Post by MadWags on Aug 21, 2005 18:46:15 GMT -5
BFL August 20th Detroit River
Pre-Fishing
I was unable to get out and pre-fish at all due to a busy work schedule.
The game plan would be to fish known areas of St. Clair to get a small limit.
At the pre-tournament meeting on Friday night it seemed things were going to go my way. I drew boat #1 and I also drew Jeff Bishop as a co-angler. Jeff has won 3 BFLs and is an experienced angler as well as a great guy. I told him of my inability to get out on the water. He informed me of an area that he was catching quality Smallies. The spot would be a 120 mile round trip up into the St. Clair River. Way up into the river.
Well I had to get a good bag to move up in the points, so I was game.
I felt good about this tournament.
Tournament Day
It is a whole different deal to be boat #1. We blasted off on mirror calm water with no boats in our path. It was surreal to say the least. A 63 mph cruise speed felt as if we were sitting still. At the Ambassador Bridge shallow swells grew into moguls. I had to come back on the throttle to time them so we didn’t launch like a rocket. As we rounded the corner under the bridge I could see the freighter in the distance that was causing our enjoyable ride to be one best suited for Cedar Point. Once past the problem and into Lake St. Clair we were greeted with rare conditions. Table top smooth sailing. At cruise I felt as if I could have taken a snooze. Across the lake and into the St. Clair River we headed north past Fawn Island. Almost to Marysville we stopped at our spot. We traveled this distance in one hour. Amazing!
The spot was a long drift. Over the next several hours I only managed one fish that did not measure and may have missed two other bites. It rained on us but did not storm. Jeff boated three keepers and jumped one off at the boat. We were able to narrow our drift down to one productive area about 50 yards long, where Jeff had boated his fish, but we could not get the big fish to bite.
I had to make a move. I needed some fish. We started our run back but stopped to make a drift at Fawn Island. After a few minutes I did not feel comfortable with this spot and continued on. We planned on stopping at the Fire Cracker as I was more accustomed to fishing there, but first we needed to make a gas stop just to make sure we had enough to make it all the way back. As we re-entered Lake St. Clair the wind was blowing 15mph out of the east. What the heck happened to the west south west winds that were forecast.
When we came off pad Jeff pointed out another bass boat that was quickly approaching and suggested that I get on my spot quickly. I pulled out my Carolina Rig to make a long cast and let it rip. It was at that instance that I felt the sudden tug on my rod and a loud scream. It was no Smallie. It was the back of Jeff’s head. He had bent over the in-floor cooler to get a drink out and I buried the 2/0 Owner hook in the back of his head. I was in shock. This was not good. He quickly asked me to push it thru and cut it off with the side cutters he was holding in his hand. I asked if he was sure about this as I was looking at a good chunk of meat to bring it back out thru his scalp. All I can say is that it was a good thing it was an Owner hook as they are razor sharp. The hook came rather easily but with a good bit of pain on Jeff’s part I know. I think his fingernails are still buried in my carpet. I cut the hook and then pulled out my first-aid kit while Jeff held pressure with a towel. After applying antibiotic ointment we headed back towards the Detroit River mouth. The wind and waves made for a long, slow, wet and rough ride. It even rained some more. Our plan was to fish around Askin’s Point, but the wind had the area clouded. We tried some casts at Windmill Point without any luck. I was spent from the trip and the events of the day. I had already resided myself to a zero and began a nice easy ride back to the ramp.
I swung for the fences and lost.
Hero or Zero.
Me Zero.
Surprisingly Jeff faired rather well with his three fish.
He may have gotten a check with the fourth one that he lost.
Sorry about the hookset Jeff.
I did poorly at fishing this year, but look at it this way.
I may have a future as a medic.
Pre-Fishing
I was unable to get out and pre-fish at all due to a busy work schedule.
The game plan would be to fish known areas of St. Clair to get a small limit.
At the pre-tournament meeting on Friday night it seemed things were going to go my way. I drew boat #1 and I also drew Jeff Bishop as a co-angler. Jeff has won 3 BFLs and is an experienced angler as well as a great guy. I told him of my inability to get out on the water. He informed me of an area that he was catching quality Smallies. The spot would be a 120 mile round trip up into the St. Clair River. Way up into the river.
Well I had to get a good bag to move up in the points, so I was game.
I felt good about this tournament.
Tournament Day
It is a whole different deal to be boat #1. We blasted off on mirror calm water with no boats in our path. It was surreal to say the least. A 63 mph cruise speed felt as if we were sitting still. At the Ambassador Bridge shallow swells grew into moguls. I had to come back on the throttle to time them so we didn’t launch like a rocket. As we rounded the corner under the bridge I could see the freighter in the distance that was causing our enjoyable ride to be one best suited for Cedar Point. Once past the problem and into Lake St. Clair we were greeted with rare conditions. Table top smooth sailing. At cruise I felt as if I could have taken a snooze. Across the lake and into the St. Clair River we headed north past Fawn Island. Almost to Marysville we stopped at our spot. We traveled this distance in one hour. Amazing!
The spot was a long drift. Over the next several hours I only managed one fish that did not measure and may have missed two other bites. It rained on us but did not storm. Jeff boated three keepers and jumped one off at the boat. We were able to narrow our drift down to one productive area about 50 yards long, where Jeff had boated his fish, but we could not get the big fish to bite.
I had to make a move. I needed some fish. We started our run back but stopped to make a drift at Fawn Island. After a few minutes I did not feel comfortable with this spot and continued on. We planned on stopping at the Fire Cracker as I was more accustomed to fishing there, but first we needed to make a gas stop just to make sure we had enough to make it all the way back. As we re-entered Lake St. Clair the wind was blowing 15mph out of the east. What the heck happened to the west south west winds that were forecast.
When we came off pad Jeff pointed out another bass boat that was quickly approaching and suggested that I get on my spot quickly. I pulled out my Carolina Rig to make a long cast and let it rip. It was at that instance that I felt the sudden tug on my rod and a loud scream. It was no Smallie. It was the back of Jeff’s head. He had bent over the in-floor cooler to get a drink out and I buried the 2/0 Owner hook in the back of his head. I was in shock. This was not good. He quickly asked me to push it thru and cut it off with the side cutters he was holding in his hand. I asked if he was sure about this as I was looking at a good chunk of meat to bring it back out thru his scalp. All I can say is that it was a good thing it was an Owner hook as they are razor sharp. The hook came rather easily but with a good bit of pain on Jeff’s part I know. I think his fingernails are still buried in my carpet. I cut the hook and then pulled out my first-aid kit while Jeff held pressure with a towel. After applying antibiotic ointment we headed back towards the Detroit River mouth. The wind and waves made for a long, slow, wet and rough ride. It even rained some more. Our plan was to fish around Askin’s Point, but the wind had the area clouded. We tried some casts at Windmill Point without any luck. I was spent from the trip and the events of the day. I had already resided myself to a zero and began a nice easy ride back to the ramp.
I swung for the fences and lost.
Hero or Zero.
Me Zero.
Surprisingly Jeff faired rather well with his three fish.
He may have gotten a check with the fourth one that he lost.
Sorry about the hookset Jeff.
I did poorly at fishing this year, but look at it this way.
I may have a future as a medic.
