The last few weeks have been a giant learning curve for me and the Gheenoe. I've been fishing Lake Tarpon when I get the time and each trip has been highlighted by a new piece of gear or a new technique or a new success for which I owe the members of this site a debt of gratitude. The majority of my trips have consisted of catching a few crappie here and a few byproduct bass there (pretty fun accidental catches). My knowledge, rig, and level of success have begun to grow, and at least a few pieces are beginning to come together.
I started out with no seats, no working motor, and no idea where to start:
After some searching... a buddy caught the first crappie off the NoeDay...a giant by any rational standards surely!
Eventually, I began to catch some crappie...
A few trips later they got bigger...
Then came the new trolling motor (greatest thing man ever invented) and my first feeble attempt at trolling...
And my attempt to slow the troll...
After getting a few actual "crappie rods", a Driftmaster, and a fishfinder (not all at once)...the rig and the crappie have been cooperating quite nicely...
The last few trips I have been learning the hummingbird and getting used to spider rigging ( I will have better pics of the full transition of the boat soon). My last trip was my first 20+ fish day. The vast majority of my trips had been about 4 to 8 fish per trip prior to "pushing". I will be taking many more pics and will try to post when I can.
The last pic I'll leave you with were the two largest caught so far...prior to these a 12"er was about the biggest (had a few of those)..when these came in the boat I thought they were 15" for sure! They were much larger and fatter fish than the 12" versions. I got one and a buddy got the other. When I did measure them, they were 13"...I was shocked...only 1" longer but much fatter (didn't weigh em). They were both caught before I had the finder and the spider rig...just hooks and minnows.