I took some time off to get some much needed yard work done around the house. But after doing that I needed some aqua-therapy .
I hit the ramp just before sun up and was #2 in the parking lot. Before I could pull away from the boat ramp # 3 and 4 were putting in. I headed out into the open water and stopped to check on the wind direction so that I could set my course for the day.
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It was calm as could be. I started to set the rods out and put the trolling motor down and set it for a slow troll to put some tension on the lines. The sun came up to greet me. All is good !
I moved through my first location with out any action, so I pointed the bow towards my next spot. I had my six rod spread out the sides of the boat but i thought it might be fun to try pulling a crank bait behind the boat. I checked to see what I had on board and found a rattletrap that looked good. I set it out to see what it would do. so far this morning not a single rod had bent. I reached for the coffee and started to settle back to enjoy the sun rise.
The back rod ( the one with the rattletrap ) started to act funny, like it was hitting bottom or something. I didn't thing I had let out that much line on it. I picked it up to check and it pulled back on me. Fish on! I reach for the net. It's a slab ( it turned out to be the best fish of the day ). Not bad for the first fish. I reset the rod with high hopes.
I go back to my coffee and start to relax. One of my long rods go off. Today I wanted to pay attention to what lure was working best. Then the second rod goes off. Two different color tails. But fish in the boat.
I look up and see that I am not alone out on the lake this morning. Usually I don't have other boats around me , but this morning I see two or three other boat close by. I adjust my course so as not to cross their path and move out a little further.
I do a quick fish count check and find that I have 6 fish in the box and it is not even 9:30 am yet. I did not count how many I had released. That is a good days catch for me so I decide to do some exploring to see where else things were happening. I move out of the area to new grounds.
By 11 am I decide to call it a day and start to pull the rod so I can make the run to the ramp. I was a good morning and I had some time to unwind. All is good .
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12 fish ended up making it to the box and I let go at least as many to grow and to fight another day. !2 is my max cleaning amount that I care to clean at any one time so the last few fish that I released were hard to do so. But they will be there for me next time I go out.
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Not bad size for them there fish. I was keep only fish over 10 inches. The big boy was from the crank bait . That was the only time that rod went off for the day. The fish were not picky as to what they wanted to eat, they hit on almost everything I offered them. Guess I'll just have to run the test again.
So until next time
Tight lines and full nets
see you on the water.
Jim
