Fish Presaged a Tough Outing

We trolled the edge of the flat and some of the sweep, then turned left towards Face Rock. I cut the electric motor when we got close. On the second retrieve of my jig and Z-Man paddletail, a dark form came from behind. I saw it was a pickerel of about 20 inches, which directly engulfed the jig a half second later. I set the hook, the fish thrashed powerfully, cutting the line. 

So I connected 15-pound Power Pro to my four-pound test, by way of barrel swivel.

Brian cast a lipless crankbait and soon another pickerel hit that. I measured it for him. Twenty-two inches. A chunky fish that must have weighed nearly three pounds. 

We trolled and cast. When I saw that first pickerel, I felt chances were I'd never see another. One of those easy starts--except that I lost the fish!--that somehow presage a tough day.

And it was. I'm tired tonight and felt tired on the lake. I could hardly focus at the end of the outing. But Brian did little better, catching a couple of little smallmouths besides. I got a 15-incher on a Baby Torpedo. Great surface smash. Besides that bass, a little one no bigger than Brian's bigger of those two little ones I photographed. That second bass of mine came on the jig.

Not a single largemouth from the reservoir yet this year.

 

Aeroflex Produces this Time

I just wanted some fish, since last I fished Aeroflex I got skunked along with Jorge Hildago. Two years ago, June. 

Brenden and I fished under intense sunlight yesterday. I had expected clouds. There were some, and probably some smoke from Canada as yet, but the light was intense and caused sunburn. We worked all the way into the back of the lake, when, after I caught my second pickerel of about 19 inches, the canoe appeared to be taking on water.

I checked the Flex Seal on the interior bottom. On the left runner, which is a channel depression on the inside, I found the Flex Seal is loose. Later, when I set up to pour a new application after we fished, I found the Flex Seal applied to the exterior runner is decimated. 

The canoe wasn't sinking. I was sure we had plenty of time to fish on up towards the ramp, where if things did get dicey, we could just head in at top speed. Halfway there, I pulled aside at what looked like a woody spot. Brenden got tangled and let line out that got caught in the prop. So I raised the electric and we paddled ashore, while I was sure I had a monkey wrench in my tackle bag. 

It would have been simple. Water is nice and shallow there where we landed. All I'd have to do is take the prop off, remove the line, and pop the prop back on. I take the prop off at home after every outing just to be sure. It was simple to get the line out last night. Running with line inside the prop is what burned out my previous Minn-Kota. 

We paddled against the wind three fourths of a mile or so to the ramp, which felt pleasant. I like paddling. The feel of moving under your own power is gratifying. But we missed out on the evening bite.

Given our catch of eight fish under intense sunlight, I'd say we didn't do badly. Brenden caught a bass of about 13 inches, pickerel about 19, a little bass, and a trout of about nine inches. My catch included two small bass in addition to the two pickerel. All of our fish came on paddle-tail jigs, little ones, the paddle-tails two-and-a-half inches long. 

The weedlines situate along shorelines dropping off very quickly, and I tried a three-sixteenths or quarter-ounce jig a long while, getting down in the 20-plus feet of water easily, but it didn't feel right and I don't recall ever getting hit. I also gave a Senko on my big Speed Stick a good try--not a hit--and I cast a Tiny Torpedo over weedy shallows a few times, nothing. I did miss a lot of hits on jig heads of an eighth ounce or less. Caught all my fish on them, too. One pickerel nipped the jig off the bottom along the weed edge as I barely twitched it. Another overtook it tentatively as I retrieved slowly along the weed edge. Little bass took it swiftly on the drop, the other as I retrieved over relatively shallow weeds. 

Ease isn't necessarily the ticket in.  

 

Aeroflex 2021