08-24-2008, 11:04 AM
[cool][#0000ff]Nothing personal, but I have just about decided that I ain't gonna plan no more floatillas. I always end up fishing a place at a time I probably would not go otherwise, and the weather usually is not ideal. But, when I feel obligated to show up, for "EVERYBODY ELSE", I go anyway and sacrifice a trip I would rather make someplace else.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Even though I am retired, and have a more flexible fishing schedule, I do have other commitments on my time that do not allow me to go fishing every day. Truth is, I can't handle fishing every day. Getting old. So, I try to plan my trips very carefully to factor in not only the weather but what kind of fishing I want to do, and where I have the best chance of being successful. Then, if a last minute change in the weather forecast doesn't look good, I bag it. I do not like paying for the gas to drive a hundred miles just to watch the wind blow.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I would probably have not gone fishing Friday, based upon the fact that the wind blew hard on Thursday and was also forecast for the morning on Friday. Not ideal conditions. And, it was sloppy. I felt lucky to score the fish I did and I had to work hard to get them. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lingwall...the purpose of the trip...was ill prepared to fish those conditions. He did not have the right lures, did not bring nightcrawlers, did not have sonar and did not know the lake or the underwater terrain at all. He was blown around in the wind and spent most of his time fishing unproductive water. The walkie talkie I brought for him died and there was no way for me to communicate, to help him. He was pretty much "chuck and chance it" and on his own. Thankfully, the minnows I brought got him into catfish.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]And Walt was a similar story. Unfamiliar with Willard, windblown in his pontoon, fishing with flies in muddy water...very inhospitable conditions. Fortunately the wind died down later and he was able to get some fish. But, early in the morning it was horrible for all of us.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Again, if it was just me...or TubeBabe too...we would have looked at the weather picture and voted to bag it until there was a better potential for a calm and enjoyable fishing experience. But, because SOMEONE had suggested the 22nd, and others had committed to it, I sucked it up and drove to Willard.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I gotta admit, when I started bouncing around on those chocolate wind waves, I was wondering if that was going to be my first skunk trip in several years. I was not fishing with confidence. I was happy to bring in the first little kitty, to get rid of the skunk smell, and was even happier when I went bendo on that first wiper. All in all, I salvaged a decent trip from one that should never have happened.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]NO MORE FLOATILLAS.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Even though I am retired, and have a more flexible fishing schedule, I do have other commitments on my time that do not allow me to go fishing every day. Truth is, I can't handle fishing every day. Getting old. So, I try to plan my trips very carefully to factor in not only the weather but what kind of fishing I want to do, and where I have the best chance of being successful. Then, if a last minute change in the weather forecast doesn't look good, I bag it. I do not like paying for the gas to drive a hundred miles just to watch the wind blow.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I would probably have not gone fishing Friday, based upon the fact that the wind blew hard on Thursday and was also forecast for the morning on Friday. Not ideal conditions. And, it was sloppy. I felt lucky to score the fish I did and I had to work hard to get them. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Lingwall...the purpose of the trip...was ill prepared to fish those conditions. He did not have the right lures, did not bring nightcrawlers, did not have sonar and did not know the lake or the underwater terrain at all. He was blown around in the wind and spent most of his time fishing unproductive water. The walkie talkie I brought for him died and there was no way for me to communicate, to help him. He was pretty much "chuck and chance it" and on his own. Thankfully, the minnows I brought got him into catfish.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]And Walt was a similar story. Unfamiliar with Willard, windblown in his pontoon, fishing with flies in muddy water...very inhospitable conditions. Fortunately the wind died down later and he was able to get some fish. But, early in the morning it was horrible for all of us.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Again, if it was just me...or TubeBabe too...we would have looked at the weather picture and voted to bag it until there was a better potential for a calm and enjoyable fishing experience. But, because SOMEONE had suggested the 22nd, and others had committed to it, I sucked it up and drove to Willard.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I gotta admit, when I started bouncing around on those chocolate wind waves, I was wondering if that was going to be my first skunk trip in several years. I was not fishing with confidence. I was happy to bring in the first little kitty, to get rid of the skunk smell, and was even happier when I went bendo on that first wiper. All in all, I salvaged a decent trip from one that should never have happened.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]NO MORE FLOATILLAS.[/#0000ff]
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