Thorhammer 2020 goings-on

thorhammer · February 13, 2020, 04:15:20 PM

I've been pretty busy the last couple of months and haven't posted much other than a reply here or there...busy in a good way, some renno on the home shop and some actual fishing, to go with other life stuff not pursuant to AT...some pics of various cookings, projectings and fishings so far...2020 is off to a good start in that regard at least...

Hardy Boy · February 13, 2020, 04:18:05 PM

Looking good and looking like fun ............... except for the light beer !!!

Cheers:

Todd

thorhammer · February 13, 2020, 04:19:20 PM

Saw that fish on the finder and jigged it with a 9" hogie.

Sal Special Surfmaster, going to try to get a fish onnit this weekend

lake pics.

Below,

a nice gumbo in Dutch oven, built a reel shelf for shop, moved dart board with new backing, new rod building station.

thorhammer · February 13, 2020, 04:21:15 PM

more...

thorhammer · February 13, 2020, 04:25:53 PM

reel station and a couple of rods in progress. the lake pic is upside down, when the water was down I pushed out about ten CY of sand that eroded during the hurricanes back up the bank to dig out my mooring (the square). The water is up 11 feet as of now vs that pic a week ago...

thorhammer · February 13, 2020, 04:33:15 PM

Some nice dingers and bacon-oyster-white wine-butter drizzle to top off angel hair with those filets..

Darin Crofton · February 13, 2020, 04:52:43 PM

Looks like a great winter for you buddy!

Tiddlerbasher · February 13, 2020, 04:56:32 PM

That water looks great

All we are getting is rain, gales, sleet, snow, more rain and more wind - Thanks Roger

thorhammer · February 13, 2020, 04:58:44 PM

look closely at the depth sounder shot- the solid line near the bottom is a shiner on Carolina rig, and you can see me jigging the hogie top left hand- then dropping it down into the school when it comes on screen about 40 ft deep. Good electronics are almost like watching TV. My buddy in the orange coat was jigging- I was watching and says "you just dropped it on his head"...and bam...

back in the day, we miked "fish on"; nowadays it's "Contact!".....well, last week we watched Eddie Murphy "Delirious" at the cabin....friggin hilarious and I'd forgotten most of it...anyways when Eddie's uncle's "Bigfoot" brother in law catches a fish with his teeth and goes "Gooneygoogoo!!!!"

So, now it's gooneygoogoo, lol. May name the boat that....caught a whole lot more than what you see but not always time for pics wen on a skool....

Hardy Boy · February 13, 2020, 05:03:48 PM

Those are lake strippers ? How big can they get in Fresh water?

Todd

Alto Mare · February 13, 2020, 05:16:40 PM

Looking good buddy, l wish I was there with you guys.
Strippers appear to be around 24", the perfect size for some good eating... except for that light beef of course🙂.
Your gear looks well organized, very nice.

Thanks for the report!

Sal

xjchad · February 13, 2020, 05:27:16 PM

Great pics John, those are some fat stripers!!

thorhammer · February 13, 2020, 05:53:06 PM

Sal's eye is calibrated- he's dead on give or take an inch...the limit in winter is 20" minimum FL, but at that size they are all head and belly, so by the time you take out the red meat, there's not much left. I turn those away for another day.

Re the Natastrophe's: you caint be drankin a dozen craft beers on the boat. First, it will hurt yo head. 2), redneck fish won't bite 3) you'll get laughed at. If you need more horsepower, we get a Natty Daddy. It'll getter done! Can I get an Amen from my brother in Northern KY!

Todd, back in the 90's when I started messing with them, you could catch 10-12 lb'ers every day and some up to 20 in this lake. Back in the 70's, it was 20-30's. Pressure, forage (the mis-introduction of blue cats) and habitat degradation have demo'd the herring population. Bluebacks are illegal to even possess now), and a gill maggot (sea lice) outbreak in the 2000's had also hurt the population. There's plenty there, but where I was seeing lots of 16-20" two years ago now I'm getting 26". So, hopefully they are on the way back. The blue cats have taken over- they eat tons of mussels too, but also anything else in front of them. The WR came out of here a few years ago (Buggs Island if you wish to google) at 143lbs, I think. 100lb cats come out every so often, and a 30 doesn't even raise eyebrows....these eat a lot of forage. To answer your question, the NC freshwater record is over 50lbs but the WR is somewhere in the 60's; I think from Tenn. I'm foggy on that one. This is the same river system, the Roanoke, that Benni fishes. I'm appx. 140 miles or so downstream from Salem, and the river goes all the way down to Roanoke Sound behind the OBX. I'm fortunate in that our lake is actually long enough (39 miles of lake plus a lot more back up the rivers) for the stripers to spawn naturally.

mo65 · February 13, 2020, 05:56:37 PM

OK...I want a big bowl of that gumbo and a cold beer...while I nose through those reels! Nice lookin' stripers John.

steelfish · February 13, 2020, 06:47:38 PM

so far so good Johny boy.

seems like a nice way to start the year, fishing, a clean and organized place to work at home, friends and good times.