9/25 - Things Are Changing For The Better
Sept 26, 2016 9:08:05 GMT -5
jb4sml, Jason54, and 7 more like this
Post by Yam on Sept 26, 2016 9:08:05 GMT -5
I have fished the last 3 weeks with little to no success. Well... that is, if success correlates with fish caught.
I was planning on getting out on Saturday, however, the weather pattern told me that Sunday would be better. Thus I set my alarm for 1am and once again listened to my alarm go off in my boat. It scared the hell out of me. One thing is certain...my passion for fishing remains very strong.
The early morning was decent for bait. The mongos were tough but I was able to get 10 or so in between 1000s of dollar bills and money makers. I finally decided to poison my tank with a few dollars just to see if they were the bait of choice for the fish.
I set sail at first light at my chosen destination with a 6 board mongo spread and a dinky little booger on free line trailing way back. In short, the mongos had a nice refreshing swim but my dollar bills could have won me a largemouth bass tournament with smallmouth bass. I caught 6 smallies ranging from 3-5 pounds. Here is a picture of a 4 pounder.
I absolutely love smallies...but on a Tekota 500 with 25 pound test, the battle does not seem fair. The jumps are still cool though!
The morning ended with yet another skunk. I knew where the mass of fish was but so did the fleet. As I passed the boats...I stopped to talk with my fishing idol, EB. He mentioned, as he was reeling in a fish, that I should fish right where he is. However, I replied in true Mongolodian form that I was going on a mongo hunt and planned to return to where I was certain there was NO fish. But NO people either! He just smiled...and said..."the big ones are where we ain't! If you catch any mongos...I'll join ya!"
Ahhhh....a challenge was given!
So off I went on an afternoon Mongo hunt. To make a long story short, if Mongos were for dinner, we would starve. I finally decided to head back to my fishing grounds with no bait whatsoever but planned to look for some way back in a creek. Once I arrived, I decided to get some fresh water and noticed that one little booger was still swimming in my tank. It was around 2pm and I figured I would send him way back on a freeline as I threw my net. What the heck!
Well...you guessed it....I was into my third net throw when all of a sudden my rod screamed like I have never heard. After pulling in my net like a hyper crack fiend, I rushed to the back of my boat...drag still screaming... and grabbed the rod. Honestly, I didn't know what to do. The fish was still pulling line and I was scared to tighten the drag. I finally decided that if I didn't tighten it up, the fish would be gone anyway. So I tightened it, and fought the fish back to the boat.
And here he is.... a long, somewhat thin, but stronger than normal fish. Not a bad start if you ask me!
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After getting this shot, I then held him in the water for about 5 minutes with my trolling motor kicked to high. I wanted to make sure he would swim away healthy and I am still a bit worried that he may not have survived. My hands are cut to hell from all the biting but the adrenaline and my desire to see this fish live was more important to me than anything at that moment (including the fact that I ran into a bunch of snaky, spider filled trees close to the bank). I sure hope he made it! He did swim away with a mighty kick.
After that, I decided to return to where the fleet was to check out the action. Most of the boats were long gone. By the evening, it had become apparent that the times are changing. I witnessed stripers busting in almost every side cove right next to the bank and caught a fair lot for myself ranging from 29-32 inches. A great evening that I was not able to fully appreciate due to still being high from the afternoon catch. Nevertheless, I feel pretty confident when I say..."Fellow fanatics....it's on!!!"
I was planning on getting out on Saturday, however, the weather pattern told me that Sunday would be better. Thus I set my alarm for 1am and once again listened to my alarm go off in my boat. It scared the hell out of me. One thing is certain...my passion for fishing remains very strong.
The early morning was decent for bait. The mongos were tough but I was able to get 10 or so in between 1000s of dollar bills and money makers. I finally decided to poison my tank with a few dollars just to see if they were the bait of choice for the fish.
I set sail at first light at my chosen destination with a 6 board mongo spread and a dinky little booger on free line trailing way back. In short, the mongos had a nice refreshing swim but my dollar bills could have won me a largemouth bass tournament with smallmouth bass. I caught 6 smallies ranging from 3-5 pounds. Here is a picture of a 4 pounder.
I absolutely love smallies...but on a Tekota 500 with 25 pound test, the battle does not seem fair. The jumps are still cool though!
The morning ended with yet another skunk. I knew where the mass of fish was but so did the fleet. As I passed the boats...I stopped to talk with my fishing idol, EB. He mentioned, as he was reeling in a fish, that I should fish right where he is. However, I replied in true Mongolodian form that I was going on a mongo hunt and planned to return to where I was certain there was NO fish. But NO people either! He just smiled...and said..."the big ones are where we ain't! If you catch any mongos...I'll join ya!"
Ahhhh....a challenge was given!
So off I went on an afternoon Mongo hunt. To make a long story short, if Mongos were for dinner, we would starve. I finally decided to head back to my fishing grounds with no bait whatsoever but planned to look for some way back in a creek. Once I arrived, I decided to get some fresh water and noticed that one little booger was still swimming in my tank. It was around 2pm and I figured I would send him way back on a freeline as I threw my net. What the heck!
Well...you guessed it....I was into my third net throw when all of a sudden my rod screamed like I have never heard. After pulling in my net like a hyper crack fiend, I rushed to the back of my boat...drag still screaming... and grabbed the rod. Honestly, I didn't know what to do. The fish was still pulling line and I was scared to tighten the drag. I finally decided that if I didn't tighten it up, the fish would be gone anyway. So I tightened it, and fought the fish back to the boat.
And here he is.... a long, somewhat thin, but stronger than normal fish. Not a bad start if you ask me!
After getting this shot, I then held him in the water for about 5 minutes with my trolling motor kicked to high. I wanted to make sure he would swim away healthy and I am still a bit worried that he may not have survived. My hands are cut to hell from all the biting but the adrenaline and my desire to see this fish live was more important to me than anything at that moment (including the fact that I ran into a bunch of snaky, spider filled trees close to the bank). I sure hope he made it! He did swim away with a mighty kick.
After that, I decided to return to where the fleet was to check out the action. Most of the boats were long gone. By the evening, it had become apparent that the times are changing. I witnessed stripers busting in almost every side cove right next to the bank and caught a fair lot for myself ranging from 29-32 inches. A great evening that I was not able to fully appreciate due to still being high from the afternoon catch. Nevertheless, I feel pretty confident when I say..."Fellow fanatics....it's on!!!"
