Report; 9/17/16

Conditions were good. Full moon (without the werewolves), pre-frontal conditions (suppose to rain tonight) and a predicted wind of 10 - 20 mph. Too good to turn down. Although we don't really enjoy weekend fishing anymore, due to the crowds. A definite benefit to being retired.

So, Walt & I launched around 7:50 am with the air at 44 degrees and the water around 68 (slowly cooling down). However, until about 9:30 am, we were totally becalmed! Guess the weather channel's super, double doppler do-hickey isn't working too well! What a surprise! :yikes

Actually though, within the first hour we caught & released 17 fish, all crappie, except for one largemouth. And Walt had the hot rod, as I was tied up with a tangled mess on my reel. Oh well. It was hunt & peck the rest of the morning, until the wind started to really kick up around 11 am. And that only amounted to a 10 - 12 mph breeze. Nothing like what was predicted. The fish were one here, two there....no concentrations. Didn't mark any decent bait balls either?

As I've said, everything we catch is released. Have you ever seen those occasional crappie, that once released, just lay on the surface of the water? I know they are not harmed, but they seem to be in a state of shock. Well, I was just telling Walt that "hey, the eagles have to eat too!" We went back to fishing and I heard a splash. don't the darn eagle come down, grab my crappie, and take off BEFORE I can get to the camera! Geeze! I should have known. Here's the bird brain flying away....best shot I could manage. Sorry Folks!

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Shortly after we started fishing, probably around 7:30 am or so, I get a hit on an electric chicken Roadrunner. The rod bends and the water boils. Not sure just what I have on the fragile line, but the 7' SHSS has never let me down. And she didn't today either:

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A nice largemouth. Not sure what it was doing in the middle of the lake, 22' down, with no structure, but I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so to speak. I enjoyed the battle.

We went on to catch a total of 43 fish today. Two of which were gills, the rest crappie; all C&R. It was fun for sure, but long stretches of no activity has prompted us to venture forth after smallmouth bass and lake trout for a while. Maybe if we give the crappie a rest, they'll start to co-operate once again? Here are some pics of the crappie we did catch:

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Nothing of any great size, but loads of fun regardless. (We pulled off at 2:00 pm.) And you can't beat the great company of a competent fishing buddy! :biggrin

With this nice weather change, you guys are going to be out there a lot, I'm sure. You'll get you windy days back, you wait and see. Thanks for posting your trip.

Another great day on the water.....thanks for sharing