I fished Lake Oconee yesterday from daylight until 4:15. The water temperature was 58 degrees all day. It was a mostly cloudy day with a little sunshine during the morning. I caught the first good fish at around 9:30. The bite got better as the day wore on and it was quite good from 2:00-4:15. I ended the day with 19 good fish that ranged between 10.5 to 14 inches. I was fishing solo so I pulled ten rods out of the back of the boat and straight lined two 16 foot rods out of the front. The fish I caught were deep in the channel and I rigged some rods with 1/16 oz jigs and 1/8 oz split shot. Other rods had double 1/16 oz jigs. I would have caught more fish had I not been tying on jigs all day. I'm an idiot. Here's why.
1) My first big mistake was caused by curiosity. I had a way point marked in the area where the bite was the best and where most of the fish were caught. I did not remember why I had marked that spot so I thought I would go over top of it and take a look. I did and discovered it was two nice trees! Needless to say 8 of the 12 lines broke off so I spent about 30 minutes tying on jigs while trying to fish at the same time. Lesson #1 label your way points.
2) I have discovered that if you hook a fish on your long lines and you do not notice it right away it can cause havoc. That scenario played itself out causing another jig tying exercise. I had a fine crappie on one of the long lines that I didn't notice in a timely manner. The fish got tired of waiting to be reeled in and being dragged in a straight line behind the boat. Therefore, he busied himself by swimming back and forth to the left and the right. When I finally extricated my head from my posterior I reeled up the smart-a*# little devil and saw the most magnificent tangle of Crappie Max line and jigs I have ever seen. I spent another 30 minutes of quiet time. Lesson #2 pay attention to what you are doing.
3) When pulling a long line straight out of the back of the boat it is "advisable" to have the reel tang behind the front fork of the rod holder so the rod cannot be pulled into the water. I know this! I have learned it the hard way before. Due to my carelessness one of my rods got pulled in the water. Fortunately it was a B&M rod and it floats. My dilemma was turning the boat around to get back to the rod quickly before it floats out of site and is lost forever. Well I turned quickly all right and created another mess. After picking up my floating beauty I hoped that there was a crappie on the end of the line. Sure you idiot. It was snagged and I broke it off also. Now I've got 10 rods inside my boat in various states of disarray. This time I put the trolling motor in the anchor mode and began sorting it all out. Lesson #3 Repeat Lesson #2.
I never said I was smart. Aside from all the "incidents" I had a great day of fishing. By the way. If anyone knows of a place that will buy wadded up Crappie Max fishing line please PM me. If I could get a penny per mile for used fishing line I would be able to buy me one of those Ranger boats with a 250 Yamaha on the back. Sorry there are no pictures. I was too busy..............
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