wateree 12/14/07

[rango]

took my two youngest daughters with me to wateree this morning to be the rod ladies on the beast. wendy had never done this kind of fishing with me, and kim is an old hand at it. it was a quiet morning on the water, with no wind and not many boats to contend with, at least not like its been on the weekends. we put in at colonels creek and set sail for the honey hole. the bite was pretty slow, especially later on in the morning. wendy hooked into one on a freeline rod that almost spooled her before she got it turned. i knew it was a big one, and i also knew wed be lucky to get it in, with the hook being a small #6 treble. she got it about half way to the boat when the hook pulled out of the critters mouth and he went free. she lost another fish under the boat that was giving her a struggle when the line went slack. the line broke at the hook. we never got a look at it. we had several more hooked that come off during the fight and had three or four pull downs that took the rod tips into the water but wasnt there when they'd lift the rod outta the holder. kim caught a green carp that weighed 5lb2oz. that was the first gcarp that weve ever caught downlining. i knew it wasnt a striper when he hit by the way it was pulling. i figgered it was a thug and we was all suprised when it come up that it was a green carp. it was her biggest one ever. the last two hours or so we was on the water there was no action at all other than a couple catfish. we called it a day at 11:30 and hauled buggy home. I really enjoyed the morning with the girls as it aint easy to get my kids together for an outing like this. we had a good bit of bait left, and i told em wed try to make another trip down one day next week when wendy was off work it the weather permitted. we finished the day with 9 striper, three of which was suicides, 5 catfish and the green carp. we dint weigh any the striper but we had a couple that was pretty nice and the rest average fish wateree gives up. no perch today, but did have a few perch bites. thumper and tripp was down there this am and i think they done a little better than we did.. i got a few photos ill post when i get em ready.

[swampy]

is anybody catching crappie at wateree

[rango]

heres a few photos of todays catch

[JMG]

Sounds like a good day. Any time you can get the kids together is a good day.

[DKR]

Sounds like a good day. Any time you can get the kids together is a good day.

Amen, nice pics & good catch.

[FishnLine]

I must say rango, the looks of your crew is improving.

[OTRLIFE]

sounds like yall had a nice time. Rango when you're downlinin are you bumpin the bottom or fishin a certain depth?

[gabowman]

I must say rango, the looks of your crew is improving.

FishnLine, I agree. Rango must worrry about his image in the daytime. :D

In the dark it must not matter so much! LOL:D

[rango]

sounds like yall had a nice time. Rango when you're downlinin are you bumpin the bottom or fishin a certain depth?

we fish certain depths. from the reel to the first eye on the rod is roughly two ft, so when we set em out, we pull line off the reel to the first eye and do this over and over, counting the pulls. we usually go from 7 to 12 pulls, 14-24 ft deep, in the river channel, if the wind lets us alone so we can stay on it. if you got a line out near the front depth finder, and the sensitivity is set right you can see the baits going down as you strip the line off. below is a photo showing the lead with the bait under it. the heavy wavy line near the bottom is the lead and the broken line under the wavy line is the bait. the dark line just below the baits is probably a catfish huggin the bottom. you can see where i stopped jiggin the bait and set it back in the rod holder. thats where the wave stops and turns into a straight line

[rango]

I must say rango, the looks of your crew is improving.

im a thinking here that they got they good looks from daddy and the stubborness from momma...:D