be blowing in from the North West, does mean I should fish the east bank? Also which pool has been better, North or South? This will be my first trip to Alum since I was walking on it with my Auger and sled.


----------



## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Govbarney,

The wind is your friend with saugeye, Everyone I fish with prefers the windy flats and points over the calm ones. Wind blown or boat wake mudlines are not a bad thing. Just cover water casting, trolling or even drifting flats, especially edges of flats where they drop into deeper water, in 4-15 FOW and you should do fine,

Both North and South of Cheshire have been giving up good catches of eyes.


----------



## Govbarney (Jan 3, 2011)

Lundy said:


> Govbarney,
> 
> The wind is your friend with saugeye, Everyone I fish with prefers the windy flats and points over the calm ones. Wind blown or boat wake mudlines are not a bad thing. Just cover water casting, trolling or even drifting flats, especially edges of flats where they drop into deeper water, in 4-15 FOW and you should do fine,
> 
> Both North and South of Cheshire have been giving up good catches of eyes.


Thanks !


----------



## fishintechnician (Jul 20, 2007)

There is too much good looking in that picture to post on here Kim!!!

Yeah we did pretty good in the morn but after the first hour or so it really died off for us. We tried jigging and decided to just try covering water after that. After a few miles and 1 white bass and one gill we went back to casting. Found some nice gills and white bass to keep us busy. Then a cold frosty one and grilled meat sounded really good after baking in the sun all day so we left.

I went back day eve, got on the water by 6 and by 8 had three keeper eyes and a really hefty crappie. Bite shut off after 830 or so. I fished till around midnight with just a few small crappie and a decent large mouth to show for it. Eyes were caught on custom painted worm harnesses pulled at 1.2 to 1.4 mph on the slope of wind blown points.


----------



## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Got these thee eyes on a short creek wade yesterday. Used the piece of candy method by tipping the hook with a little chunk of gulp nightcrawler. Very effective


----------



## Govbarney (Jan 3, 2011)

Ended up having a decent day at Alum today. Hit the water at 10 , and right away the white bass bite was on. Most where in the 10-12 inch range, also mixed in where two smallies and a rock bass. At about 1130 the White Bass bite died like someone flicked a switch, I moved to another point and at about 1230 the Saugeye started biting, caught four total , all under 13in. , lost a few more at the boat. All the White Bass and Smallies where caught on a Big Joshy 2.75 "Slims Bait" with a 1/4oz pink road runner, tipped with either a crawler chunk or a butter worm. The S-Eye where caught on the same setup , but instead of a 2.75 Slims bait, it was a 2.3 Silktruse. Also the S-eye wanted nothing to do with the butter worms, would only take bait when tipped with a crawler . All in All good day, couldn't have done it with out the tips I learned OGF, So thanks to all.


----------



## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

I will be out tomorrow.. hoping to get into a few fish. Heading out in the afternoon


----------



## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

Fished alum from 4-7:30 ended with 5 good 18inch eyes. Wind blown point. Wind from the south, when the wind died the fish began to be scattered. Most fish were taken by road runner big Josh and night crawler. Slow was the key again, tip for the day, let it sink!


----------



## Cajunsaugeye (Apr 9, 2013)

I've NEVER tipped a joshy.Do you really think it helps?


----------



## CPK (Jan 31, 2015)

I see an increase in bites when tipping joshys and twisters. Waxies crawler and crappie niblets


----------



## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

There are times during the spring and early summer it really helps.
I think later in the summer minnows are better.


----------



## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Cajunsaugeye said:


> I've NEVER tipped a joshy.Do you really think it helps?


When I can reel faster and be more aggressive with the retrieve, which is most of the time,, no, tipping is not at all needed,. For some reason that last couple of weeks if you aren't slow on bottom and tipped the catch rate has been less. I HATE tipping any bait.

This weekend I will give a concerted effort without and with tipping, if and when I find an area with a few willing participants, and compare results. Once I find an area I'll make 10 casts with, followed by 10 casts without, and continue that rotation and see if it really is making a difference of if it is a figment of my imagination.


----------



## saug-I (Apr 7, 2010)

Lundy said:


> When I can reel faster and be more aggressive with the retrieve, which is most of the time,, no, tipping is not at all needed,. For some reason that last couple of weeks if you aren't slow on bottom and tipped the catch rate has been less. I HATE tipping any bait.
> 
> This weekend I will give a concerted effort without and with tipping, if and when I find an area with a few willing participants, and compare results. Once I find an area I'll make 10 casts with, followed by 10 casts without, and continue that rotation and see if it really is making a difference of if it is a figment of my imagination.


Thought fishing was done for a month or so BC of work


----------



## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

saug-I said:


> Thought fishing was done for a month or so BC of work


Pay closer attention to what I do not what I say A funeral this week for one of my co-workers son changed my work schedule a little to provide me another window of opportunity.


----------



## saug-I (Apr 7, 2010)

Very sorry to hear of the loss of his son!


----------



## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

4 more, before the sun was creeping, fish were active. No live well, working, so I had to get them home.


----------



## kayakmac (Aug 4, 2013)

Nice report, that is one nice looking cooler!!!!


----------



## Steelhauler (Apr 7, 2004)

Why is it we don't catch fish like that when I'm down there?


----------



## buzz94111 (Jul 9, 2013)

Any updates on water temp?


----------



## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

Funny Wes, funny


----------



## polebender (Oct 29, 2011)

buzz94111 said:


> Any updates on water temp?


Main lake was 72 yesterday.


----------



## arley ketchin (Oct 25, 2011)

Govbarney said:


> Thanks !


----------



## buzz94111 (Jul 9, 2013)

polebender said:


> Main lake was 72 yesterday.


Thanks


----------

