As soon as the FISHmas vacation was penciled in everything
started to fall apart. Projects at work exploded, new tasks were added to the
pile and a few late snow storms pushed the fish back into a winter slumber. The
problem with having to get requests in early is that it eliminates the
flexibility to adjust as weather changes. To make the most out of everything it
takes luck and good timing.
Load the tuner and face the grueling cartage in. This was
the first time fishing this location for the year which led to a few surprises
that I had to adjust to. Nothing worth going over except that another quarter
mile was added to the journey in. Get on the water and I am doing “ok” for
average bass. Size up, dig deeper and look for larger fish.
A ½ oz spinnerbait was tied on one setup and a 5” Pro Stick
worm (junebug color) from Maniac Custom Lures on another rod. This is a
no-scent\no salt worm that is a good option where additional regulations
prohibit scented and salted lures. I bought a few packages of these and work
then into the rotation.
(This particular product line is being discontinued so I
went ahead and ordered a few more packages.)
Weather started out as slightly overcast with small patches
of blue sky. The weather forecasts called for storms, some possibly severe
later in the afternoon. My plans were to haul in a lot of gear early, fish for
all I was worth in a short time and then get the heck out. For some reason things didn’t go anything
like that. It took me longer to do everything from rig a new bait to scout a
patch of water. Before I knew it the schedule time slot was all but gone and I
was dealing with rain.
“This isn’t too bad. Me and the tooner can stick it out”
Shortly after saying those words the sky opened up and all
hell broke loose. Wind picked up from the steady 5-10mph to gusts of 40-50mph. Thunder
shook the air around me. Lightning ripped over my head and it was everything I
could do to scramble for a beachhead.
Scrambling for the metal cart on the far side of the pond I
then loaded the metal framed tooner with aluminum oars. For several years I
have carried a rain poncho but never had to actually deploy it. By 2Pm I
couldn’t get the poncho out fast enough.
The drenched gear was hauled over the trail the long
distance back to the parking lot. Rain seemed to fall less and less every five
minutes or so. Reach the truck and hardly a drop is falling. Sometimes I think
natures loves to taunt me and knows exactly when to mess with my fishing. At
least this time I had some warning from the weather people what I was up
against.
The crucial mistake I made was not noticing the shuttle wind
shift. Clouds were moving north east in the morning but had started moving more
to the south east later in the day. The big, dark storm clouds were supposed to
go right by me leaving a small patch of blue sky right at the edge of the storm.
Now it is clear that patch of blue sky was simply bait used to lure me into the
storm’s trap. Well played storm cloud. Well played.
My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic
1 comment:
Sometimes Mother Nature wins, sometimes the fish win, next time is your turn!
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