Got Some Pullage Today

Finally!  About 2 PM the morning rain had cleared, it was a warm, sunny day, heading up towards the middle 60s and wind less than 5 mph.

The boat has been ready, and in the water for a couple of weeks; I bought my fishing license online, and registration still had a year to run.  Everything pretty much fell into place, and I decided it was time to give the boat it's shakedown cruise, and try a little fishing too.  I only made one mistake.  I forgot the camera!

I ran down to the usual, Location X, the warm water discharge three miles south of the Harbor.  Shockingly, in this time of year, when the big stripers hang around there for the warm water and food it attracts, there were no other boats.

The fishing this time of year demands that you fish close to the bottom, using a heavy lure that looks like a fish (In this case, a 1.5 oz jig with a 7 inch Bass Assassin, preferably yum yum green, also called chartreuse).  I began catching fish right away, initially some little guys, a foot to a 18 inches, but once I figured out the wind and currents, some pretty decent 29 to 31 inch fish in the deep, fast moving water.  I regretted the forgotten camera briefly, but tried my awful cheap cell phone camera, and got this awful, cheap picture:

IIRC, that was about a 31 inch fish, maybe 10-12 lbs that fell off the lure into the boat.  Most of the lute can be seen in the lower right.  I got one in this size in nearly every drift through the deep, fast zone.  And I only lost a couple of jigs!

I had reached a count of 20 fish, and I decided to have one more drift, to make sure I made it to 20.  on the way through the critical zone, I suddenly had a monster hit.  It was hard to be sure I wasn't attached to the bottom, but I could feel the fish surge against the line.  I fought the fish for about 20 minutes, and even resorted to moving the boat closer to the fish when I was nearly spooled.  I thought I might have the fish of a lifetime (50 inches or more would do it for me), or maybe even a personal best (I need to beat 45 inches).  When I finally got the fish whipped (and I was nearly as tired), I grabbed it's lower lip with my full fish, and dragged it up and over the side, and got a tape measure on it.  43 inches, not quite a personal best, but close.  No picture; sorry, she needed to go back soon.

Besides excellent fishing, it was a wonderful day to be out on the water. Lot's of birds.  Gulls, Ospreys, Buffleheads, Old Squaws, Least Greebes, Cormorants.

I got home a 5:30, just in time for dinner.