The wind was predicted to be 25 mph constant with who knows how hard gusts where we had originally planned to fish. We made an audible the night before and I am glad we did.
We showed up to the ramp about 9:15 and there were already several other small tin boats and kayaks on the water. As I was walking from the truck to go hop in the boat with my fishing partner for the day, I watched a guy land a really nice bass from a jetty. A good sign.
We launch and get about 100 yards from the ramp to our spot. I toss out a black and gold dark sleeper and a 2.5 lber grabs it on the way from the bottom up to the boat. We move the boat out a bit to fish some offshore cover and the party begins.
Fishing partner sets the hook into a 4.71 on his first cast with a Keitech style swimbait into the cover.
I switch from the Dark Sleeper to a jig and feel the tick. ITS BIG! A 6.72 lber!! Fat and healthy and my new PB for this state.
A few casts later - dead weight a 6.42 lber! I'm ecstatic, we're up to nearly 18 lbs with 3 fish!
I see my partners rod bend over ... another big one coming toward the boat - 5.72 lbs! - Already at 23 lbs with just 4 fish!
We fish the area a bit more with jigs and catch maybe 1 or 2 ~3-4 lbers.
The wind had really picked up and its early Spring, which means jerkbaits. I toss the Cabela's Mean Eye "Walleye" series jerkbait up toward the bank... *Jerk* *jerk*... STOP... for a brief moment I thought I was hung... then the rod tip sinks a deep bend. Its a fish. I played it for what felt like 20 minutes and see it open its mouth on the way to the boat. I get nervous because the wide open mouth is the biggest I have ever seen from that perspective. I see the net go into the water and scoop her up. 6.83 lbs - Broke my PB for the state again! And broke my PB for a jerkbait. And now we are sitting at 30 lbs 6 ounces for our 5 heaviest fish. My new personal record for a bag - 30+ plus being a number I'd never imagined in public water in this state.
I toss the Mean Eye back out and what was probably 10-15 casts later - it gets whacked - no questioning, not even for a second what was going on here. This one is a fighter! She gets netted and in the boat she goes. 4.38 lbs. What kind of day have we had where this fish doesn't even make the cut!
Things slow down for a bit. About an hour goes by and I make a wish of a cast away from where we know there is cover toward a different area. I thought I saw something over there earlier when we were scanning on side imaging. I'm dragging the jig on the bottom when I find the first indication of the cover. That's all it took. My line jumps and a swing hard. This fish starts running toward me and I can't catch up. I'm not 100% sure its still on until it makes a cut and the rod goes parabolic. Another heavy one! 6.17 lbs!!! HOLY COW we have 4 fish that are over 6 lbs and the best 5 are 31.86 lbs (~31 lbs 14 oz).
My partner hasn't caught a 6 lber at this point. He has his jig out and I see him swing hard, but only line comes back. He says "that was 100% a bite." I give him a hard time and say he was just snagged on a rock and he's hallucinating because he wants a 6 lber so bad. He insists it was a bite. Jokingly I tell him, "ok if it was a bite, I'll catch it since I seem to be catching all of the fish and if it has your jig in its mouth then I'll believe you." He says "If you catch a fish with my jig in its mouth, I'll give you a dollar." Well guess what? He owes me a dollar. On the second cast after telling him I'd catch it, I feel the tick and set the hook. All before he could get a new jig tied on. I fight it back to the boat, my partner nets it and there it is! An extra jig in the back of the fishes throat! Unbelievable. We are both in shock.
The ambition sets in and its clear both of us want one more over 6 lbs. We didn't get another bite the rest of the day.
It was the best day fishing I have ever had in my life. 31.86 lbs is going to stick with me for a long time. On tap of that, I have wanted to fish with this partner for a few years since he is my neighbor and has helped me a ton in getting my boat rigged at no cost to me. What a day!
*I’ll add some pictures later as BR image size cap is giving me fits*
