Burr Oak Lake, 2 SEP 2016

[CybrSlydr]

So, my brother and I decided to check out a new lake today, Burr Oak Lake, north of Athens, OH.  Reading shows it's a great place to fish with numerous species of fish available.

Our goal was to start off at the dam and work our way along a trail that runs along the perimeter of the lake and look for open spots from which we could fish.  A friend of mine who fishes there gave us some good hints on where to look for fish.

The orange oval is where we parked.  The purple line with arrows is the route we walked the trail looking for shore spots.  The blue line is showing us walking back.  The green oval is the last place we sat and tried to find anything.

We found one spot near the first bay from which we could fish, but as you will now hear, it was bad for my brother.

So we put my new chrome/blue Red Eye Shad lipless crank on his rod and he cast a few times.  One time, he cast too high and got the line stuck in a tree.  So, he starts waving the rod to try and get the line unstuck.  Wasn't coming off because the lure, which was in the water, was too heavy and pulling it down.  So he reels in the lure - which then gets stuck in the tree branch.  So he tightens down the drag and starts pulling to try and get it out - couple of little branches on the limb break off and we think we're almost there.  Then the line snaps. 

lol

The lure falls out of the tree into the lake, but the line remains hung up in the branch, still attached to the lure.  I take my rod and let off a little line, which had a Liv-N-Chrome Rat-L-Trap tied on, and use it to wrap around the suspended line like a grappling hook.  Success!  I pull the line in, cut the lure off and we decide to find somewhere else to fish.

Unfortunately for us, there wasn't anywhere on the shore to fish.  The bank was either too steep or the trees were too thick.  We were kinda ticked we walked all that way to not do anything and have to trudge back.

So we decided to rest on the dam and try some casts and see if anything was biting.

Unfortunately, nothing bites.  Except the mud, apparently!

My brother, casting the same lure as before, manages to somehow get it stuck in the mud so deep that we can't pull it out again.  So, bravely, he wades into the lake to go after it.  It was about 10ft from shore and in about knee-deep water.  He retrieves the lure with minimal issue and returned to dry land.  He decides he's going to take a break before he manages to completely lose this lure.

I decide we should try over by this large concrete structure to our right and see if we can get any bites there.  I rig up a dropshot with a wacky rig Senko 5" Watermelon/Blk Flake worm and try a few casts.

We try this for about 45 minutes with no success.  Got hung up on a few things but didn't lose any lures.  My brother said that this was just good practice for casting for when we go up to Alum Creek Reservoir on Monday to fish with a former roomie of mine and his wife.

By now it's around 5:30 and we figure, screw it - might as well go home.  We were pretty hungry from all the walking!  Just glad we brought 10 bottles of water so we could keep hydrated (thank you, Army!)

Before we pack up, I decide we should take some gear shots - so you folks can see the accumulated tackle thus far and some pics of our rods/reels, especially since he just got his and if someone is interested in that Pflueger combo, we can show some pics.

My tackle box

The President Reel - gotta say, that reel is NICE.  Was REALLY confused when we were stringing it because it has an anti-reverse switch which was disengaged.  Couldn't figure out why the reel was spinning BACKWARDS.  Google is your friend.  lol

The rod that came in the combo is actually quite nice - we were both impressed.

My rod/reel.

When we decided to walk back to the car, we walked along the paved road at the top of the dam.  I told my brother to take the camera out of my backpack and snap some wide angle shots as it looked quite nice.

I also decided to wash my car this morning, so when we walked back, I thought it looked too good to not take a few pics. 

Then we drove home.

I hope you all enjoyed the pics - thank you all for your help in choosing the rod/reel for my brother.  He is extremely happy with the purchase!

Until next time!