Piney Z 6/3/13

[Poopong McPlop]

We dropped the boat in at 3pm to an overcast and slightly rainy at times day. First we fished the cypress stands for a few hours and caught several hand size brim, a 1.5lb Yellow bullhead, a peanut bass and 2 15lb softshell turtles. We fished 300ft of the northern half of the middle dike and didnt even have a bite. As it got closer to 8 we came back to the southern half of the lake and fished the eastern side of one of the islands without a bite. I did however manage a 2lb bass on structure next to the point. The bastard broke my line and stole my $4 Bitsy minnow lure as I was releasing him. I figured the fish werent in shallow for some reason so we fished open water structure for the last 30 minutes of the day and caught 3 1lb+ blue gills. We caught everything on Bream Busters and rod and reels. Surface temps were 88 and it was cloudy all day with threatening stormy weather directly over the western half of the lake for all but the latter half of the trip. The gators were everywhere and acting feisty. I brought cleats, so the boat was much easier to pull out of the water this time. Another good day at the Z.

[bman]

Loved that lake as a kid... Spoiled me for bass fishing public water. Love seeing those big bream!

[WildMan]

Wow! That one is big enough to fillet! Thanks for posting.

[itiger]

Wow, nice catch. How did you catch the turtles, if you don't mind?

We dropped the boat in at 3pm to an overcast and slightly rainy at times day. First we fished the cypress stands for a few hours and caught several hand size brim, a 1.5lb Yellow bullhead, a peanut bass and 2 15lb softshell turtles. We fished 300ft of the northern half of the middle dike and didnt even have a bite. As it got closer to 8 we came back to the southern half of the lake and fished the eastern side of one of the islands without a bite. I did however manage a 2lb bass on structure next to the point. The bastard broke my line and stole my $4 Bitsy minnow lure as I was releasing him. I figured the fish werent in shallow for some reason so we fished open water structure for the last 30 minutes of the day and caught 3 1lb+ blue gills. We caught everything on Bream Busters and rod and reels. Surface temps were 88 and it was cloudy all day with threatening stormy weather directly over the western half of the lake for all but the latter half of the trip. The gators were everywhere and acting feisty. I brought cleats, so the boat was much easier to pull out of the water this time. Another good day at the Z.

[Poopong McPlop]

On an anchored 3 hook jug line. 2 turtles (released of course) and 1 good sized butter cat.

[mjsigns]

Nice Fish! - When I was younger I used to take my canoe out there and bring home 10-12 of those monsters like the one in your picture. I fished with an old zebco 404. My neighbor used to come over and look at the fish and beg me to tell him where I caught them.. Great place to fish, if you know where to find the fish.

[Poopong McPlop]

Ah, the good ole days when it was private right? I've been out many many times in a canoe, I always bass fished and never caught anything prior. Its just recently that I realized I could hand roll my trailer and full size boat (motor taken off) and really fish this lake. I definitely dont miss the canoe days, those gators are scary when they're all around you or when you paddle over a nest by accident. Of all the lakes in the area, I would say this is by far the easiest lake I know of to locate fish. I am always pleased with my catch at Piney Z. If I didnt ritualistically check out new water for the 1st 3 hours upon arrival, everytime I fish, I would double or triple the amount of fish I get.