What to do in this heatwave...

[kenmitch]

It was 114 here yesterday! Not sure what the temp was at the lake but I'd imagine it was similar as it's just a couple of miles away. My hate for the heat heavily outways my lust for fishing. With the high water level and the extreme heat my local lake is most likely a zoo anyways. Fishing from a kayak and dealing with the heat and others whom are lost in their own little world doing circles around the lake is too risky currently. I'm debating on going on my next day off but the current forecast is 97 with isolated thunderstorms which doesn't sound too enticing too me. I hate the summer!

[thinkingredneck]

On Wednesday, July 04, 2018 at 8:14 AM, Catt said:

 I ain't as good as I once was,
But I'm as good once, as I ever was!

 

If at all possible I try to pick & choose my days or nights.

 

Gone are the marathon days of 16-18 hrs on the water.

 

Bide your time & don't try to force it

I believe that first statement might indicate a lapse in memory.    The older I get the better I was!

 

Seriously, this heat is no joke.  In MS, we got heat, humidity,  Alligators, water moccasins,  the West Nile virus and  Encephalitis virus laden mosquitoes (that's why we're crazy) Brain eating Amoeba in the lake if you get the water up your nose, jet skiers and Deliverance type rednecks.  But those guys in Louisiana really have wrose heat, more reptiles, etc. (Not trying to one up Catt). But we'll both be fishing hard all winter, just about!

[Bankbeater]

Heat doesn't really bother me as long as I have water.  When I start running low on water I go home.  With this heat I am taking 2 water jugs with me instead of my usual one.

[CrankFate]

Fish through it. Everyone says early morning or the evening is best. I am too much of a die hard to just leave when it starts getting too hot or too dark. All of the biggest bass I ever caught were sometime about an hour after it got too hot too fish. My guess is that the heat makes the bait sluggish but the bigger bass take longer to slow down and they start to attack just after all the bait slows down from the heat. 

[Bucky205]

It is amazing the difference wetting down makes.  I wear the long sleeve performance fishing shirts.  When wet and in contact with your skin the evaporation of the water really helps cool you off.

 

[Boomstick]

1 hour ago, CrankFate said:

Fish through it. Everyone says early morning or the evening is best. I am too much of a die hard to just leave when it starts getting too hot or too dark. All of the biggest bass I ever caught were sometime about an hour after it got too hot too fish. My guess is that the heat makes the bait sluggish but the bigger bass take longer to slow down and they start to attack just after all the bait slows down from the heat. 

Normally, I would fish through it with a few swimming breaks, but chemo makes it so I can't drink cold water, and even room temperature water is too cold for the first 2-3 days.

 

But yeah I did get my PB when I rented a rowboat and in the morning, I was throwing a spinnerbait and was going to switch to soft plastics at lunchtime. Right before lunch as it was warming up, I got my PB which was a little bit later than you'd think you'd get them to chase, so maybe that big one didn't slow down yet like you said.

[CrankFate]

9 hours ago, Boomstick said:

Normally, I would fish through it with a few swimming breaks, but chemo makes it so I can't drink cold water, and even room temperature water is too cold for the first 2-3 days.

 

But yeah I did get my PB when I rented a rowboat and in the morning, I was throwing a spinnerbait and was going to switch to soft plastics at lunchtime. Right before lunch as it was warming up, I got my PB which was a little bit later than you'd think you'd get them to chase, so maybe that big one didn't slow down yet like you said.

Sorry to hear about the chemo. It’s good you’re still out there fishing. I don’t catch a lot of bass compared to other people. But I tend to get the bigger ones. I think it’s because I’m stil throwing cast after cast after cast waiting to get a big one after everyone else who hit the water at sunrise packs it up. Or staying after the sun goes down throwing cast after cast after cast waiting to get a big one long after everyone leaves saying they don’t bite in the dark.

 

i don’t know what it is with this cancer, seems like more people are getting it including my wife (she’s ok now) and a friend who got it in his early 30’s (he’s also ok now over 10 years later). Chemo is tough, but I was talking to a guy who has stage 4 and is doing OK nearly 10 years after diagnosis.

[Boomstick]

1 hour ago, CrankFate said:

Sorry to hear about the chemo. It’s good you’re still out there fishing. I don’t catch a lot of bass compared to other people. But I tend to get the bigger ones. I think it’s because I’m stil throwing cast after cast after cast waiting to get a big one after everyone else who hit the water at sunrise packs it up. Or staying after the sun goes down throwing cast after cast after cast waiting to get a big one long after everyone leaves saying they don’t bite in the dark.

 

i don’t know what it is with this cancer, seems like more people are getting it including my wife (she’s ok now) and a friend who got it in his early 30’s (he’s also ok now over 10 years later). Chemo is tough, but I was talking to a guy who has stage 4 and is doing OK nearly 10 years after diagnosis.

This is my second year of really bass fishing. I learned a ton last year, and finally got a big one at the end of the year. This year, I got a big one right off the bat and haven't gotten completely skunked nearly as often as last year, however lately it's been getting harder to catch them from the shore. I often fish with my kids, and if dinner allows we will fish past sundown although fishing time for us this year has been 10-8. Given the heatwave, chemo etc. I guess that's not too bad.
 

I'm also camping next week, and I hope the lingering effects of the treatment don't hang around as long -- primarily the cold sensitivity. I am hoping the heatwave caused the cold sensitivity to be exaggerated -- the first treatment had me drinking cold water by Saturday, and this one I wasn't even able to drink room temperature water until Monday!

 

At the very least, I'm sure I'll rent a canoe for most of the week so I hope I'll get a few good ones. I don't know a lot about the lake, but I've reviewed the maps and I know it's very clear water with little cover so I plan on doing a lot of swimbaits, senkos and primarily drop shots -- one of the reasons I upgraded my finesse rig was for lakes like this.

 

I was in the emergency room with a sharp stabbing pain in my right side in the area of my appendix on Friday -- a very similar pain that brought me to the ER to learn I had a massive, cancerous tumor growing in my colon back in May, not muscle pain or anything like that. The CT showed nothing. I have read on the internet that many people complain about random pains on 5-FU, but it's not listed as an official side effect so I will have to talk to my doctor about this one.

[TOXIC]

When I had clients on my boat that were not used to the heat I kept them hydrated and I carried a few of those synthetic chamois called the Absorber.  Dip them in the cooler water or the lake and drape them across your neck and it is magical how much cooler you will get.  They saved many a trip.  

[Cavalry Scout]

With the Chemo, stay inside and get better, the fish will be there when your back to 100%  Here in South Ga, mid 90's is the norm. Go early/late, drink plenty of water.  We have had it pretty good so far this summer, mid 90's, low 100's with the heat index, not bad for down here!  Get better and see you on the water!

 

[burrows]

I’m sorry that you’re having to go threw chemo my mother went threw chemo for about 9 months she’s better now she’s been cancer free for almost ten years now. My hopes and prayers are with you. 

    Get out and fish when ever possible it will help you stay sane just don’t over due it! A little zofran should help with nausea.

[Boomstick]

5 hours ago, Burros said:

I’m sorry that you’re having to go threw chemo my mother went threw chemo for about 9 months she’s better now she’s been cancer free for almost ten years now. My hopes and prayers are with you. 

    Get out and fish when ever possible it will help you stay sane just don’t over due it! A little zofran should help with nausea.

They prescribed me zofran, but I haven't needed it. On the treatment I am on, people largely do not get sick or lose their hair, and the bad taste and most of the side effects for that matter are usually temporary.

 

Right now I'm really praying by Monday morning I am side effect free so I can have a happy week of camping next week -- and two weeks after as well.

 

At least the heat in the foreseeable future is below 90 degrees. Next week ranges from 81-89, where the 89 degree day is a Friday over a week after my treatment, so I should be able to chug water by then.