11/ 7 mafia tourney report from The Dark Side
Nov 10, 2015 23:28:05 GMT -5
mwardncsu, jb4sml, and 3 more like this
Post by seajay on Nov 10, 2015 23:28:05 GMT -5
Since I had not fished in several weeks the plan was to meet my buddy Don at the lake around 1:00 , get everything loaded , go catch bait , and rig rods . My 8 year old son was wanting to fish the tournament with us but he had school so my wife was going to bring him up that evening after work. The funny thing is I asked him if he wanted to skip school and go on with me but he was like " no dad , it's spirit day at school and I don't want to miss it ." Don showed up around 1:30 and I had the boat launched already and at the dock with tank and rods on board. We headed up to one of the blackwater creeks in search of bait. Caught a net full of alewives almost immediately but threw them all back. I wanted big bait. Finally found them in 4-2 ft of water on a flat in the sun. After about a hour the tank was full of big gizz so we headed back to dock and started rigging rods.
About 6:00 my son calls and says that his mother and him had just hit 40 and for us to meet them at Carl's for dinner so after another complete water change for our bait we met them there and loaded up on good food.
When we got back from dinner we finished rigging for the next day. About 8:30 my son jumped in the shower while we went down to the dock to check on the bait and ended up doing a complete water change by putting the gizzards in the back live well with it running fresh water while we emptied and refilled the tank and then put them back in it. About 9:00 Don and I jumped on the boat while my wife was getting my son ready for bed and we rode up to the captains meeting. We pulled in there right about 9:30 and the registration went smoothly. I must say the ride back was beautiful and the stars were amazing that night. When we got back around 10:30 we did another water change and then sat on the porch and talked about our game plan over a few drinks and crashed about 1:00 am.
Woke up at 5:00 grabbed some coffee and headed back down to check on the bait. Another water change , I must say I don't think I have ever worked so hard to keep bait alive and frisky in such a short period. Ran back up and woke my son up and started getting ready. We had decided to fish blackwater because we figured it would be less crowded then the Roanoke end. Since I had my son on board i decided to play it safe and wait for the token code and leave dock right at first light in hopes to avoid any trash in the water and damage. We headed on up BW to one of the creeks I had decided to fish and started putting out bait. Setup was free lined planers bank side and light weighted planers deep side with a free lined cork and light weighted free line out the back. Before we could get them all out we had one of the light weighted boards get hammered. Turned out to be a 29" fish. Took pics and released. After that it was a slow morning with a few pulls and a lot of leaf clearing. They really made it tough not only on the boards but also the baits. About 11:30 or 12:00 I was really second guessing my decision to fish where I was and pondered running all the way up as far as we could go on the dark side .I had talked to a buddy a few times who was fishing the roanoke side and it was just as challenging for them. I decided to stick to our plan and pull out of the creek and fish the ledges near it in the main channel. It was about this time I saw another member who was fishing the tourney and talked with them a few to find out they were having the same challenges we were. We dragged bait around the point out of the mouth of the creek and we had the light weighted free line get hammered.We had it hookedup and got her all the way to the motor and right as we were about to net it it came unglued. Looked to be a decent fish , I think the bait was just so big the hook was not set good. That was a heart breaker but about 15 minutes later we had a light weighted planer channel side get crushed and it turned out to be a 26.75 " fish. Snapped pics and released. We had several more hits but just could not hookup. The front finely moved in good bringing heavier rain and winds. We fought it out for a while and decided about 2:00 to pick up and and take our last seven baits back into the back of the creek we had started at and try for some last minute luck. Turned out to be a good call , about 15-20 minutes after getting the Baits out we had a outside light weighted planer get hammered and we boated our 30.75 " fish. Snapped pics and released . We decided to pack it up and head back to the dock to grab a few dry clothes and head on up to check in.
The rewards ceremony was great and it was nice to meet people and hang out with some great striper fishermen . I must say the best part of it all was to share this experience with my son. I am very proud of him and how he handled himself . It was a long day of fishing in some not so great conditions for grown men much less a 8 year old kid. He is already talking about the next tournament .
Thank you striper mafia crew for a first class tournament and the memories that were made that day .
About 6:00 my son calls and says that his mother and him had just hit 40 and for us to meet them at Carl's for dinner so after another complete water change for our bait we met them there and loaded up on good food.
When we got back from dinner we finished rigging for the next day. About 8:30 my son jumped in the shower while we went down to the dock to check on the bait and ended up doing a complete water change by putting the gizzards in the back live well with it running fresh water while we emptied and refilled the tank and then put them back in it. About 9:00 Don and I jumped on the boat while my wife was getting my son ready for bed and we rode up to the captains meeting. We pulled in there right about 9:30 and the registration went smoothly. I must say the ride back was beautiful and the stars were amazing that night. When we got back around 10:30 we did another water change and then sat on the porch and talked about our game plan over a few drinks and crashed about 1:00 am.
Woke up at 5:00 grabbed some coffee and headed back down to check on the bait. Another water change , I must say I don't think I have ever worked so hard to keep bait alive and frisky in such a short period. Ran back up and woke my son up and started getting ready. We had decided to fish blackwater because we figured it would be less crowded then the Roanoke end. Since I had my son on board i decided to play it safe and wait for the token code and leave dock right at first light in hopes to avoid any trash in the water and damage. We headed on up BW to one of the creeks I had decided to fish and started putting out bait. Setup was free lined planers bank side and light weighted planers deep side with a free lined cork and light weighted free line out the back. Before we could get them all out we had one of the light weighted boards get hammered. Turned out to be a 29" fish. Took pics and released. After that it was a slow morning with a few pulls and a lot of leaf clearing. They really made it tough not only on the boards but also the baits. About 11:30 or 12:00 I was really second guessing my decision to fish where I was and pondered running all the way up as far as we could go on the dark side .I had talked to a buddy a few times who was fishing the roanoke side and it was just as challenging for them. I decided to stick to our plan and pull out of the creek and fish the ledges near it in the main channel. It was about this time I saw another member who was fishing the tourney and talked with them a few to find out they were having the same challenges we were. We dragged bait around the point out of the mouth of the creek and we had the light weighted free line get hammered.We had it hookedup and got her all the way to the motor and right as we were about to net it it came unglued. Looked to be a decent fish , I think the bait was just so big the hook was not set good. That was a heart breaker but about 15 minutes later we had a light weighted planer channel side get crushed and it turned out to be a 26.75 " fish. Snapped pics and released. We had several more hits but just could not hookup. The front finely moved in good bringing heavier rain and winds. We fought it out for a while and decided about 2:00 to pick up and and take our last seven baits back into the back of the creek we had started at and try for some last minute luck. Turned out to be a good call , about 15-20 minutes after getting the Baits out we had a outside light weighted planer get hammered and we boated our 30.75 " fish. Snapped pics and released . We decided to pack it up and head back to the dock to grab a few dry clothes and head on up to check in.
The rewards ceremony was great and it was nice to meet people and hang out with some great striper fishermen . I must say the best part of it all was to share this experience with my son. I am very proud of him and how he handled himself . It was a long day of fishing in some not so great conditions for grown men much less a 8 year old kid. He is already talking about the next tournament .
Thank you striper mafia crew for a first class tournament and the memories that were made that day .
