I'm still pretty much in shock. I took my kayak out to the hot side of Lake Anna to get my fix like I have been all winter. Today was a really tough day, wind was blowing hard, making 90% of the lake unfishable from a kayak, water temps were low, and the waves coming over the nose and side of the kayak had me soaking wet.
I'm not one to throw in the towel because of less than favorable conditions, so I ended up paddling for around 2 hours to find some protected water that was warm enough. A toasty 64 degrees compared to the 54 I started in. 4th bite of the day I lean back on the shakey head and start winding. Wow feels like a good one, then she *tries* to jump and I realize what I'm in for. I was only a few feet from a set of bridge pilings and that's exactly where she was headed with my 8lb leader. Somehow I managed to paddle myself away from the bridge and coax the fish into open water. A few heart stopping moments later I was able to lip the fish and bring her in the kayak with me.
WOW what a fish. She measured 25" long 17" around, my last PB was 24" so I can at least call it a PB even without a weight. She wouldn't have bit anyways if I had a scale in my kayak!
Not sure if I was okay to hold the fish like this, give me some feedback please. I was a little excited
