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Finally Made It Back In The Swamp
An opportunity came up late Thursday afternoon and I was able to plan a trip Broadwater or Stump Hole Friday morning. It was the first fishing trip that I've been able make in a very long time. I wasn't sure how it would go, it was more of a shakedown cruise than anything else.
After leaving I decided to go to Broadwater and see if I could get in because of the very low water. using my records from a few years ago, I knew it would be real close, but because there was a little water going in I was able to make it in without hitting to much stuff and rubbing the bottom. Coming out was another story, I was having to push against the small inflow and that made the ass end go lower in the rear. I was running the motor as high as I dare to keep water flowing. I hit a lot of stuff but I didn't hurt anything other than flipping up the transducer. I want to flush out the motor with the water hookup and try and get any sand out that I may have picked up.
It was some real unusual fishing to say the lease. I threw jigs and also tried minnows, Don tried crickets and jigs and nothing was in a mood to help us out. The water was real clear and dark black with no movement at all inside Broadwater. I stated to show Don how in the past that I would jig right on the bottom, drop it all the way to the bottom and raise it about a foot and then slow back to the bottom.
A minute of that and I had a nice Mollie on and then a few minutes later another, and then another. Then things slacked off. Don and I played around a little more trying jigs under a cork but that didn't produce anything either. I went back to a green jig tipped with a minnow and that started the action back up. I ended up with 21 real nice Mollies and Don only had 3 mollies and two crappie that went about 10 inches. The mollies were about the biggest that I have seen in a long time. The funny thing was that all fish were caught right on the bottom in 11' to 12' of water, and about 6 to 12 inches above the bottom. Anything above that and there wasn't anything at all. Don caught about a 5 pound cat than had 3 more lead weights and line that he was tangled up with a bunch out small limbs and trash all wound up. It was like a Chinese fire Drill getting that fish landed. We also caught a really nice Jack Fish that we gave away. We had about a dozen throw backs too.
Duck hunters and campers were really coming in all day setting up camp down below where we fish. As soon as we got to my fishing areas we noticed that there were 2 young guys camping on the left side of the creek which is usual. We pulled in and asked if they were having trouble since the motor hood was off. They had come in Thursday night late and the motor started to act up so they just pulled up and set up camp. One had figured that the seal where the fuel plug goes into the motor that the o ring had gone bad. I pulled one off of my spare fuel line that I carry. That fixed them up and they wanted us to stay and them fix us breakfast, but we had better fish to fry.
As we left late in the afternoon there were camps set up at all of the camping site along Broadwater and the river also. One site that we usually stay it had 6 boats pulled up and had tents everywhere and they had their Trump signs posted at water's edge. One of the boats had about 6 large cases of beer. That group looked to be more about partying than hunting. The whole day that we were there we didn't see a single duck.
It really did me good to get out and enjoy being in the swamp again. It sure was good to get to feel that bump again on that line.
I noticed yesterday that the water in the river had dropped another 3 to 4 inches, so some of those people camping in the swamp may have to pull their boats out of the entrance of Broadwater with the water going down.
