Thread: after some time off

I took some time off to get some much needed yard work done around the house. But after doing that I needed some aqua-therapy .

I hit the ramp just before sun up and was #2 in the parking lot. Before I could pull away from the boat ramp # 3 and 4 were putting in. I headed out into the open water and stopped to check on the wind direction so that I could set my course for the day.



It was calm as could be. I started to set the rods out and put the trolling motor down and set it for a slow troll to put some tension on the lines. The sun came up to greet me. All is good !

I moved through my first location with out any action, so I pointed the bow towards my next spot. I had my six rod spread out the sides of the boat but i thought it might be fun to try pulling a crank bait behind the boat. I checked to see what I had on board and found a rattletrap that looked good. I set it out to see what it would do. so far this morning not a single rod had bent. I reached for the coffee and started to settle back to enjoy the sun rise.

The back rod ( the one with the rattletrap ) started to act funny, like it was hitting bottom or something. I didn't thing I had let out that much line on it. I picked it up to check and it pulled back on me. Fish on! I reach for the net. It's a slab ( it turned out to be the best fish of the day ). Not bad for the first fish. I reset the rod with high hopes.

I go back to my coffee and start to relax. One of my long rods go off. Today I wanted to pay attention to what lure was working best. Then the second rod goes off. Two different color tails. But fish in the boat.

I look up and see that I am not alone out on the lake this morning. Usually I don't have other boats around me , but this morning I see two or three other boat close by. I adjust my course so as not to cross their path and move out a little further.

I do a quick fish count check and find that I have 6 fish in the box and it is not even 9:30 am yet. I did not count how many I had released. That is a good days catch for me so I decide to do some exploring to see where else things were happening. I move out of the area to new grounds.

By 11 am I decide to call it a day and start to pull the rod so I can make the run to the ramp. I was a good morning and I had some time to unwind. All is good .



12 fish ended up making it to the box and I let go at least as many to grow and to fight another day. !2 is my max cleaning amount that I care to clean at any one time so the last few fish that I released were hard to do so. But they will be there for me next time I go out.



Not bad size for them there fish. I was keep only fish over 10 inches. The big boy was from the crank bait . That was the only time that rod went off for the day. The fish were not picky as to what they wanted to eat, they hit on almost everything I offered them. Guess I'll just have to run the test again.

So until next time
Tight lines and full nets

see you on the water.

Jim

Good report, pictures, and catch !