Oconee - NIGHTSTALKING TRIP!!
My partner and I went to Oconee last night to do some nightstalking.....we got there about 10:30ish......we went from Sugar Creek to the Oconee River (Hwy 41) Bridge.....found out the hard way that the water was down too far for us to be able to tie off to the over-pass....none of the ropes were down far enough or even close for us to reach.....probably about 15 ft away from the closest hanging rope.....so, needless to say we couldn't stay there.....
We moved on to the Sugar Creek side headed toward the I-20 bridge, but we decided to stop short of that bridge and tie off to all that timber in the center of the lake in that area. The water was about 20ft deep.
We tied off and dropped the lights over the side......within 5 minutes we had bait fish absolutely swarming our 2 starfire lights....they were everywhere.....so, we also got out our 2 coleman lanterns hanging over the side and as soon as we put the first pole in the water, we got hit within less than a minute. Of course, just cause we got hit, sure didn't mean we caught that fish. I am thoroughly convinced that if the fish are biting, 4 rods w/ minnows will keep you busier than 8 rods with jigs when you are trolling. Not to mention, at least if you are trolling, the hook is pretty much set for you by the speed at which you are moving. When you are sitting still, you need to rely on your reflexes to set the hook on these fish. Well, let's just say, I would be embarassed if we kept a scorecard last night on our efficiency of hit rate vs. landing rate. We got our butt kicked.
We bought 10 dozen minnows to start off and it seemed like we lost at least 12 - 15 right off the start without boating a single fish. But, finally we got back into our groove, and we boated our first fish. It was a pretty small catfish......so, my partner grabbed it and un-hooked it and went to throw it back overboard when he got a quick sting from that little joker. So, he said a few choice words and we kept on. Overall, we ended up catching 28 catfish, anywhere from 1 lb - 4 lbs., 15 crappie over 1 lb., and 2 hybrids (less than 1 lb.).
My partner ended up with a total of getting bit by the catfish stingers 3 times in one night. (A NEW RECORD!!!) I didn't record my first sting last night at all.
I still have close to 200 - 300 mayflies still smashed or covering on my boat as we speak. There were so many mayflies out last night it was crazy.....it looked like the boat was absolutely covered in them while we were fishing. Everytime you got up to do anything you buried about 3 or 4 into the carpet of the boat.
My partner had one rod holder that kept getting some MONSTER fish hooked on it. This is no joke at all....he got his line broke 6 times last night....ALL FROM THE SAME RODHOLDER.....we never got to see any of the fish, but we came close one time, we could see the split-shot weight just about the hook, then right as the fish was about to come to the surface it made a quick surge for the bottom and popped his line. He had 6 lb test on his rods, and apparently that wasn't strong enough for these monsters that wanted to play. It was almost as if they wouldn't hit any other rod than the one that was in this particular rod holder. Anyhow, he had 6 chances at landing it and we couldn't even do it one time. Must have been some pretty big darn catfish wanting to have some fun.
Overall, we had a great night.....we called it quits about 5:30 am this morning and never had a clue until we hit the truck at what time it was. We completely lost track of time with that much action on the boat. The only reason we left was because we ran out of minnows from the fish that stole our bait, ones we caught, and ones we released.
Great night on Oconee.....
However, neither one of us actually like catfish, so we let them all go as we caught them....neither of us had any interest in keeping them. I wish we caught as many quality crappie. But, we sure had our hands full nonetheless!!!
