Every single Presidential Election Year, is like this for me.
WHY, does this make people not want to go fishing? That's what I want know. What's the liers on those TV ads every 10 minutes, got to do with fishing? I pay zero attention to any of it. I strive for a stress free life. But that's damn hard to have in the fishing business, every four years. Things better pick up soon!
And with that being said.......the Trout are on FIRE!
We had a GREAT DAY today. Had Dustin, Jay, and Dreu aboard. We talked about the big Trout bite going on and I told them, it's LURES ONLY. No need for bait, and if you even use shrimp. The bait stealers will eat you out of house and home, so I'm not even taking bait!
The guys were all in! Then, I said, "how 'bout departing at 5:45am?" The guys were all in for that too!
So at dark, thirty this morning we pulled away from the dock. I had MirrOlure Catch 2000's tied to their spinning rods.
I told them, I'm really not a night time kinda person, but I sure can get up early like this to catch'em.
Dead calm, and oh so serene. So, after dropping the anchor very quietly. I gave them some instructions about the lures and the spot we were fishing. I brought my plugging rod along too. And I knew the Trout were all around us, because on my first cast I set the hook on a nice fish, but it got off at boatside, as so many do.
For the next three hours or more. The guys worked on their retrieve of the MirrOlure. I told them, it's a "twitch-twitch, pause". But that's always easier said then done. I believe, I had the spinning reels loaded to much with 20 pound braided line. I am not a spinning reel user, so I'm not familiar with exactly the best line load on my new Okuma 30 high speed Trio's. But for the first two hours, the line was coming off the reels in "clumps". So I ended up with a pocket full of expensive braided line, and constant re-rigging. What a headache! After awhile, and a few Ladyfish. The reels were working better, and the guys started putting big Trout to the boat.
Every fish was a healthy Trout, around 18-20 inches! As even I have experienced man, many times before. The Trout tear off the hooks at boat side or just get away as you're fighting them. We had plenty of that! But, it's all part of the game us Trout fisherman play. These fish shake and jump, and can get off, easily.
Throw in a few Trout pushing 5 pounds and things started looking alot better. The cooler was filling!!! And boy does my many many hours of R&D pay off. We sat on the same spot, and had Trout surrounding us. And NONE of them were small "dinks". Like I said, "These are all healthy large fish."
I tried jigs and soft plastics, again. Thought, with so many Trout around us, at least one would hit a jig. This is the second time I've tried jigs, on the spot. And they just don't want a jig. They want surface or subsurface plugs, period!
When, the tide started to ebb, it was pretty much over. And being it was now 10:00am we went and tried our hand at pitching jigs.The NEW MOON falling tide was strong. And we struggled to get anything more than a few Ladyfish. But I tried several spots. But the bite was really off.
In the heat of the summer, I have found that these fish really like the cooler mornings at high tide. So by Noon, we headed back to clean our fish.
The grand total was 12 Trout from 18 to 24 inches. I was so busy, and busy making casts myself. I didn't take all that many pictures.
But, you get the idea..."of what you are missing out on."
