07-12-2018, 07:12 PM
Went out to Lincoln channel this morning about 6:45. No trailers, no boats in or out all morning. Aha, methinks, maybe the channel cats will be up in here without the harassment from the boats, etc. Soon I caught a 25"er on a worm/shrimp sandwich. Then I cast out again and I must have hit a cat on the nose--the bobber hadn't even settled when it went under. Only a 20"er but I was psyched now. Then it took a long time to get anything else. I did see some tiny fry swimming around the bank rocks.
Later I saw a big tail fin sticking out of the water about two feet from shore. I thought maybe a catfish was after those fry. I only had one rod in for channels with an ultralight out for white bass. Unfortunately a bullhead took the tiny bit of worm on the tiny hook; it was fairly fun on the light tackle, but then he broke my line above the bobber. I felt bad as he swam all over dragging that float.
I finally caught a little white bass. I cut it in half and hooked the front half through the snout and cast out to the middle of the channel. I'm thinking big bait/big fish, but nothing. I pulled it in and moved the bobber down so the bait hung about 18" below it. Then I started moving it in, jigging it a bit as it came. Finally I had it no more than two feet from the bank when Wham! the bobber went under with a vengeance. I let him run a bit then slowly tightened up so the circle hook could do its thing. Soon a big black channel was fighting on the surface. I played him a while not wanting to test my 25-pound mono too much; you never know, a bad knot or nicks and abrasions could lose me a good fish if I tried to horse him in. He made several runs that tested my drag but eventually he came in. I had a devil of a time getting the lip grip on him though. My 8' rod made it hard to get him close enough but I finally nabbed him. Turned out to be a big black male that went 26.5 inches. I know that that size fish is ho hum to a lot of you, but it's the biggest fish I've ever caught. He sure was ugly but he didn't seem as beat up as a lot of you have been catching lately. His mouth though looked like sometime in the past he had been eating big shards of broken glass. I cleaned him off and sent him on his way. He was slow to get going, but he seemed okay. I photo-journaled it all -- see photos below.
So those two bumped my contest score a few points and I'm happy to see that I have gotten past my goal of 75 and almost to the next goal of 77. I guess I really am catchinon.
[signature]
Later I saw a big tail fin sticking out of the water about two feet from shore. I thought maybe a catfish was after those fry. I only had one rod in for channels with an ultralight out for white bass. Unfortunately a bullhead took the tiny bit of worm on the tiny hook; it was fairly fun on the light tackle, but then he broke my line above the bobber. I felt bad as he swam all over dragging that float.
I finally caught a little white bass. I cut it in half and hooked the front half through the snout and cast out to the middle of the channel. I'm thinking big bait/big fish, but nothing. I pulled it in and moved the bobber down so the bait hung about 18" below it. Then I started moving it in, jigging it a bit as it came. Finally I had it no more than two feet from the bank when Wham! the bobber went under with a vengeance. I let him run a bit then slowly tightened up so the circle hook could do its thing. Soon a big black channel was fighting on the surface. I played him a while not wanting to test my 25-pound mono too much; you never know, a bad knot or nicks and abrasions could lose me a good fish if I tried to horse him in. He made several runs that tested my drag but eventually he came in. I had a devil of a time getting the lip grip on him though. My 8' rod made it hard to get him close enough but I finally nabbed him. Turned out to be a big black male that went 26.5 inches. I know that that size fish is ho hum to a lot of you, but it's the biggest fish I've ever caught. He sure was ugly but he didn't seem as beat up as a lot of you have been catching lately. His mouth though looked like sometime in the past he had been eating big shards of broken glass. I cleaned him off and sent him on his way. He was slow to get going, but he seemed okay. I photo-journaled it all -- see photos below.
So those two bumped my contest score a few points and I'm happy to see that I have gotten past my goal of 75 and almost to the next goal of 77. I guess I really am catchinon.
[signature]
The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.