Fishing Forum

Had just about the sheistiest day of work ever. I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say that I was in NO mood to attend Pack Meeting @ church tonight while people made fools of themselves with stupid claps, stupid cheers, etc...

So instead I raced up to Newton with less than 2 hours of daylight. Took 3 of my boys with - and my $150 worth of Cabela's tackle I bought over the weekend.

Adding insult to injury, however, my stupidity cost me a chunk of change. Tied on a Storm Kickin' Shad to my TM rod:[inline "80 dollar lure-400.jpg"]

I then boated away, with it dangling off the back. Well, we caught a wave and the lure snagged the surface of the water... and immediately began to dive... taking my nicest reel and a new Ugly Stick with it. UGH. There went $80.

So after cursing violently under my breath for a quarter mile or so, I resigned myself to the truth of the matter and moved on to bigger and better things.

Or so I thought.

Parked in a two-time previous hot spot and wet the lines. The fishing, however, went from catching-nearly-every-cast last week to my boys suggesting we must have caught them all on our previous trips. In the first hour, we hadn't tallied 5 fish...

So we exhausted our "known" spots and tried new areas of the lake. I hooked into a TM again. Not a big one - I'm guessing maybe 30". Had him to the boat, but while we were unpackaging THE FISH GRIP and readying the camera, he made his bid for freedom and was gone. Oh well.

At this point the sun had set and I was out of patience with my life, my kids, the price of tea in China... and decided it would be in our best interest if we just quit before the boat sank... or lightning struck.

Drove back and hitched up the boat. But then I took my sunglasses off and realized there was still about 15 minutes of prime fishing light left. So we worked the shoreline for a bit. Caught a couple of little guys... And then caught my Day-Maker:[inline "Bass Length-400.jpg"]

I must say, this honey made my day. I had seriously been wondering if the day ranked in my Top 10 Worst Days Ever as we boated back.

Upon catching this little pig, though, perspective improved and I walked away content(ish).
[inline "Bass n Me-400.jpg"]
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Wow that is a nice bass. Congrats on a bummer day turning into a great day.
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Rough and nice! Too bad about the gear loss but congrats on the bass! Glad to hear your "bank tangling instincts" payed off. The goods come with the bads eh? A sacrifice to the fish gods perhaps?

Still deciding if we are going to Newton, Bear Lake or the Uinta's. Thanks for the report. Helps the decision process for the weekend planning. So many choices and so little time!
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Storm Kicking Shad? Looks more like the Crappie version if you ask me! I've got one of those - dragged it around Newton a bit, but not enough. I like the wiggly jointed tale. Bet a Musky'd rip the crap out of it!

So - no cold DDP, or finding a quarter at work? Sorry for that. [:/] Maybe the fish sensed your 'bad juju' - kinda like when your downriggers are casting off the wrong electrical charge! [shocked]

So what'd ya hook the bass up on? And it was from shore? I guess it's Football season after all! Touchdown, , Home Run, Hole-in-One, Goal, Slam-dunk - that's a chunk!
Looks like 19inches? Did you weigh it - I'd guestimate on order of a 3bler? But he put up a good argument.

So - I'm planning to hit it this weekend (watch out perchies! I'm coming for ya!!!), ducks in a row I'll meet up with Ben Sat morn.
I've got a snagging hook, and an underwater camera - if you want to take a try at a submarine search and rescue effort?
Course maybe a Musky'll find that tasty lure and drag the whole rod around the lake!!!

Very nice fish!! At least that happened after your rod decided to jump overboard. Makes things a little easier when events like that happen in that order.
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[quote CoyoteSpinner]Storm Kicking Shad? Looks more like the Crappie version if you ask me![/quote]
Yeah, that pattern isn't even a match to the one I bought - but there wasn't a picture of mine...

[quote CoyoteSpinner]So what'd ya hook the bass up on? [/quote]
3" Cabela's Fire Tail Grub. White with glow tail. (Hooked the TM on a pink/white model.)

[quote CoyoteSpinner]And it was from shore?[/quote]
Yup.

[quote CoyoteSpinner]Looks like 19inches? Did you weigh it - I'd guestimate on order of a 3bler? But he put up a good argument. [/quote]
My larger fish scale was missing (thanks, kids), my clearance Kmart scale proved to be nonfunctional, and my postage scale wasn't sufficient (3# limit)... so I had to weigh myself on a quality digital scale with and without the fish. It came in @ 3lb 13oz.
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Sorry about the bad day, at least it ended on a high note. Did you buy your gear on a credit card? Sometimes purchases are automatically insured with some cards, maybe you can get your pole replaced if you contact the card company. Good luck with that-
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No such luck. That's ok, though. I only had 3 pieces of cargo on that boat that really mattered in the grand scheme of things, and they all survived the trip.[]
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I'll give you a pm if I ever catch your pole. I lost my pole when I lent it to a neighbor kid at Jordanelle. I watched it fly out of the boat. No telling how many poles and motors and boats lie at the bottom of these lakes.

Sorry for your loss.
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