09-15-2020, 12:54 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-15-2020, 12:54 PM by Piscophilic.)
Last year at the start of the cat contest Jeff asked us to get some video of our bigger cats. It has taken a year, but I finally got one. This video link is for you Jeff, and anyone else who might want to see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpnZAyIjhOMm
Here is the video “Clip of the trip” for this week (20 seconds): https://youtu.be/8xnrXNqnhYw
Julie and I fished out of Lincoln Beach on Monday 9/7/2020, and it was a memorable day! We got the gear in the water a little after 8 A.M. and watched a very smoky start to the day. We had picked up a couple of 5” whites in the harbor along with one about 9”. The first cat hit about 15 minutes after we started dragging. Water temp was 72 and the air was just about 60, with a little bit of easterly wind.
The first fish was a good one at 29” and before it was landed another at 27” was on a different line. Before we got the fish sorted out and the pictures taken there were 3 fish in the boat, all longer than my 24” maximum for taking them home.
It was a great start to the day and it got better from there. The fish came in waves as we zig-zagged back and forth from 5.5 to 9.2 FOW. We were dragging our fresh cut WB at 0.5 to 1.2 MPH. The fish seemed to prefer closer to 1 MPH and 7.5 to 9 FOW. They seemed to like the YOY whites and the adults about the same.
We had several flurries of activity where we got behind and had 3 fish in the boat at once. About the 4th wave I got a second fish at 29”. That meant 2 bumps at ½” each for the contest. I had been getting more fish than Julie all morning and her best was a heavy one at 28”. I offered to trade one of her clown pattern FLAITS for a Lime Tiger pattern since that was doing most of the damage for me. She said: “Sometimes they just like one side of the boat better.” The next fish I got started me feeling like I was being a bit of a hog and then a thought came: “You know what happens in these situations. She is going to nail a monster.”
About 20 minutes later she said: “Maybe I would like one of those Lime Tiger patterns. I put it on her back rod since that was where most of my action came. For the next 2 hours things were a bit slower, but we were each getting about the same number of fish and the LT pattern was the fave.
About 1 P.M. I heard the video camera alarm for the 2nd battery change of the day. While I was up front changing it Julies back rod went down and just stayed, line pulling steadily off the and just enough action to know it wasn’t a snag. “That looks like it could be a good one,” I said, “And were going to get it on video. I had no hint that it was the monster of the year for us. After 3 or 4 minutes of battling and no sightings I began to realize she had another dandy. I cautioned her to be patient as it got closer to the boat. She was tiring, but so was the fish. First I saw the wide heavy tail and then the head and I got it in the net. “This is a good fish, now we just have to see what the board says.” It was a really heavy fish, and the board said 31! “You have just done something I’ve never done, you have broken 90” for the contest and have 3 fish at 30” or more in the same year!” I was so excited, we high fived and hooted and hollered.
The fish was really deep through the body and I had said it was heavy so Julie said: “What does this baby weigh?” “It is heavier than Rae.”(Our newest grandchild) After getting the scale going and zeroed it showed the fish was just over 14 pounds!” I told her my best was 32” long, but it was a skinny spawning male and weighed 12.5 lbs. She now has caught the largest cat I have personally ever seen! (BTW, it hit her Lime Tiger FLAIT)
Not long after the monster was photographed and released her deep rod got hit. Julie could hardly get the rod out of the holder and the fish didn’t even seem to know it was hooked as the line peeled steadily off the reel. No sense of alarm, just dogged power and it acted like it could be even bigger than the last one. “You take this one,” she said. I started to protest that it was on her side of the boat and she said: “I want you to get a big one.” Having used that line myself and seeing her determination, I took the rod. After it had gone another 10 seconds or so it was obvious it would tangle with another line. I pointed to it and Julie quickly got it out of the way, but just as she did my line went slack. Monster # 2 was gone! My instinct tells me that that was her fish and I shouldn’t have taken the rod. This is just her year. A great memory though!
For the day we ended with about 25 cats, 7 white bass and 2 bullheads. Of the Cats we had 2 at 29” and one at 31”. It looks like it could be a great September!
![[Image: Smoky-Start.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/d7njWg0/Smoky-Start.jpg)
![[Image: IMG-1925.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/fCdsvrb/IMG-1925.jpg)
![[Image: Sore-Bumper.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/kcrcMJT/Sore-Bumper.jpg)
![[Image: Julie-and-Big-One.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/yqC4Rx5/Julie-and-Big-One.jpg)
![[Image: The-Big-One.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/h2R2C4p/The-Big-One.jpg)
Here is the video “Clip of the trip” for this week (20 seconds): https://youtu.be/8xnrXNqnhYw
Julie and I fished out of Lincoln Beach on Monday 9/7/2020, and it was a memorable day! We got the gear in the water a little after 8 A.M. and watched a very smoky start to the day. We had picked up a couple of 5” whites in the harbor along with one about 9”. The first cat hit about 15 minutes after we started dragging. Water temp was 72 and the air was just about 60, with a little bit of easterly wind.
The first fish was a good one at 29” and before it was landed another at 27” was on a different line. Before we got the fish sorted out and the pictures taken there were 3 fish in the boat, all longer than my 24” maximum for taking them home.
It was a great start to the day and it got better from there. The fish came in waves as we zig-zagged back and forth from 5.5 to 9.2 FOW. We were dragging our fresh cut WB at 0.5 to 1.2 MPH. The fish seemed to prefer closer to 1 MPH and 7.5 to 9 FOW. They seemed to like the YOY whites and the adults about the same.
We had several flurries of activity where we got behind and had 3 fish in the boat at once. About the 4th wave I got a second fish at 29”. That meant 2 bumps at ½” each for the contest. I had been getting more fish than Julie all morning and her best was a heavy one at 28”. I offered to trade one of her clown pattern FLAITS for a Lime Tiger pattern since that was doing most of the damage for me. She said: “Sometimes they just like one side of the boat better.” The next fish I got started me feeling like I was being a bit of a hog and then a thought came: “You know what happens in these situations. She is going to nail a monster.”
About 20 minutes later she said: “Maybe I would like one of those Lime Tiger patterns. I put it on her back rod since that was where most of my action came. For the next 2 hours things were a bit slower, but we were each getting about the same number of fish and the LT pattern was the fave.
About 1 P.M. I heard the video camera alarm for the 2nd battery change of the day. While I was up front changing it Julies back rod went down and just stayed, line pulling steadily off the and just enough action to know it wasn’t a snag. “That looks like it could be a good one,” I said, “And were going to get it on video. I had no hint that it was the monster of the year for us. After 3 or 4 minutes of battling and no sightings I began to realize she had another dandy. I cautioned her to be patient as it got closer to the boat. She was tiring, but so was the fish. First I saw the wide heavy tail and then the head and I got it in the net. “This is a good fish, now we just have to see what the board says.” It was a really heavy fish, and the board said 31! “You have just done something I’ve never done, you have broken 90” for the contest and have 3 fish at 30” or more in the same year!” I was so excited, we high fived and hooted and hollered.
The fish was really deep through the body and I had said it was heavy so Julie said: “What does this baby weigh?” “It is heavier than Rae.”(Our newest grandchild) After getting the scale going and zeroed it showed the fish was just over 14 pounds!” I told her my best was 32” long, but it was a skinny spawning male and weighed 12.5 lbs. She now has caught the largest cat I have personally ever seen! (BTW, it hit her Lime Tiger FLAIT)
Not long after the monster was photographed and released her deep rod got hit. Julie could hardly get the rod out of the holder and the fish didn’t even seem to know it was hooked as the line peeled steadily off the reel. No sense of alarm, just dogged power and it acted like it could be even bigger than the last one. “You take this one,” she said. I started to protest that it was on her side of the boat and she said: “I want you to get a big one.” Having used that line myself and seeing her determination, I took the rod. After it had gone another 10 seconds or so it was obvious it would tangle with another line. I pointed to it and Julie quickly got it out of the way, but just as she did my line went slack. Monster # 2 was gone! My instinct tells me that that was her fish and I shouldn’t have taken the rod. This is just her year. A great memory though!
For the day we ended with about 25 cats, 7 white bass and 2 bullheads. Of the Cats we had 2 at 29” and one at 31”. It looks like it could be a great September!