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+--- Thread: Juniata reservoir fishing sat evening- sun morning (/showthread.php?tid=164456)
Juniata reservoir fishing sat evening- sun morning - TroutFishingBear - 10-11-2004
The first evening I got 4 walleyes; a 13", a 15", a 17", and a 19". I also got a 14" largemouth bass. I got all of these fish rip jigging a crocodile. ( a fish around 20" also bit the line of at the bank)
The next day (today) I started fishing when It was pitch dark outside (4:30). I was throwing a rattletrap in a cove, and each time I'd lift it to get it back to me so I could cast it again, fish were jumping at it. Fish were also jumping at it if it was fouled. I wasn't sure what kind of fish they were, just that they were good sized because of the sound of the splash. So I tied on a large popper thinking that whatever these fish were would hit it.
So I cast out about 5 ft. out and way parallel to the bank and I started ripping that thing across the surface to get attention. Well, the fish were going crazy! Since it was pitch black, they missed it most of the time, but so many were going after it that it didn't really matter. I got a 20" walleye that fought like a freight train my first cast. When it was fighting I thought it was a big old bow because it was so strong! It just turned out to be a 3lb walleye which was what I was after. Next cast I lost a huge fish. I'm 95% positive it was a walleye because of the style of fighting and because of the fact that most fish I caught were walleyes. I ended up catching 8 walleyes on the poppers in about an hour, 3 of them being 20 inches or larger. The other 5 were in the 13-15" range. I also caught 2 dink smallmouths on them. Who knows how many fish got away, at least 10 of them. I then tied on a crocodile because the sun was coming up and nothing would touch the popper anymore. So I went over to this shallow rocky point that shot out in between two deep sandy areas. I rip jigged the crocodile and caught 4 more walleyes in the 13-18" range, and I also caught a 24", 7 lb. rainbow trout that for some reason was full of eggs. I then snagged it up and after that my fishing was pretty much done because it was about 8:30 am. So final total for that morning was 12 walleyes in the 13-22" range, 3 of them being 20 " plus, 2 dink smallmouth, and 1 big old 24" rainbow trout.
My tally for the whole trip was 16 walleye, 2 smallies, 1 rainbow, and 1 largemouth! I kept my limit (5) of walleyes, 4 of them that I kept were 14-16", the other (hooked in the eye so I had to keep it) was 20".
What a trip, and now I know how to catch walleyes when it is pitch black outside!!!
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