Fishing Forum

<br /> I took Friday off for a long Labor Day weekend.<br /> FRIDAY - I fished all afternoon and caught 2 slicks. Dullsville. <br /> SATURDAY - My buddy Rick took me out at sunrise. We each caught one LM, both just under 15". We also caught his rod that I booted into the drink. I went up on the front deck to un-hand my lure off a rock, and when I turned and stepped down into the boat, his rod went over. With cat-like reflexes, I twirled and jabbed my rod in under it. Rick stuck his rod out, and we combined to bring 'er back aboard. We pulled the boat out, and when I got to the truck with my gear I had no keys. "RIIIICK!". Whew...he hadn't left. I traipse down and get my keys, load up my gear, and close the truck door. Of course, my keys were on the front seat, along with my phone and wallet. "RIIIIIIIIIIICK!". Whew! Still there. I use his phone to call AAA, but have to try 5 times before they could hear me. OK, Rick's Lock and Key is on the way. I grab a rod and head down to the pier to waste 45 minutes. They came, I made it home. Could have been worse. Rick lost his favorite jerkbait in a tree. Ain't no fish up there, Rick!<br /> SUNDAY - Those cat-like reflexes mentioned above are not to be used except in cases of life or death. Now I remember, I'm too old for that. I wrenched my back (which is not a good one, on a GOOD day) and a knee, and spent all day in bed on a heating pad. It rained, anyway.<br /> MONDAY - OK, 2 trips and I've caught 3 fish. I hit it at sunrise, determined to find some fish that are actually feeding within 3/4-mile of the boat ramp. The sun's not quite up, and I'm tossing a spook at the rip-rap on my troll from the ramp to the "honey" (more like "lemon", lately) holes. No takers until I round the last point, and I hear what sounds like a toilet flushing and my spook disappeared. As soon as the line went taut it went slack and the spook bobbed back to the surface. Darn it! That was at least a keeper, maybe a decent 3#. Probably a spot, 'cause we all know that they're either blind or have bad aim. I ended up out on the humps, having caught only 2 on a c-rigged speed craw. I had skiers doing donuts around me, swamping my boat twice, and jet-skeeterin' kids buzzing withing casting distance, so I had to go. Now, since I only have the 24v TM, I generally head against the wind on the way to a spot, then cruise back to the ramp WITH the wind. Well, the wind turned on me, and I was still at my "point of no return" with a steady 10-15 mph wind IN MY FACE, as well as having to fight the wave action that the bozos generated, so I didn't have a good feeling about my situation. I rarely turn the speed up past 1, but I found myself backing up. I cranked ol' Betsy up to 2. Made headway for a minute, then had to go up to 3. I wasn't even close yet. Did I mention that running lights in the morning, a depthfinder/ GPS and a fishfinder all day, I had already gotten a low voltage alarm on the cranking battery and had to shut down the fishfinder. And, of course, if you NEVER crank the big engine, that battery does not charge. Do I have enough juice left to crank the big engine for the 2nd time in 2 years? WILL it crank even if I do? Is there ANY fuel left? It took a while, as I was drifting AWAY from the ramp, but yes, yes, and yes. I sputtered and clattered back to the ramp without an explosion or a fire, and barely had enough TM to get the boat on the trailer at speed 5. It could have been worse. One keeper, a mean 2-13, and one slick. 3 trips, 5 fish...a long weekend to forget...but I was out there!