FISHING IN BOILING WATER

[Hotwater]

Jim and I fished Lake Oconee today for the first time in over a month. We began trolling at 7:00 and quit at 1:30. The water temperature was 85 degrees when we started. I don't know how warm the water was when we quit. We pushed and pulled as usual and all but one of the fish was caught early. We marked lots of scattered fish early. When the sun came up they headed for the woods. They were easy to find but they weren't looking up. I didn't even see an osprey with a fish all day. The fish we kept ranged from 10-11.5 inches. It was one of those days when it was unlucky to be a 10 inch fish. A man has to eat! The highlight of the day was the LM I caught reeling a crappie jig up across the top of the water. He had 1st degree burns before I got him in the boat. Jim and I decided a few weeks ago to continue trolling through the summer just to see how it would go. I believe if it had been overcast all day that we would have caught more fish. I guess we are going to have to get the minnow buckets out. Oh. Did I say it was hot?