07-11-2012, 09:00 AM
I finally got Dr Phil out in the boat for the first time is so long that I can&#39;t even remember the last trip together. He was out of fish and wanted to catch a Rockfish, so we took a little trip this morning. We got in the water before daylight and ran up to the dam and on the very first drift, I hooked up with a Rockfish and the fight was on.<br /><br />The fish didn&#39;t even realize that it was hooked for what seemed like 30 seconds, then it began to give us that &quot;reel&quot; music that we love to hear. At first, I thought it was 7 lb or so, but after taking so long to subdue this fish on light tackle (6 lb test fluorocarbon), the fish finally came to net. A beauty that was 34 inches long and topped the scales at 17 lbs 7 ozs. It made it back home to Dr Phil&#39;s house. I have to keep him in fish to keep him healthy. emoBig
<br /><br />That was the last Rockfish that we caught this morning. Must have been the Lone Ranger or Tonto, cause we never landed another one. But, I did catch a pretty smallie that gave a good account of himself. Released after taking a pic for the forum. Phil got in on the action by landing a couple of white bass to get the skunk smell off him. I can&#39;t make a trip up to the dam without catching a couple of my pets. Fun, but they don&#39;t eat too good. Phil was all for releasing them back to the water. emoBig <br /><br />There was a couple more boats came up and tied off to the bluff and we saw one lady catch a dandy Rockfish. She was so happy. We could here her yell and laugh while taking pics of the fish. One other boat landed what looked like a couple of Rockfish too. I believe that all those other boats were live bait fishing. (Cheating) emoPoke Dr Phil and I stuck with the sporting way to fish; with jigs and plastic trailers. The Rockfish that I caught was on a chartreuse swimbait about 1/2 oz. <br /><br />3 turbines running and the water was perfect. We saw what appeared to be a lot of skippies tearing up the minnows. Ospreys and a pair of Bald Eagles made for an enjoyable morning of nature watching. Lots of ducks, and other aquatic birds up there have a blast. We quit fishing at 8:30 AM and came back home. Just finished breakfast and time to post the report. emoBig emoGeezer
<br /><br />That was the last Rockfish that we caught this morning. Must have been the Lone Ranger or Tonto, cause we never landed another one. But, I did catch a pretty smallie that gave a good account of himself. Released after taking a pic for the forum. Phil got in on the action by landing a couple of white bass to get the skunk smell off him. I can&#39;t make a trip up to the dam without catching a couple of my pets. Fun, but they don&#39;t eat too good. Phil was all for releasing them back to the water. emoBig <br /><br />There was a couple more boats came up and tied off to the bluff and we saw one lady catch a dandy Rockfish. She was so happy. We could here her yell and laugh while taking pics of the fish. One other boat landed what looked like a couple of Rockfish too. I believe that all those other boats were live bait fishing. (Cheating) emoPoke Dr Phil and I stuck with the sporting way to fish; with jigs and plastic trailers. The Rockfish that I caught was on a chartreuse swimbait about 1/2 oz. <br /><br />3 turbines running and the water was perfect. We saw what appeared to be a lot of skippies tearing up the minnows. Ospreys and a pair of Bald Eagles made for an enjoyable morning of nature watching. Lots of ducks, and other aquatic birds up there have a blast. We quit fishing at 8:30 AM and came back home. Just finished breakfast and time to post the report. emoBig emoGeezer