Pickwick in a Float for 10 Hours

[SammyLee]

I got up at 0330 Saturday and hit the road by 0430 and was in the water in my little float at the boat ramp at the Pickwick Dam State Park with all the lures etc. I could pack into the float along with two bottles of water and a ham biscuit. I really can manage only one rod in the float so I took the Browning Citori rod with my Chronach Mg D7 loaded with Yo Zuri hybrid 10#. The boat ramp was surprisingly empty.

My plan was to jump fish near the marina as I had had such good luck and fun the last time I was there, taking RW's advice to fish this area. Being so early, I thought I start with topwater plugs and made a few cast as I finned my way along with no strikes. I got over to the marina and to the far side casting into those broken down slips with no luck. There was no surface activity at all. So much for jump fishing.

As the morning wore on, I switched to a crank and moved over to the "boat pathway" side of the marina near the trees. I was still not getting bit and my feeling was that the fish were deeper than my setup so I switched to a medium sized, fairly heavy gold and silver spoon with a feather tail. I cast it to the bank, quick retrieved until it got into some deeper water, even letting it bounce on the bottom.

BANG! I got bit, set it hard and he was heading straight to the bottom. I mean, directly down, taking drag which was set pretty tight. Whoa baby, what is this thing? No bass I've caught fought this way. I had him either taking drag or coming to me and pretty soon, I have this weird looking fish on the surface.

I usually just stick my thumb into their mouth but this sucker had a small mouth, almost like a carp. Hmmm. So I just reached and got him by his body. The darned thing grunted at me! He had a mouth like a carp and a body that reminded me of a Florida Redfish. Sort of a solid golden brown color and more flat than round. He was so weird I forgot to weigh him before I released. (looking on the Internet that night, I think I caught a buffalo)

I stayed over in that area and got a couple of LMB, too small to be worthy of the scales.

By lunch time, I was getting hungry and finned my way over to the marina dock at the far end, climbed out, ate lunch, called the wife and took about a 20 minute break from the water. When I got back in the float I realized how tired and sleepy I was so I finned my way to shore.

I put my ankles up on the shoreline with my legs and butt still in the water, slid my hat over my eyes and nodded off. All of a sudden, something bites the fire out of my left leg! Man, did I wake up in a hurry. It felt more like a fish than a turtle with a scraping kinda bite. It did not break the skin. Dude, I was fully awake then!

I finned my way back out to the cove near the marina and saw some surface action. I switched back to the pure silver popper and positioned myself where I thought they might resurface. In about 20 minutes, they did and I landed that plug right in the middle. WHACK! A perfect two pounder (exactly) was soon in my hands. What a perfect fish, no scars, scratches and beautiful colors and form.

I hung around and got a two or three more that way. I was fishing near this "thing" just under the surface. I guess it was a log and someone had tied a soda bottle to it as a warning to boaters.

Now, float fishing at Pickwick at the marina is a trip. These 50 foot yachts were motoring by and everybody and I mean everybody was like, "Hey man, that's cool!" "Having any luck?" etc. When I was in the cove, boaters would cruise by to see what the heck I was. But they couldn't get too close cause I was up in the hydrilla and shallow water. Places they could not go.

Two fauns were feeding on the shoots and leaves near the bank, just about out of their spots. I snuck up on them so that I was just about 40 feet away. They never noticed until I got bored watching them and starting casting. Man, were they surprised!

At 5pm I was really getting tired and started my was back to the car. I had been in the water for ten hours when I got back to the boat ramp. It was completely full. I dragged the float up and out and deflated it. Strange looks I got is an understatement.

All in all I had fun. I did not catch as many or as big as I had hoped but still, I caught fish and learned more of our art. It seemed like a long drive back to Memphis and I was ready for some supper, I promise.

[skillet]

 Sounds like you had a good day, even if it wasn't what you hoped (are they ever? )...

skillet

[roadwarrior]

Great story!

BTW, The buffalo get HUGE! In the river, they fight just

like a smallmouth, except they never jump.

8-)

[Dwight Hottle]

Nice story. That must be where the expression " I WAS BUFFALOED" came from.   :)

[Paul Roberts]

Ahhhh...sounds really nice. The nap too. Floating may slow you down, but there's a lot of living going on at that pace. Nice read.

The mystery fish might have been a freshwater drum?

And you got bit by something! That's one of the surest ways to catch a creature. If you get bit by it, you got it! ;D

[Daniel My Brother]

Sounds like a great time (except for the part about getting bit by some strange creature).

I agree that the fish was probably a drum. They make a grunting sound and they'll hit artificials...especially the bigger ones. Plus they look a lot like a redfish.