Tittabawassee River Special

Editor's Note: Hello all and thanks again for reading this issue of the Fox River Times. This past week, I was fishing away from my "home turf" of the Fox and instead was on the Titabawassee River in Michigan for a family gathering. It was a successful week to say the least, and I think everybody that went out trolling caught a pike or two. So once again, sit back and enjoy reading this issue of the FRT. Have a great start of July!!! Tight lines,

Sam Goulet

Fox River Report: Two weeks ago Captain Dave Resop landed a 15 lb. flathead on his pier at about 9:30 P.M. No picture was taken, but we can tell you that this rare catch was caught on a live shiner minnow. For those of you who have never seen a flathead catfish I attached a picture below. FYI (I do not know the person in the picture, it's just some random guy off the internet)

Jointed Shad Rap: The Pike Slayer!- Over the past week of mainly targeting northern pike, the one lure that almost never failed to produce a strike was the Rapala Jointed Shad Rap. (See picture below) Many large pike were taken "prisoner" with this lure, including 4 or 5 past the 24" length. The Jointed Shad Rap is a lot different than the Original Shad Rap, as it gives off almost twice the amount of action. This isn't the first time the J-Shad Rap has impressed, and I'm sure it won't be the last. Below is a picture of the J-Shad Rap, along with two of the pike taken on it.

This is one of the many color options Rapala has to offer. The pike I caught were taken on the pattern above.

Uncle Dave and I with a 24" and a 25" 1/2 both taken on J-Shad Raps.

Our Readers Say: After reading many back issues of Fishing Facts (a fishing magazine) from
the 1970's I picked up an idea that I would like to feature in the FRT. It's called Our Readers Say, where magazine subscribers send a photo of a fish along with a short story about it and it is featured in the magazine. It's always fun to read about another's catch! So, if you have a fish story you'd like to share with the readers of the FRT, e-mail a photo along with a short story about the catch to sgoulet@new.rr.com I hope to include some in the next issue!

Practice C-P-R: A lot of anglers will head out to their favorite lake or river and keep everything they catch, regardless of size and species. Now, I like a fish fry as much as the next guy, but keeping too many fish can really ruin the fishing for everybody else. It only takes a few dozen anglers where I ice fish to clean out entire bluegill population of over 5"!!!!! So next time your out on the water, remember to practice C-P-R. Catch. Photo. Release.

Big July fish on the Fox: This past weekend we were able to do a lot of fishing off of our dock on the Fox River. July is usually a prime time for catfish and sheepshead (freshwater drum), and our theory didn't disappoint. Our rig was just a 1/8 ounce jig with a live river shiner minnow hooked through the back. Below are pictures of a 17" sheepshead that I caught (About as big as we can catch them on our river) and a 24" catfish caught by Hannah, (Also about as big as we can catch them on our river).

A 17" sheepshead caught on a live shiner minnow.

Hannah's 24" channel catfish also caught on a live shiner. Since I like lippin' big fish, I did the honors of holding it for the picture.

Today I'm going to be fishing a small lake in Hortonville for bluegill and bass. You'll get the full scoop in the next issue, plus (hopefully) some fishing stories from our readers! So remember to send me those stories! Tight Lines and Good Fishing,

Sam Goulet <><