Pilot2550
11-23-2016, 08:22 PM
Dateline: Monday 10:50 am "How you looking for Wed" "Should be good" "Nice. Let's get our pigs" "When is the wind gunna drop?" "looks like late tues night early wed morning. By 10am, 11's with gust to 13"
Dateline: Wednesday 6:00 am. Left Gateway marina in first light with a slow motor up the river to SHB and around the tip. Cant Don jr. Joe Pops and I wanted no part of a butt kicking so it was a slow go and hugged the beach with a target on the Rocklip. Motored our way set the rhubarb on the piece that i've prospected a while back but the conditions were just too evil. We swung 90 degrees and that call for that zone was just not in the cards. Pulled the pin and headed over to the shallows 25ft that has produced in the past. Dropped in and the same conditions, swinging like a drunken wild man on one leg. Started losing faith as we could count on one hand the number of pokes we had with nothing to show.
Pulled the pin here and headed north to a piece that is loaded with debris and holds some quality biguns. Don and I were at the rail all morning while Joe Pops hugged the cabin cushions catching up on some zzz's. Don gets into a little bit of rhythm getting a handful of shorts and makes the first donation to the cooler. The pre-open scouting we did this season has paid off. I noticed he is absolutely dialed in and his game is amped up. I start swinging on a few shorts then a flurry of keepers make it over the rail. Our effort by 12:00 was a pathetic 4 keeps. Joe comes out of his slumber hearing the commotion and gets a line wet. He pokes a short and then a good one to make the pokey.
We're just about spent at this point. The whites have a clear advantage over the greens but this is not a banner day.
Don is not giving up on a fish that has been harassing him for the past 1/2 hr. He cuts yet another white, clips legs, shaves a cap and drops. Little did he know he was going to bust a nut! Two solid thumps and he's rod is crippled like tiny Tim. He gets a few cranks on this fish and I call out "Yo, you need a net" He replies with a question... "I think so?" Since when don't you know when you need a net, I'm thinking. This fish is slowly wheeling its way up as Don cranks the Penn 365 levelwind. This is the first time he's out with this set-up this season. It's like an old girlfriend he just got reacquainted with... He twisted and finished this Hercules lite blank so he was sure not to forget her for too long.
The fish is half way up the water column. When she surfaces, she comes up mouth first as if gulping for her last gasp of air. Net in the water, slid underneath and flopped on the deck. As she hits the floor, the leader pops! He has a keepsake that will be cherished for a long time to come. Plenty of photos, a lot of hooting and hollering, fist bumps and the big girl was sent back without missing a beat. One swift flip of the tail, she escapes the net and hopefully makes another angler happy one day... after her lip heals!!!
Congratulations Don on a heck of a fish. Nice way to rock the season with a beautiful DD!!!! Stay amped my friend.
Dateline: Wednesday 6:00 am. Left Gateway marina in first light with a slow motor up the river to SHB and around the tip. Cant Don jr. Joe Pops and I wanted no part of a butt kicking so it was a slow go and hugged the beach with a target on the Rocklip. Motored our way set the rhubarb on the piece that i've prospected a while back but the conditions were just too evil. We swung 90 degrees and that call for that zone was just not in the cards. Pulled the pin and headed over to the shallows 25ft that has produced in the past. Dropped in and the same conditions, swinging like a drunken wild man on one leg. Started losing faith as we could count on one hand the number of pokes we had with nothing to show.
Pulled the pin here and headed north to a piece that is loaded with debris and holds some quality biguns. Don and I were at the rail all morning while Joe Pops hugged the cabin cushions catching up on some zzz's. Don gets into a little bit of rhythm getting a handful of shorts and makes the first donation to the cooler. The pre-open scouting we did this season has paid off. I noticed he is absolutely dialed in and his game is amped up. I start swinging on a few shorts then a flurry of keepers make it over the rail. Our effort by 12:00 was a pathetic 4 keeps. Joe comes out of his slumber hearing the commotion and gets a line wet. He pokes a short and then a good one to make the pokey.
We're just about spent at this point. The whites have a clear advantage over the greens but this is not a banner day.
Don is not giving up on a fish that has been harassing him for the past 1/2 hr. He cuts yet another white, clips legs, shaves a cap and drops. Little did he know he was going to bust a nut! Two solid thumps and he's rod is crippled like tiny Tim. He gets a few cranks on this fish and I call out "Yo, you need a net" He replies with a question... "I think so?" Since when don't you know when you need a net, I'm thinking. This fish is slowly wheeling its way up as Don cranks the Penn 365 levelwind. This is the first time he's out with this set-up this season. It's like an old girlfriend he just got reacquainted with... He twisted and finished this Hercules lite blank so he was sure not to forget her for too long.
The fish is half way up the water column. When she surfaces, she comes up mouth first as if gulping for her last gasp of air. Net in the water, slid underneath and flopped on the deck. As she hits the floor, the leader pops! He has a keepsake that will be cherished for a long time to come. Plenty of photos, a lot of hooting and hollering, fist bumps and the big girl was sent back without missing a beat. One swift flip of the tail, she escapes the net and hopefully makes another angler happy one day... after her lip heals!!!
Congratulations Don on a heck of a fish. Nice way to rock the season with a beautiful DD!!!! Stay amped my friend.