A good couple of days

[Koz]

Like a lot of folks out there, COVID has upended my life. I lost my job and being a hotel GM and so many hotels closing because of the virus there have been very few jobs available where I need to be at this moment. My father has been ill the past few years and I need to be within 3 or 4 hours driving distance when he needs me.

 

Some of the ways I cope with stress are fishing and wood working. Well, the bass fishing is lousy where I am now as I was previously spoiled living in the SC Lowcountry. But this week things started to turn around and I had a second job interview to take over a hotel back down in the SC Lowcountry where I used to live. So I got to spend time with mu dad and do some fishing while down there for the interview.

 

I fished for an hour or so the afternoon I got there. The weather was cloudy and breezy with temps down in the 60's. I went to one of my favorite spots but someone was already fishing there and I did not want to horn in on that location. I hit another favorite spot and caught a couple around 1 pound before Mr. Big Gator stopped by to let me know I wasn't welcome there. So off to lagoon #3.

 

The wind blowing put some nice chop on the water and there's a nice aquatic weed line down one side where the bait fish usually hide so the conditions called for a buzzbait. For most of the year it just kills in this location. I can cover 100 yards of bank and easily land 3 or 4 2 pounds or more. But heading into fall it's not the ideal time to throw it in these waters, but what the heck. I'm glad a did because I landed the 5 pounder in the photo below. As I was removing the hook I has two cars pull up to check out my catch and one of them was kind enough to snap the photo below.

 

The next day I went back to the first lagoon and caught a couple under two pounds until Mr. Even Bigger Gator told me I was done fishing there. So it was off to lagoon number two again. Now as I have mentioned before I prefer to power fish with my baitcasters and rarely use spinning gear and I hate fishing slow. But with the fall transition I forced myself to give it a go.

 

I didn't bring spinning gear with me so I grabbed a rod and reel from my dad's garage. Both the rod and reel were Skeet Reese models, with a medium rod and to me what was an under powered 200 reel and some 10 pound mono. I wacky rigged a beefy Bass Pro Stick O Worm and the fun began. I ended up catching 11 in just a few hours, but what was odd was nothing was over 3 pounds. Most were under 2 pounds and I even caught a juvenile 6 inch bass on that giant worm. Normally it's rare to catch anything under two pounds in those lagoons. But hey, it was fun and lifted my spirits.

 

I hit that spot again the next day and had more success. Unfortunately I blew it when I latched on to something bigger. I horsed it too much with that medium rod and 10 pound test and snapped the line. I don't think it was a PB, but knowing that lagoon there's a good chance it was 5 or 6 pounds. I definitely need to fish more light gear and get my touch back, especially if I plan to fish throughout the winter.

 

The good news is the second interview went well and now I just need to talk to the VP and the CEO and will hopefully have an offer by the end of the week. If the money is decent and they offer a good relocation package I'll take it. Otherwise, I have a less desireable and lower paying job lined up here for now that will at least pay the bills.

 

If I do get the job back in the Lowcountry I'll be moving to a community where they stock Tiger Bass in the main lake every year. From what I understand if you can get them to bite they put up a good fight. But word has it at this lake live bait is about the only way to catch them. But I'm up for the challenge.

 

 

[Koz]

I just did some more reading about the Tiger Bass they stock at that lake. The crossed a northern strain of male Gorilla Bass with female Florida bass. They say they grow at a rate of 2 pound per year.

 

I also found out they crossed White Bass with Striped bass and added them (Wipers) to the lake at a rate of 5 per acre. I haven't been able to find out if they stocked them more than once or if the population took root. Since they don;t reproduce their time in that lake could have been short lived.

[TnRiver46]

Glad you had some success. They are having a big bass master open on Hartwell right now.

[Chris at Tech]

Hampton Lakes?

[Koz]

50 minutes ago, Chris at Tech said:

Hampton Lakes?

Yes, Hampton Lake.

[roadwarrior]