Jeremy Hopland
12-30-2008, 09:37 PM
Well, I finally got to go out and do a little fishing after spending A LOT of time with the family over the long Holiday Weekend.
I went out on Sunday with my step-son, my buddy and his step-son and we managed to boat 4 blue cats, not a great day, but I've experienced worse. Unfortunately, the 4 fish all bit the adults lines, so the kiddos got skunked; I've gotta try and find a way to train those fish to go for the kiddos lines :confused:
I went out again today, with a fellow lakelavonfishing.com forum member and we traveled to a lake about 100 miles from the house. I had to get up at 3:30a.m. to meet him at the ramp by 6, but it was all worthwhile once we got on the water. The wind was blowing pretty good, but we managed to catch some bait and got set-up. Wasn't more than about 10 minutes and we had our first "clicker" going off; small blue cat, about 4 lbs. The action was off and on for the 6 hours we were out, but we managed to boat 29 "eaters" (blues less than 10 lbs.), 3 different fish that looked like they could have all been the same fish that went between 11 and 12 lbs. and then the behemouth.
Like I said, it was quite windy, so it was sometimes hard to tell a real bite from a wind-induced "clicker". I had one rod with a BIG piece of bait on it and at about 12 o'clock the "clicker" started clicking. I picked up the rod and just started slowly reeling in the slack... felt like I was dredging up a big tree limb or something. With the wind blowing the way it was, it took some time before I realized that there was actually something pulling back (I kept telling my partner that I thought I was snagged). I'd manage to make some headway, then the "limb" would take some line back. After what felt like 20 minutes (it was probably only 4 or 5), I got my first look at the fish and knew I had a good one. Well, he got a good look at me and went straight for the bottom, nothing you can do but hang on and hope you have the drag set right :D After a couple of more minutes, we managed to bring it up and get it in the net. After a couple of high-fives and some "de-tangling" of the equipment, we got him on the scale and it bounced between 46 and 49 pounds, so I'm claiming 45 pounds to be on the safe side. I've effectively doubled the size of my personal best! I hoping my next trip produces the same result (look out 90lb. club!!!) ;)
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and has an even better New Year!!!
I went out on Sunday with my step-son, my buddy and his step-son and we managed to boat 4 blue cats, not a great day, but I've experienced worse. Unfortunately, the 4 fish all bit the adults lines, so the kiddos got skunked; I've gotta try and find a way to train those fish to go for the kiddos lines :confused:
I went out again today, with a fellow lakelavonfishing.com forum member and we traveled to a lake about 100 miles from the house. I had to get up at 3:30a.m. to meet him at the ramp by 6, but it was all worthwhile once we got on the water. The wind was blowing pretty good, but we managed to catch some bait and got set-up. Wasn't more than about 10 minutes and we had our first "clicker" going off; small blue cat, about 4 lbs. The action was off and on for the 6 hours we were out, but we managed to boat 29 "eaters" (blues less than 10 lbs.), 3 different fish that looked like they could have all been the same fish that went between 11 and 12 lbs. and then the behemouth.
Like I said, it was quite windy, so it was sometimes hard to tell a real bite from a wind-induced "clicker". I had one rod with a BIG piece of bait on it and at about 12 o'clock the "clicker" started clicking. I picked up the rod and just started slowly reeling in the slack... felt like I was dredging up a big tree limb or something. With the wind blowing the way it was, it took some time before I realized that there was actually something pulling back (I kept telling my partner that I thought I was snagged). I'd manage to make some headway, then the "limb" would take some line back. After what felt like 20 minutes (it was probably only 4 or 5), I got my first look at the fish and knew I had a good one. Well, he got a good look at me and went straight for the bottom, nothing you can do but hang on and hope you have the drag set right :D After a couple of more minutes, we managed to bring it up and get it in the net. After a couple of high-fives and some "de-tangling" of the equipment, we got him on the scale and it bounced between 46 and 49 pounds, so I'm claiming 45 pounds to be on the safe side. I've effectively doubled the size of my personal best! I hoping my next trip produces the same result (look out 90lb. club!!!) ;)
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and has an even better New Year!!!