01-02-2002, 06:42 PM
I hit lake Springfield on the 1st to start my year off with a fish. The air temp was about 25 with no wind and it almost was bearable. The previous week I found a little spot where the fish were stacked up and whacked a bunch of small bass on a french fry. I went back to the same area and hooked and lost a fish on the second cast. I managed my first fish for the year shortly after that. It was a goof off trip so I brought my ultra lite with me to see if I could muster a little more of a fight out of the small fish. I knew I had made a mistake when I set the hook and the rod doubled over and the drag was singing. Dancing 20 feet from the bank was a good fish of maybe 4 pounds. It was a rush chasing the fish around with the tinker toy rod and sewing thread line as he ran up to the vegitation near the bank. As I lipped him I noticed the hook was not even stuck in his mouth, but looped over the very front of a gill. When I dropped slack in the line it fell right out. Not a bad way to start the year. Carp were also stacked in there thick as I watch one guy nail several while I was fishing.<br><br>