Fish move then momentarily pause or stop at breaks...

[Fran Myers]

I know a lot of you are hunters others may not appreciate this but...

The past year and a half in this new house I've really gotten into observing wildlife. I have 5 acres of mostly wooded property and I have feeding stations. While it is like a Disney wildlife movie, I am constantly reminded that our little acre of heaven is a savage garden an that no matter what the life cycle of nature never stops.

Whether finding a hawk or owl tearing apart a squirrel or some other natural occurrence it's been great and I love every minute of it.

Now how does this relate to Spoonplugging? Well...

I have known what Mr Perry says about fish movements. One or two movements a day, depending on weather. Usually I see squirrels. But most of the time there are always a few scurrying around, a lot of times you couldn't find a squirrel, and other times you'll see 50 at every pile.

Well the deer do the same thing. Although not usually at the same times as squirrels. But the reason I started this post was that I've seen deer stopping at edges of the woods and just looking and observing. I thought it was because of the pecking order in the deer world. One spot, every deer stopped there and scratched their faces.

Well yesterday I watched two deer walking up our hill. When they got to the line between the manicured grass and the trampled leaves and stuff of the cut undergrowth area - the group stopped. It shocked me. They stopped where there was a break in the surface of the ground. I kept going between the two sides of the house and there was nothing stopping the deer from continuing except the ground looked different.

I am probably wrong but it was cool to see.

The deer have been paying for the corn and seeds I've been putting out. I've found some shed antlers and a few have been pretty good size. The two biggest ones, while I don't believe they are from the same deer are close enough to make a pair. Together they make 15 point rack. I know guys who have gone out for years and never found any sheds. I have 6. Really cool.

Kenny and Steve have some really cool stories about deer following structure.

Good Night,

Fran

[Steve Craig]

Good observations!
You had better believe that the animal world uses structure, breaks and breaklines!
Both predator and prey!
They use land features to move about the landscape. In the hunting world, I have noticed that the average person is a very, very, very poor observer.
This comes from years of guiding hunters from every walk of life.
Unfortunately, fishermen are no different.
If you are looking around more, noticing what is going on around you, you will begin to see things you never noticed before.
Squirrels start running around when 10 minutes ago, there wasnt a single one in sight. Ducks start flying, and one of my very favorite is song birds. When you begin to notice that the song birds are fluttering around, but more importantly, MAKING MORE NOISE, you better be on or near the contact point on that structure, because the fish will also become active.
It happens all the time.
And do you all remember Buck making the statement about not leaving the water between 10 and 2 or 3, if you dont get a morning movement?
It is the same in the animal world. And I really believe that this animal/bird movement is even more important on those blue bird days when you are working your tail off and catching nothing!
Keep your eyes and ears open.
Watch what is going on. Lift up your eyes away from that depth finder.
All of a sudden, you will notice all kinds of activity going on that was not there a few minutes ago.
Again......get a lure on that contact point! The fish will be there.

It is truly a wonderful thing to behold and we have to thank Buck for teaching us these things.

[Kevin McClure]

Fran, Interesting observations and timing on this post. I was just reading an article recently and it talked about how a deer will not normally move across an open field, but will relate/stick close to the trees along the side of a field. I think it would probably feel very vulnerable out in the open. I also liked what Steve said about how much we miss because we're not paying attention. When I go Spoonplugging, I have to remind myself to slow down and think/follow the procedures. I think Mr. Perry even said that, "If you follow the procedures, you will never go wrong!" Observing, getting your shoreline sightings, etc. is part of developing good habits.
One of my favorite quotes is, "Bad habits are easy to develop but hard to live with. Good habits are hard to develop, but easy to live with!" Mr. Perry gave us the Knowledge that we need to succeed as Spoonpluggers, but we need to slow down and think/observe what it is we are trying to accomplish. Thanks for the post, Fran and making me think. Kevin

[Koz]

Fran – read with interest your discussion awhile back about other animal species becoming active and how they relate to fish movements. Since renewing my interest in fishing and Spoonplugging this last year, I have been limited to fishing a friend’s ranch pond as I long ago sold my boat. What makes the place especially interesting is that it’s located on an exotic animal ranch. Nothing dangerous – or so I thought. Sables, Gazelles, Impala, Red Stag (large deer from New Zealand), Blackbuck antelope from India, Mouflan sheep. The Red Stags are fond of the water and often wade in, wallow, and swim around while I’m fishing the pond. They seem to be especially curious and not shy of people. Normally I walk or ride down to the pond and one of the ranch dogs follows me, in these cases a rather stupid Boxer Pit bull crossbreed female. She screws with the animals all the time and the larger ones occasionally strike back. Last fall a young large Red Stag with a good rack had enough and chased her down the shore towards me while I was fishing. He hit her in the rear with its antlers and she ran behind me yelping and hid. The stag stopped right in front of me and I waved it off with my rod like a fencer. Same thing a couple weeks ago with one of the teenage Sables. Males and females are sharply horned. This one chased the dog behind me and the Sable stopped in front of my face, I reacted by yelling at it and it snorted, turned and trotted off. During both of these instances I recall the fish were active but I had to keep looking over my shoulder between casts to keep an eye on my backside!
Last weekend I thought I might work down the shoreline weedline with a spinnerbait. Before I could make a cast, the herd of Red Stag walks in and enmasse jump into the water and wade right down the shore I had intended to fish! Then they swim to the other shore all the while churning up the silt. I waited awhile and managed to catch 5 decent bass. Pond is loaded with 2 to 3 lb LM bass.
As Steve says we should pay more attention to our surroundings – in my case it’s a necessity. By the way although I love dogs I’m not getting too attached to this one as its going to end up shishkabob one of these days. As I told Kevin – I GOTTA GET A BOAT!
Sorry about quality of pics – camera phone

[jwt]

Koz,
I know it's not real close to you, but a Spoonplugger named Barry Johnson lives over in Brenham; (409)834-2527. You might give him a call. Looks like Conroe is about half way between you two. Maybe you can hook up with him(no pun intended).

[Koz]

James - OK you convinced me to take the next step- sending in my membership application for the National Spoonplugger LLC today. I've delayed this a little because it seemed premature, no boat, etc. However the benefits of membership make sense in that I can get my name out there and possibly link up with nearby members, find a certified instructor, etc.
To be honest, fishing only this pond is starting to bore me a little. Oh sure it's great to catch nice fish there nearly every time, but what knowledge I have of Spoonplugging I feel is stagnating - I'm looking to learn new waters and face new challenges. Seems like my brain wants to explode from what I've learned (and relearned) in the last couple of months from rereading the Green book, going over again the home study course (twice), viewing all the Don Dickson recordings, and of course this forum.
I actually live in the Brenham, Texas town also. I'll contact Barry to see if he's interested in hooking up. THANKS James, good fishing!

[jwt]

Koz you made the right move! Don't neglect the DVDs that John Bales and Stephen Gillian produced, http://spoonpluggerfilms.com/. They are a goldmine of information. You will feel like you are right in the boat with John; e.g. he speaks into the camera in first person as though he is talking to you. Another place to look is http://www.Spoonplugger.net, and on the left under Clubs, select Indiana. There you will find newsletters going back to 2005. John has an article in each one.

[Kevin McClure]

Koz, One thing you can consider doing depending on what's available in your area is renting a boat. Usually they're pretty small deep v boats and Vexilar sells a transducer that mounts with suction cups for portability.
WARNING: You may get so thrilled being back on the water that you will kick it into high gear in looking for a used boat. Just a thought and one of many options. Kevin