First off, I wanted to give a BIG THANKS to this forum and all the great folks on it! I have been reading the posts and reports for over a year and decided that if I wanted to be a good member, I best participate in the reports even if it is only once a year. Apologies that it is a couple days late as I had no internet access beyond my phone.
For those who don't want to read my fish story, the fishing report from our perspective is that they were shallow and on wood up until Saturday late and Sunday. The cold front really put the brakes on the bite and we had to really S-L-O-W down for our couple of bites a piece on Sunday. Lipless cranks, wacky senkos and jigs were our best producers in 1 to 4 FOW on laydowns and stumps near spawning areas. Slow rolled spinnerbait also saw some success on Saturday. Sunday I was fishing so slow I thought I was backing up. My partner and I fished numerous places during the week from Sale Creek down to Harrison Bay.
Now for my fish tales...
This was my 2nd trip to Chick. Last year I came down in June with my club for a few days and had to replace both boat trailer tires on the way, had to get my outboard repaired on the first day, BIG THANKS to Paul Nichols and his guy Dale!! I had several other minor incidents during the trip and then on the last morning I fell out of the boat while chasing a rod the was slipping off the side of the boat in a hard rain and ended up losing that rod plus another!!
It seemed that the lake had it in for me but on the way back home I decided I just had to come back and get some redemption!
Fast forward to this past week, I got to Dayton on Tuesday eve with no issues, nothing lost and nothing broken. We caught a good amount of fish. This was another club tourney that was Fri thru Sun noon. On Friday about the 2nd cast I hooked one on a lipless crankbait. My partner was messing around with his rod and I told him not to get in any hurry as it didn't feel any bigger than maybe 14 inches...boy was I wrong! About half way back to the boat she decided to show me some of what she was made of so now I am getting a wee bit more interested in where my net man is! He gets setup with the net at the back of the boat and he gets to see the fish as she came near the surface, I did not see her but from his reaction it was obvious it wasn't a dink!! I got her heading toward the net and we missed on the first try, I think my heart just about dropped out of my chest as all I could think was I'm gonna lose her but my partner got her in the net on the second go and she was hooked really well, too well as one of her gills was now bleeding. I quickly got her into the livewell and applied some Rejuvenate to help with her injury. That was my best day, I ended up with a limit of 5 at 24lbs 2ozs. I learned a valuable lesson about the Rejuvenate that day, read the instructions and follow them!! Too much has adverse affects on the fish. At our weigh-in, I opened the well to get my fish and 3 including the big one are on their sides. I was quite confused as they were good all day long, they were all alive both obviously not doing well. I got them weighed and went down to the dock to release them. One slowly swam off but two just sank on their sides. To say I was sick was an understatement, I would just as soon not catch a big ole pig if it is going to die! I noticed that they both had bright red gills but they were not moving. My partner realized that I may have overdosed the livewell.
My partner and I lay face down on the edge of the floating dock for over an hour working with her until she slowly came to and swam under the dock. We spent another 15 minutes with the other fish, a nice 4-1/2 lber, until he came to and swam away. My arms, chest and back were plum sore and tired but the big old gal will live to be caught another day! emoToast
This fish not only broke my personal best by 2 ozs, it also broke the 31 yr old big fish record for my club!! emoDance
On the 2nd morning about 1/2 hour into the day my partner says FISH! and then backs it up with OH, its a good one, get the net!! This one didn't mess around like mine had done the day prior, it was game on! After a good fight, I managed to get her in the net and my partner was in the floor of the boat just delirious with excitement, another personal best for him! It wasn't until weigh-in time that we determined just how good, 8lbs 13ozs!!
My fish 9lbs 2ozs...
My partner's...
For those who don't want to read my fish story, the fishing report from our perspective is that they were shallow and on wood up until Saturday late and Sunday. The cold front really put the brakes on the bite and we had to really S-L-O-W down for our couple of bites a piece on Sunday. Lipless cranks, wacky senkos and jigs were our best producers in 1 to 4 FOW on laydowns and stumps near spawning areas. Slow rolled spinnerbait also saw some success on Saturday. Sunday I was fishing so slow I thought I was backing up. My partner and I fished numerous places during the week from Sale Creek down to Harrison Bay.
Now for my fish tales...
This was my 2nd trip to Chick. Last year I came down in June with my club for a few days and had to replace both boat trailer tires on the way, had to get my outboard repaired on the first day, BIG THANKS to Paul Nichols and his guy Dale!! I had several other minor incidents during the trip and then on the last morning I fell out of the boat while chasing a rod the was slipping off the side of the boat in a hard rain and ended up losing that rod plus another!!
It seemed that the lake had it in for me but on the way back home I decided I just had to come back and get some redemption!
Fast forward to this past week, I got to Dayton on Tuesday eve with no issues, nothing lost and nothing broken. We caught a good amount of fish. This was another club tourney that was Fri thru Sun noon. On Friday about the 2nd cast I hooked one on a lipless crankbait. My partner was messing around with his rod and I told him not to get in any hurry as it didn't feel any bigger than maybe 14 inches...boy was I wrong! About half way back to the boat she decided to show me some of what she was made of so now I am getting a wee bit more interested in where my net man is! He gets setup with the net at the back of the boat and he gets to see the fish as she came near the surface, I did not see her but from his reaction it was obvious it wasn't a dink!! I got her heading toward the net and we missed on the first try, I think my heart just about dropped out of my chest as all I could think was I'm gonna lose her but my partner got her in the net on the second go and she was hooked really well, too well as one of her gills was now bleeding. I quickly got her into the livewell and applied some Rejuvenate to help with her injury. That was my best day, I ended up with a limit of 5 at 24lbs 2ozs. I learned a valuable lesson about the Rejuvenate that day, read the instructions and follow them!! Too much has adverse affects on the fish. At our weigh-in, I opened the well to get my fish and 3 including the big one are on their sides. I was quite confused as they were good all day long, they were all alive both obviously not doing well. I got them weighed and went down to the dock to release them. One slowly swam off but two just sank on their sides. To say I was sick was an understatement, I would just as soon not catch a big ole pig if it is going to die! I noticed that they both had bright red gills but they were not moving. My partner realized that I may have overdosed the livewell.
My partner and I lay face down on the edge of the floating dock for over an hour working with her until she slowly came to and swam under the dock. We spent another 15 minutes with the other fish, a nice 4-1/2 lber, until he came to and swam away. My arms, chest and back were plum sore and tired but the big old gal will live to be caught another day! emoToast
This fish not only broke my personal best by 2 ozs, it also broke the 31 yr old big fish record for my club!! emoDance
On the 2nd morning about 1/2 hour into the day my partner says FISH! and then backs it up with OH, its a good one, get the net!! This one didn't mess around like mine had done the day prior, it was game on! After a good fight, I managed to get her in the net and my partner was in the floor of the boat just delirious with excitement, another personal best for him! It wasn't until weigh-in time that we determined just how good, 8lbs 13ozs!!
My fish 9lbs 2ozs...
My partner's...
