Yesterday, she said…..Honey the Sun is out now, so we can go ahead and take the boat out.

Sure enough the Sun was out. It was 11:30 am and blazing hot. So off we went. The ramp was no where as busy as I imagined and she mentioned that fact. I said the smart people have already gone home.

I set out all 8 rods, which was a bit different for me. The two new rod positions seemed unusual and awkward but nothing tangled or wrapped up. We trolled the general areas where I had caught fish before and they must have gone somewhere for the holiday because the numbers just were not there. We moved several times searching for them. When we first set out the lake was flat, as soon as we set out the rods the winds picked up. Made it interesting too in that the direction was changing frequently. I can’t stand the slap slap of the waves so I like to keep following seas mostly.

We were picking up stray fish every so often and some were very nicely proportioned too if I might say so. We kept only what I thought we would eat and a tad more. She likes to kiss them and toss them back, and she did that about a dozen times or so. I didn’t count fish today. Not sure how many are in the cooler, because I didn’t clean fish when we got home. I will clean this morning I guess. I freeze two plastic bins for ice and a dash of rock salt on top makes everything better. They will hold just fine over night.

My rod setup.

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The 16 footer has a black handle and is in front. The cork handle is 11 foot, and the rod facing rearwards is 10 foot. I also have a 10 foot mounted in rocket launchers behind the seat. Of course each side has these so that makes six up front two in back.

That side rod was very interesting. I caught most of the fish on that one. It was amazing so I reeled in the other lines, moving them closer to the boat, and they started picking up some fish, but no where near as many. Still very unsure why the fish seem to prefer the lure right next to the boat but they do. I eased some line out and basically just lifted the fish into the boat without the reel. So maybe six to eight feet of line out. The jig was about a foot or so away from the side, and very near the rear of the boat. Weird.

I was thinking that the boat would chase them away, but apparently they sit still and let the boat pass by. Maybe they think baitfish will be disoriented or something and move in for the kill. I bought planer boards because I was sure that in six feet of water that the fish would spook. Who knew ?

The new jigs worked great. Every time the rod twitched a fish was attached. Never lost a fish during the fight, and none of the jigs came out when the fish was flopping about on the deck of the boat. They all stayed pinned. That is what I was wanting. Apparently the size #2 Whacky hooks and the Victory 1/0 hooks are the exact right size for me. The jigs were a little harder to remove as well and not sure why that would be, just something I noticed.

The fish wanted spinner blades today. As soon as it became apparent I switched out to all spinners. This might have had something to do with the time of day, or the fish are just fickle because before they refused spinner blades. They wanted curly tails with no blades, and now they want baits with blades. The new jig with two blades caught at least one fish that I remember. A little one.

She might want to go out in the boat again today, and if she does I think I will start the day with spinners in tight to the boat.

Oh she swam about three times to cool off. I saw the movie Apocalypse Now- so I stay in the boat.

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