Opening Day Two

I had some things to do this morning, so I got a late start, on the water at
1:00 p.m. My original intent was to fish a different set of lakes today,
primarily going after crappies for a fish-fry. So, with a couple dozen
crappie minnows in the livewell, I hit Sand and Dam Lakes.

Usually this time of year, the crappies are in the brushtops and emerging
weeds, so I started there shortly after launching the boat. A series of
treetops in the water didn't produce a single bite. A stump caught my eye,
and having a firetiger Secret Weapon tied on a rod, I grabbed it and made a
cast. The strike was so ferocious that my immediate thought was "muskie."

It turned out to be a very fat 20" smallmouth, but like the idiot that I can
be, I left my camera on the desk!

All thoughts of crappie left and I started looking for more stumps. I
landed a nice pike on a spinnerbait, but that was to be my last blade
strike. That was not to be my last smallmouth though. Further stumps and
spinnerbaits didn't produce anything, BUT, sliding a (what else?) pearl
fluke resulted in 6 more smallmouth bass, one of them larger than the first
by 2 inches! I wish I would have had a scale in the boat, because I
seriously believe that this bass was pushing 7 pounds! The girth was
enormous, and after I released the fish, I realized that I could have
stretched some PowerPro around the girth, cut that length and gotten a
better idea of the sheer size of the fish. It was one of my best smallmouth
ever!

Finally, as the sun was settling low in the sky, I called Janet to let her
know I was coming home. Only, as I was heading toward the dock, I spotted a
sunken brushpile covered with crappies. A quick call to Janet, telling her
to hold dinner and I was into crappies, putting two nice slabs in the
livewell in two casts. The last thing she said was, "as soon as they stop
biting, come home." She's going to have to stop doing that because those
two were the last that I caught! Although I did put four good perch in the
livewell with the crappies, I ended up dumping them back in the lake. I
hate to clean fish and would rather have a fish fry at the Al-Gen.

So, two trips out, 21 smallies. Not too bad. I just hope that I can
continue the streak and that I remember the camera on future outings.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

Uff-da! Nicely done.

Jim

On Sun, 7 May 2006 21:16:51 -0500, "Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers"
wrote:

I had some things to do this morning, so I got a late start, on the water at
1:00 p.m. My original intent was to fish a different set of lakes today,
primarily going after crappies for a fish-fry. So, with a couple dozen
crappie minnows in the livewell, I hit Sand and Dam Lakes.

Usually this time of year, the crappies are in the brushtops and emerging
weeds, so I started there shortly after launching the boat. A series of
treetops in the water didn't produce a single bite. A stump caught my eye,
and having a firetiger Secret Weapon tied on a rod, I grabbed it and made a
cast. The strike was so ferocious that my immediate thought was "muskie."

It turned out to be a very fat 20" smallmouth, but like the idiot that I can
be, I left my camera on the desk!

All thoughts of crappie left and I started looking for more stumps. I
landed a nice pike on a spinnerbait, but that was to be my last blade
strike. That was not to be my last smallmouth though. Further stumps and
spinnerbaits didn't produce anything, BUT, sliding a (what else?) pearl
fluke resulted in 6 more smallmouth bass, one of them larger than the first
by 2 inches! I wish I would have had a scale in the boat, because I
seriously believe that this bass was pushing 7 pounds! The girth was
enormous, and after I released the fish, I realized that I could have
stretched some PowerPro around the girth, cut that length and gotten a
better idea of the sheer size of the fish. It was one of my best smallmouth
ever!

Finally, as the sun was settling low in the sky, I called Janet to let her
know I was coming home. Only, as I was heading toward the dock, I spotted a
sunken brushpile covered with crappies. A quick call to Janet, telling her
to hold dinner and I was into crappies, putting two nice slabs in the
livewell in two casts. The last thing she said was, "as soon as they stop
biting, come home." She's going to have to stop doing that because those
two were the last that I caught! Although I did put four good perch in the
livewell with the crappies, I ended up dumping them back in the lake. I
hate to clean fish and would rather have a fish fry at the Al-Gen.

So, two trips out, 21 smallies. Not too bad. I just hope that I can
continue the streak and that I remember the camera on future outings.