Exploring Francis Case Reservoir



This writing is two weeks late as I posted  the information about the Northern Pike caught by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.  If you look at the video, I am sure any knowledgeable person will recognize that this is not a 21 Kg pike, but a really good looking fish the same.  The first blog was about the pike.  The second was in response to a large number of e-mails I received about the fish and some of my comments.  Riding around in a boat is what I do, not walking on the water.

Anyway, my wife and I fished for 1.5 days fishing on Lake Francis Case at Platte South Dakota.  On the second day it all came suddenly to an abrupt halt. The wind blew us off the lake, and the fishing came to an immediate end.  In addition,  we were sun burned from the previous day after staying out too long on the lake. The lake had gone calm with a clear sky and the sun burning down.  That condition is not good walleye weather and it is sure hard on the skin.

We left Platte, SD around noon and after a big breakfast at Shorty's Cafe in the morning, we did not need any more food.  The wind had really picked up to almost a gale and we felt good about getting off the reservoir.  I also discovered that my running lights on the trailer were not working.  I had break lights, flashers and turn signals, but no tail lights or running lights.  That could only mean one thing.  I had failed to unhook the trailer lights from the truck when I launched the boat.  A person should always do this.  If you don't and the plug gets wet, it could short out the lights.  The short is at the truck level and so this would be a trip to the dealer.  I hate going to the dealer.  It is never Christmas at the dealer and they are sure not Santa Claus.   If I had only remembered to do this little job. 

After a short drive from Platte, we arrived at Pickstown on the east side of the dam.  Several motels, campgrounds, and restaurants are available.  This little community caters to the tourists and people interested in outdoor sports from fishing and hunting to boating and camping. 

Just a short drive down from the city limits you come to Fort Randall Dam that forms Lake Francis Case.  The building of the dam was authorized by Congress in 1944.  Construction began in 1946 and President Dwight D. Eisenhower threw the switch that started the first power generating unit in 1954.

The immensity of the lake behind the dam.

Look at the backside of the dam we later saw boats fishing just out of the wind.



The spillway at a distance with the hydroelectric plant along the left side of the picture.

Below the dam and on the west side of the river there is an outstanding campground with excellent facilities for the vacationers.

The Fort Randall Military Post was established in 1856 on the southwest side of the river just below the present site of the dam.  The purpose of the fort was to keep the peace on the frontier and served as a major navigation point along the river. The purpose of the fort was as follows:

• provide military protection to settlements
• provide open roads
• guard and escort travelers and emigrants across the plains
• settle disputes with various Indian tribes
• prevent trespassing by whites onto Indian reservations, and 
• serve as an Army supply depot for the entire Upper Missouri River.

 Abandoned in 1892 the remains of the old parade ground and foundations of buildings still exist.  The ruins of the old stone chapel can still be seen today. 

The remains of the stone chapel at the fort.

Cemetery  on the hillside above the remains of the old fort.

A little fishing, a little education and some added tourism along the Missouri River finished the day for the two of us and we headed for home. For more information on the dam and the fort use the following web address: https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/Lake_Proj/fortrandall/welcome.html.  You can also use the following mailing address:

Fort Randall Project

U.S. Highway 18 & 281

P. O. Box 199

Pickstown, SD., 57367-0199

Information referenced from publication "Fort Randall Military Post" 

US Army Corps of Engineers

Omaha  District

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank

 

 

Go Fish

More On The 21 Kg Pike

Last week a blog was posted that disagreed with the weight of the Pike caught by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.  The issue for me was not the quality of the fish, or the fact that the fish was an excellent catch, or who caught the fish, it was about the reported weight.  It was stated the Pike weighed 21 Kg.  Now as a retired health care worker, I know a little bit about converting pounds to kilograms and vice versa.  So here it is, one kilogram is equal to 2.2 pounds.  Taking 2.2 times 21 Kg. you get 46.2 pounds.  This size of fish would be almost or over five feet long.  How do I know?  I have caught a fair amount of big pike in the last 50 years. Anyway, I am not into politics but hunting and fishing.  Regardless of where a public figure is from, be it the earth or Mars, they should get it right.  For your information Vladimir Putin was born in 1952.

He has the eyes of a fisherman.

 When I saw the fish on the video, I called my wife so she could take a good look and we both agreed this was a really healthy fish.  What impressed both of us was the fact that it looked so thick for the length.  That could have added to the weight, but not to 21 Kg. Paste the link into your browser and enjoy the catch. 

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-catches-21kg-pike-in-latest-pr-exploit-video/483707.html

We also studied the area where they were fishing and noted to the right of the picture was standing weeds.  It was assumed that the water was fairly shallow at this location from the weed line out to the boat and then it dropped off to deeper water.  Northern Pike are sight feeders and they probably are hiding in the under water weeds waiting for something to come by.  We felt that they were fishing close to the edge, as the first pictures of the fish is fairly shallow.  This would be a fish hiding along the weed line laying in wait for a tasty morsel.

Auto Fish Grabber

The fish grabber is an excellent way to haul in a really big northern.  If the fish to be kept, this is what I use.  One is always kept in the boat and it literally cripples the pike and you can get the hook out and get it in the live well.  This tool is for big pike and it really saves on fingers.  For small pike it is not good, so you will have to get the slime from the fish on your hands and face a minor chewing. Be careful out there boys and girls, they will bite. Click on the link above or the pic to price and buy from Bass Pro.

One e-mail received criticized me harshly for stating the lure was not the right kind.  My friend, read the blog again.  Not one word was said about the lure.  Now that this item has been brought up, the lure looked like a Meps Spinner.  I saw it only briefly, but it looked like a spinner with a weight above and the hook behind with a big blade covering the weight.   I have used a Meps Spinner many times, but my favorite lures for big northern are spoons.  When I fish big northern, I use the darker color on dark days and the shinny ones on clear sunny days.  The big spoons have a really big treble hook trailing.  I peel off one of the hooks and bend the barbs down so that they are flush with the body of the hook.  A friend from Minnesota used to file his hooks off.  Whatever, get rid of the barbs on the big lures with a single treble hook.  If you keep the line tight, you will not lose the fish.  If you don't keep the line tight, you should not be fishing for big northern pike.  Also, the hook comes out easier if the barbs are bent down.  The previous blog had a picture of the tool I use to get the hook out.

 
Eppinger Original Dardevle Spoons

My favorite spoon and it comes in sizes and colors from dark with spots to shiny.  Peel off the extra hook and bend down the barbs. Click on the picture or the link to see the options from Bass Pro and price and buy.

Eppinger Red Eye Wiggler Spoons

I also use the Red Eye Wiggler Spoon.  I take off the front hook as experience has shown me that this just puts more hooks in the fish and all you need is the treble at the rear with one hook peeled off and the barb bent down.  They have a shiny lure that I use for bright sunny days and I have caught a lot of pike on the shiny lure.  Click on the link above or the pic to price, pick out a color and buy from Bass Pro.

I did not see steel leader from the end of the line to the lure as I watched the fish after it was hauled into the boat.   I highly recommend a 12 inch steel leader if you are fishing for big northern.  When the fish hits, and this is a thrill to see, they turn very abruptly and dive for the deep or run to deeper water.  Many moons ago, in perfectly clear water in northern Manitoba, I was able to see the fish come out of the weeds, hit the lure and do this remarkable turn.  It is really exciting to see, and I caught decent size northern and threw them back.  Remember, the barbs were bent down and the treble hook only had two hooks.

Joe Butcher Musky Leader

If you fish big northern or musky, I recommend the use of steel leader.  Those sharp teeth will slice right through line when they hit, and you will lose a big catch plus an expensive lure.  Click on the link or the pic to price and buy from Bass Pro.With a little practice you will be able to cast using the extra piece of length on the line.

A couple of decades ago, I used to fish a reservoir in central Kansas.  The closest town was only about 250 people, but they had a bait shop.  The shop was a big open air tent and the bait was lined up in buckets along a really big table.  Prices were posted and he also sold some lures.  It was always early in the morning, and no one was ever there to help you.  You got what you wanted and deposited the money in a tin box, making change if you needed.  This was amazing.  One day, the crappie were pounding the bait, and I ran out.  My partner stayed with the boat because he wanted to keep fishing, and I went to get bait.  Lo and behold, there was the owner of the open air shop.  Introductions were made, and I inquired if he was losing money.  His response was "Fishermen are liars, they are not thieves."

 

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank.
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Is It Really a 21 Kg Pike?

The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, is supposed to have caught a 21 Kg. northern pike.   That would be a 46 pound fish and probably over 5 feet long.  The pike and the video below was supposed to prove it.  Unfortunately whoever made the claim, was definitely blowing smoke.  The pike looks more like a 21 pound fish, not a 21 Kg. Northern Pike. Having caught some big pike before, this one does not fill the bill.   Still it is an excellent catch, and if you watch the video below you will see that it was a really good looking catch.  What impressed me the most was how thick it was.  This fish was really healthy.  I hope the Russians know how to take out the Y bones, and a video link is supplied toward the bottom. Once the Y bones are out you will have some really nice fillets.
Click on the link or paste it into your browser.   I believe pasting it into your browser will work the best.
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxJykn0r8Zk

Click on the video above or paste it into your browser and watch the fish being landed.  One thing I really liked was the net.  Mine is round and the triangle net really scoops up the fish.  I am going to buy one of those nets.

Also, watch the guide.  He continually reaches out with the net and tries to scoop the fish up.  He should keep the net next to the side of the boat and as the fish comes along the side close to the boat, scoop the fish up then.  The fisherman literally reels or drags the fish to the net. I could teach them a lesson.

Bass Pro Shops Gold Series Folding Landing Net with Telescoping Handle


This net is similar to the one used by the Russian guide.  I really like the way the fish went into the net. Click on the pic or the link and buy from Bass Pro. My round rubber net does not work as well.

The Esocidae family includes the true pikes and pickerels that are found worldwide from the fresh waters of Europe and Asia to the waters of North America. They are voracious fish and primary predators that are held in high esteem on all three continents by the angling fraternity. As a result, considerable effort has been put forth for hatchery propagation of these fish in order to replenish depleted populations. All members of the pike family have many physical characteristics that easily identify them as an Esocid. The body is round-shaped and elongated with a frontal-flattened head that has a duck-bill shaped jaw which is lined with large, canine-like teeth. The dorsal fin is inserted far back on the body. Identification of individual pike species is another matter that demands close observation of key characters that separate one from another.

Bass Pro Shops Stainless Steel Hook Remover

I also noticed the President of Russia struggling to get the hook out of the Pike after it was caught.  If he only had the Bass Pro Shops Stainless Steel Hook Remover, he would have saved time and not risked the chance of a hook in a finger. I keep one in the boat. I have had all the hooks in my hands I want.

In Iowa, the pike family is represented by three different species: northern pike, muskellunge, grass pickerel and a monogenetic hybrid of the male northern pike and female muskellunge. All, with the exception of grass pickerel, are important game fish, and they are propagated in Iowa fish hatcheries for release in waters with suitable habitat.

Bass Pro Shops Grip Master with Scale



This handy piece of equipment would have given the President of Russia or a member of his staff the opportunity to get an accurate measurement of this fine fish's weight.

Northern pike is probably the most widely distributed and best known member of the pike family. The original range of the northern in the state was the natural lakes, the upper reaches of the large interior rivers and the Great Border Rivers, particularly in the upper basin pools. Each year the Conservation Commission cultures 6 to l0 million fry at the Guttenberg, Iowa Hatchery from brood fish netted in the Mississippi River.

Story below

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How about this Northern Pike ! ! !
 The fish was never hooked but rather just caught because the large pike would not let go of a 36" northern pike he was reeling in as seen in the first picture.
 It weighed 56 lbs or 25.45 Kg (if the weight holds up) as the old record is 55 lbs 1oz from Germany

The muskellunge, or "musky" as it is best known, was considered a very rare fish in Iowa until l960 when it was stocked into West Okobojii Lake and Clear Lake to provide a "trophy class" fish for anglers. Historically, it had been reported only a few times from scattered locations. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS_cHdKS-_A

The link above will provide the information needed to remove the Y bones from a Northern Pike.  Once the Y bones are removed, you have a really nice filet. 

While the northern pike makes excellent table fare, you must get out the Y bones and the link above will show you how to do it.  The pike have a slimy coating and are very difficult to filet out.  In addition on the side is a fin that has a big muscle connected to it that can make the fish difficult to filet.  I recommend an electric knife to cut a really good filet before you take out the Y bones.

Mister Twister Electric Fisherman Fillet Knife 

I own a Mister Twister and even though you have to bring an extra electric cord along, I find that they do the best job of preparing the fish for freezing.  Plus, you can operate on really big fish that you cannot do very easily with the hand held knives.

 

Educational information from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
*Mayhew, J. (editor). 1987. Iowa Fish and Fishing. Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines, Iowa. 323 pp.





 
Good fishing, good hunting, and good luck. Hank.
Click on the links above for great buys.
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Fighting the Wind on a Big Reservoir



We fished hard the previous day and it was way too hard.  When the lakes go calm and you have a bright sunny day, it is time to get off the water from my perspective.  It just gets really hot and you burn and swelter.  We did not do that and kept right on fishing till 5 PM.  I said to Pam, "I have had enough." She said, "What took so long for you to get around to admitting defeat."  Defeat, it was not that bad, but almost.  Still, we caught a lot of fish of which were thrown back, and there is nothing wrong with that.



Looking behind me as we took off out of the bay and headed to the red rock location.

 Next morning we hit Shorty's cafe right at 6 AM for a big breakfast.  That would last us all day long till evening with a small snack in between.  The weather forecast was for light breezes in the early part of the AM and turning really windy by early afternoon.  We figured we could hit a couple of the spots where we had caught fish yesterday, limit out, and be off the lake around noon.  Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men.  Whoever said that needs to be congratulated for that piece of wisdom. 

On the lake by 7:15, we moved at the highest speed possible to hit it really hard and be gone. Pam had her pole already set up with the Flicker Shad.  All we had to do was maintain trolling speed and start hitting the fish.  Then the wind began to come up.  It did not come up gently, but with great vigor and force.  The lake immediately began to rock and roll.  I was reminded of why I do not like big reservoirs.  Swells began to reach two and a half feet with some reaching three feet.  This is the ultimate max that this boat should be out in.   After throttling back,  Pam made the suggestion that we should forget this idea and head to the east shore.  We would be out of the wind and work back toward the dock.  I agreed.  

Since the wind was out of the southeast and the easterly shore would be protected, the urge to head straight across the lake existed.  Moving the boat to almost straight across might have gotten us thrown over with a three foot swell.  I angled the boat to about a 60 degrees and throttled way back.  We immediately donned our life jackets.  Pam was hanging on to the support bars behind the windshield. I was hanging on to the steering wheel and the throttle. We kept a good lookout for big swells where I would turn almost straight into them.  The nose of the boat would rise up and then crash down into the lake.  Spray would come over the bow, but we did not get into a situation where there was solid water coming over the bow.   My fall back position, if that would have happened, would have been to go with the wind and work slowly toward the east shore.  We were in no danger, but it is very uncomfortable pitching around on that big lake with the wind increasing.  I wanted to get a picture of this, but I was too busy to grab the camera and wanted to keep my hands on the steering wheel and throttle.

Finally we got to a position closer to the east bank where the wind and waves would not throw us around.   I was able to kick it in the fanny and move to the much calmer water.  That was about 150 yards from the shoreline.  At this location, we could  move out to about a depth of 50 feet, then move closer to the bank and fish in the 10 to 15 feet.  The graph showed two bands of fish.  One band was at ten to fifteen feet, and the other was out at twenty-five to thirty-five feet of water.  An interesting point is even though the temperature during the night had dropped to 50 degrees and the morning was cool, the surface water temperature was 78 degrees.  If the boat had been thrown over with the big swells and waves, and with our life jackets on, we could have floated to shore in the comfort of nice warm water. 

We tried the  fifteen foot depths first, and all we picked up were white bass.  As I have said on the previous blog, we had all the white bass in the freezer we wanted so they were thrown back.  Moving out to the deeper water, we picked up a small walleye periodically, but nothing in the range above fifteen inches.  This was done with spinners and crawlers and weighting the line down to get to the depth.  The method was to let the line out and feel the weight hit the bottom, then crank up several turns on the reel to guess that the spinner was in the right zone.  It is a guess.

Bass Pro Shops XPS Walleye Angler Spinner Blades - Colorado

This is the spinner blade we both used.  I have had good success with this blade in clear to bright waters.  Click on the pic or the link above to buy.



At the deeper depths, we would pick up a walleye periodically.  There was no hit, so they must have been sucking the bait in and then hanging on.  Your line would just get heavy like you had picked up weed.  At that time we would let out a little line giving the fish some time to really take hold and set the hook.  We would drag in a small walleye that was immediately thrown back.  After about an hour of this, the wind had picked up considerably and we were now tighter to the shore.  It had also become more southerly and was going straight up the lake.  It was really rough farther out and we gave it up.

Berkley Gulp Alive Freshwater Spray Attractant

This is Pam's favorite fish attractant, and she sprays it on all baits whether live or hard baits.  It is not messy like some of the oils that I use and she gets great results. 

We were off the lake and looking across the water.  It was really rough out there.  We could not have waited much longer to make the decision to get to calmer water and then head for the dock.  At the ramp we met a fisherman that lived in the area.  He gave up all his secrets to fishing the lake, from  where to go and when.  We were really at the end of the great fishing on the reservoir as he believed the fish moved into deeper water and were more scattered.  We should have been fishing the first of June for excellent success.  He also said to fish at the piers supporting the bridge across the lake.   A person should tie up to one of the supports and jig off the bottom.  That sounded really interesting.  He had also gotten off the lake due to the wind.  We had great conversation about the area and picked up a lot of valuable information for the future.  Then we moved on to do some exploring at the dam site and home.

Good hunting, good fishing and good luck.  Hank



 

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