Thread: Fish that took over an hour to catch

I went to my recent favorite fishing hole , Lake McIntosh , this morning.
In just a short period of time I caught five small crappies 4-6” long .
Even on ultralight tackle small crappies are the least fighting fish that swims , IMO .
I kept changing lures , but I either caught a crappie or nothing at all.
I wanted to catch a gill , I didn’t care what size .
Time for plan B .
I left McIntosh and headed towards the Old Mill creek , but on the way checked out two places that according to Google map , should have provided public access to the creek below lake McIntosh.
One was a soccer complex , but it looked like the creek was on the backside of the lower fields and they were fenced in .
Got to the Mill creek and this time I had it to myself except for a guy on the other side of the creek up near the dam.
For the next hour I threw everything I could think of and had one light hit and a follow .
At least with the follow I knew there was something in there .
Finally I switched to a size 12 streamer hook with a tungsten bead and a shortened black Trout Magnet . I fished for about fifteen minutes and had a couple of bumps but no hookups.
I walked to the last lower spot I could get to and cast across and downstream, and slowly worked the TM across and back upstream twitching along the way .
Finally a hookup ! It was a small bluegill but it fought better than any of the crappies I’d caught . On my next cast , I caught its twin .
Then I hooked something on the bottom and lost my jig .
It was fun casting my 5’ St Croix Premier ULM paired with a Shimano 22 Soare c20000spg .
Love the combo , especially the reel .
I have the 18 Soare version of this reel and it’s nice , but the 22 version is about half an ounce lighter .