Biggest yet !
After looking at the weather reports last night I thought about not going, but when I went out to get the paper this morning around 5:00AM it was only a little breeze. Good enough for me, I'm going. Not wanting to wake any of my buddys this early in the morning I head out by myself as I often do.
Got to the ramp and I'm the first one here. No wind at all. Perfect. I head up to where we've been getting a few other fish the last few week and start my drift. The water is really low and there are lots of snags to deal with but I like casting in tight to the brush where baitfish might hide and stripers lurk.
After a couple of passes and only a few small taps I get in really tight to the bank at one of my favorite honey-holes. Last year I took Swannee and John Tsitkif to the same spot and John got his hand burned on a big fish before throwing the hook.
Well, sure enough, another big fish was waiting in just about the exact same spot. I got a small tick, set the hook hard, and got a solid stop. Damn, snagged a tree limb. I pulled several times to see how bad it was snagged, but then it moved! Not a lot at first but it moved. And then came the head shake. Damn! I've got a fish! I immediately try to turn the fish toward the middle of the river and throw the trolling motor in reverse to get out and away from all these snags. It works and I'm getting the fish into the middle of the river where I can play it without risk of trees and snags.
Back and forth we go around the boat, the 8 weight bent to max. Soon enough she starts to tire and tries to hide under the boat as I do all I can to get her up to the surface. Now I need the net and I'm by myself . One handed dexterity is a blessing and I get her into the boat for a quick picture and weighing. I'm shaking like crazy and the boga max's out at 30 lbs.+.
After a quick picture I put her on a stringer and get her back into the water where she's fine. I need another picture, a trophy shot. I call one of my buddy's but he's at work and can't leave. I call my wife and tell her about this big fish and she says she'll be right down to take a couple more pictures before I release her. About then a Fish & Game boat pulls along side and I ask them to take a picture. "Sure, but we'll be right back as we go upstream to check another boat". Great, these are the same people that weighed and measured a couple of other stripers for us last Saturday.
Soon enough they show up and ask how long I'd been fishing, my zip code, etc. and then ask if they can weigh and measure the fish. Perfect, they'll confirm my numbers. I go to pull the fish up out of the water and ,,,,,DAMN!!!!!! NO FISH! The clip had opened and she's gone. I was going to release her anyway but not like this. AW<"+*&%*) and Damn a few more times. The F&G people said they saw it on the stringer but that's not enough for their record keeping. They wished me well as they left.
So, unless the wind is blowing a lot harder than it was this morning, guess where I'll be tomarrow morning. Yes, they're just starting to show.
TONY
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