# House Report: I love the cold...



## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

I love fishing in the winter - the water is clear, the boat traffic is minimal, and the fish are fat. Even though it's wet and miserable out most days, it's hard to feel the cold when your fish finder looks like this:


*FISHING REPORTS: 11/15 & 11/16*
*WEATHER*: 56°F & 61°F with pretty hefty winds both days ranging from 15-20mph. Cloudy both days.
*WATER*: Temperatures ranged from 51-53°F out on the Ohio River & 42-45°F in the creeks. Water clarity was amazing in most of the creeks, with up to 8ft visibility. The Ohio River was pretty clear too, but with the choppy winds, there was a moderate amount of dirt in the water around any windblown shorelines.

-Fishing day 1 with Dustin "NITSUD" was pretty unproductive. The day started off hot, with 2 small hybrids jigged out of 20fow, but it quickly cooled off as the wind picked up to over 20mph at times. I marked plenty of fish, but it was nearly impossible to stay vertical over the 2foot ledge that they were suspended on. They were also staged pretty far off-shore which added to the wind factor. I did manage to haul up 2 small whites and this nice 17 sauger(?) before leaving:


11/16: Not quite satisfied with Friday's trip, I headed back out to a new spot I'd been wanting to explore for quite some time. Weather was much warmer Saturday, and the wind didn't blow nearly as hard as the day before. I fished with OGF Grafton this time and after debating back and forth whether to take the boat out or the canoe/kayak, we decided to go for the workout since the weather was nice. The Ohio River was muddier than Friday, but still with 6-12" visibility. Remembering Friday's trip, I started off searching 10-15 feet of water where I'd seen fish holding before, and sure enough they were in the same depths even though I was miles away. I started with a small inline spinner to start things off as there were plenty of white bass in the area surfacing. I went 3 for 3 on my first casts pulling up small fries like this one:


After hauling in a dozen of those, the wind picked up and we took refuge along the bank. I got into quite a few drum along the way, some of which had some funky skin tags growing on them which were cool when they smeared all over my pants...


Meanwhile, Grafton had a monster strike that pulled so hard it snapped his 10 pound line. He's a good fisherman and uses fancy gear, so we both knew there were some monster fish lurking about. While he was re-tying, I made 50 casts and all I could come up with were dink white bass and small hybrids. We both agreed that we needed to be out farther, so we scoured the bank for some make-shift anchors and went back out offshore with Grafton using a rock and a rope for an anchor while I used an empty gas tank filled with mud. Both methods worked, and we were able to anchor over the first drop-off where the water dove from 3 to 6 feet. It didn't take long to get into some bigger fish. I heard an "Oh Yea!" coming from upstream and looked up at Grafton to see his rod doubled over with a really big fish. He's not one to get too excited, so I knew we were both in for a surprise when he told me: "You'd better move your anchor line, this is a big one". I asked him what he was throwing and he laughed and said it was a 2-3 inch curly-tailed grub. 10 minutes went by and the fish was winning the tug-of-war. It was actually pulling Grafton and his rock anchor downstream! I paddled out to him and tied his canoe to my yak and pulled him to shore. 10 more minutes went by and we finally got a glimpse of the monster hybrid as he dragged it to shore. It was big... Really big. Ryan jumped on it and lipped the fish as it thrashed about. After a quick photo session, it was released to fight another day. No scale, but the lunker measured 27 inches and had a huge girth. I've landed three 10-pounders this year and this fish towered above any of them. It was one of the biggest I have ever seen:






Wait for it...






BOOM!!!!









-After a fish like that, it's hard to keep fishing lol. I had a heck of a day and caught handful of drum, hybrids, & white bass, but all I could think about was that humongous fish! I'll post more pics when I get home. 

Nice fish, Ryan. Fish like that keep me going all year long.

-House


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## whodeynati (Mar 12, 2012)

Nice fish... 
I love the wait for it.... Boom! Way to add some suspense.


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## gibson330usa (May 15, 2012)

Nice fish! Great report. I hope we don't get a bassnado tonight.

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## Grafton (Feb 15, 2012)

Get report, Rob.

This fish never gave up. If you didnt pull me to shore, I don't think I would have landed the fish. 10lbs mono is too weak to be fighting these fish with. Probably why I snapped that other fish off...


Conditions were perfect and given the gear we were able to make the most of it. 

Never underestimate a 3 inch white grub. 




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## deltaoscar (Apr 4, 2009)

That's awesome, especially on ten pound test. Way to go, Grafton.


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## trailbreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

rob next year we're going after white bass


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## oldstinkyguy (Mar 28, 2010)

Grafton said:


> Never underestimate a 3 inch white grub.


Truer words were never spoken

Spectacular fish BTW


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Well done. You've caught some serious hybrid stripers this year. I'm gonna have to gps tag your yak....lol. 

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## inrll (Apr 6, 2012)

NICE!!! Its official, my next trip out is the big O.


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## vandaman55 (Feb 16, 2012)

Congrats ! One of the very best I've seen. Continued good luck !!


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## E_Lin (Jun 30, 2011)

That is a beast.

Great report.


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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

Their are so many things I like about this post:

1. You guys were out in inclement weather

2. You had to make a make-shift anchor on the fly

3. You told him back to shore with your yak while he was fighting a huge fish

4. Of course the huge fish

But it is the first three points that I love about fishing. You never know the adventure you are about to embark on. 

Well done guys!!!


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## wheelld (Oct 14, 2013)

House:
Thanks for the report. A very entertaining and fun read. Well written!
Great fish Grafton.
You guys done good.


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## GarrettMyers (May 16, 2011)

What a freaking monster, congrats Grafton. I really regret not staying there longer after you guys paddled away.


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## Smittyfisher (Dec 11, 2012)

Grafton awesome fish! I love the shot of the fish finder, them are some big marks.


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## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

Here's another picture that shows how round it was. It was so fat, it could barely lay flat on the sand:





SeanStone said:


> ... I'm gonna have to gps tag your yak....lol.


I'll have to start sweeping it for bugs before I go out. There might be another option, though. We could team up on KayakWars instead of being arch-enemies next season. I'll trade you some stripes for some largemouth lessons


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## BMayhall (Jun 9, 2011)

Hows the Bank fishing access on the BIG O? I sold my kayak for a Mountian Bike.


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## Bazzin05 (Feb 2, 2011)

Awesome catches fellas!


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## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

BMayhall said:


> Hows the Bank fishing access on the BIG O? I sold my kayak for a Mountian Bike.


I've only found 2 places that produce from shore, but both are very "snaggy" and seasonally dependent. I'll txt you some spots once they start to pick up. Right now the fish are out pretty deep on the drop-offs so you'd have trouble getting to them without hanging up every time. 

Now...if you got big enough tires for that mountain bike, we could probably make it happen:


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## BMayhall (Jun 9, 2011)

HAHAHAHAHA I could probably make that happen.

Man now people know I where my fiances clothes when I go out fishing.


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## creekfly (Nov 15, 2013)

Better outfit than that Michigan shirt

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## BMayhall (Jun 9, 2011)

go blue!!!!



creekfly said:


> better outfit than that michigan shirt
> 
> sent from my xt603 using ohub campfire mobile app


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