teh_skeeze Posted June 22, 2014 Posted June 22, 2014 My inflatable came in insanely fast. I ordered it late Wednesday night and it was at UPS on Friday morning. I skipped my usual 3 hour bank fishing outing so I could set it up and learn the process. Got up at 5am on Saturday and was out on the water by 6:15. Not much happened over the first few hours, then it got a little too interesting. We were fishing by the only island in the lake. I was pitching a 4" pumpkin w/ black and green flake senko with my med-light St. Croix Premier and Shimano Sahara setup (cost me about $210 last year). I was working some lily pads thinking to myself that I'm going to go to the other setup with a weedless spoon. I feel some weight on the line, set the hook, and the drag starts screaming. This is a huge fish, except not because I remembered that I was using a med light setup. Still It was a decent sized LMB (3 lbs. 5 oz). When I get it on the boat I see it hooked it in the throat. Sometime during trying to get the hook out, unsucessfully, I knocked the rod and reel overboard. My thumb was getting tired trying to get the hook out, so I let my girlfriend have a go at it. She almost has the hook out when she fatigues and drops the fish in the water. No big deal, I'll just grab the rod.....Where's my rod? Where the [expletive] is my rod? You gotta be [long winded expletive ridden rant]. I smoke a cigarette to calm myself as much as someone can calm from just losing a $210 setup and more than likely killing a nice fish. I ask the girlfriend for my other rod and as I turn to make my cast, I see the handle of the rod on the bottom of the lake (thank god this lake maxes out at 5 ft.). I try to reach down for it while in the boat and my arm is about 6 inches short. Try to use the oar and while I could get the rod off the bottom, I can't get a hold of it. My girlfriend, the sweetheart that she is, jumps into the lake in her underwear (I would have done it, but I was freeballing some jeans, didn't want to end up on Megan's List), grabs the rod, and the fish is still attached. I quickly get the hook out and release the fish. It swam off slow, but looked healthy. Certainly healthier than if it was stuck to a rod and reel with a hook in it's throat. She's now soaking wet and cold since it's breezy. I row us to the other side of the island and we drifted back to where we launched. During the drift I caught little guy. Probably 1.5-2 lbs. that didn't put up a fight until he saw the boat. He tries to fight like hell, but I tell him he had his chance and blew it. I quickly get the hook out and get him back into the water. I also saw 3 bass hanging together that looked to be in the 4 lb range, and one solitary bass that looked to be well over 5 lbs. It's good to know they are out there, now I just need to catch them. All in all it was a good day. Can't wait to get back out there soon. Here's the 3 lb. fish. 2 Quote
HeavyFisher Posted June 22, 2014 Posted June 22, 2014 Pics of the girlfriend jumping in or it didn't happen....Sounds like an eventful first outing man and you landed 2 Lmbs. Goodjob and Goodluck on your future fishing adventures! 5 Quote
teh_skeeze Posted June 22, 2014 Author Posted June 22, 2014 Pics of the girlfriend jumping in or it didn't happen....Sounds like an eventful first outing man and you landed 2 Lmbs. Goodjob and Goodluck on your future fishing adventures! I guess it didn't happen then. You got me, I'll come clean now. The picture is photoshopped. 1 Quote
missouribigbass Posted June 22, 2014 Posted June 22, 2014 Sounds like an adventure. Glad you got your gear back Quote
Super User Bankbeater Posted June 23, 2014 Super User Posted June 23, 2014 That's really cool! From the pic it looks like you were fishing in the slop. Quote
teh_skeeze Posted June 23, 2014 Author Posted June 23, 2014 That's really cool! From the pic it looks like you were fishing in the slop. The whole lake is slop. It's basically a featureless 4' deep weedbed. There are some open spots where you can run a crank or jerk bait for a couple of yards, but if you don't come with weedless rigs, you are just wasting your time. Quote
boostr Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 What lake was this on? It's nice to fish out of a boat. A couple of weeks ago I had my first boat bass fishing experience, caught the most bass at one place, and my pb. Feels good to be able to get to spots you can't get to from shore. Quote
Shanes7614 Posted June 25, 2014 Posted June 25, 2014 Awesome lake. Grew up in the area. Try throwing a buzz bait or spinnerbait in the lanes that open up in the weeds. Frogs work great first light also. Quote
teh_skeeze Posted June 25, 2014 Author Posted June 25, 2014 I do need to get some spinner/buzzbaits. I wasn't sure if they were a summer lure, but the more I read, the more the answer is "use them dummy". I have 2 Boo-Yah pad crashers. No luck on them yet. Admittedly, I suck at walking the frog. Quote
Shanes7614 Posted June 26, 2014 Posted June 26, 2014 Frogs early in AM or just before dark. Buzz baits same time or if slight chop to the water. Spinner baits almost any time of day. White or combo of white/chartreuse and blue have produced good for me there. I have also had a lot of success on Rapala 4.5" floaters just twitched below the surface and allow to pop on top of water. Will get most strikes while lure floats to surface or on surface. I know many people have stopped using but during tough days it was always hard to beat a 4.5" Slug-go in the blue and silver shiner. Quote
Shanes7614 Posted June 26, 2014 Posted June 26, 2014 Next time try using another rod with a snagging hook to get your "misplaced" gear from the bottom of the lake!!! Beats swimming in cold water... Quote
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