No need to wonder why I miss fishing the river. Just take a look...
My good buddy, Mike Burton, called me on Tuesday and asked what I would be doing today. My therapy is scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So, I had today free to do whatever. He asked me to go exploring on my home waters in preparation for his upcoming club tournament. I had told him about two months back that I would help him and show a spot or two that have been successful for me over the years... Those spots held up today!
I was so happy that my major spot was holding fish. We caught a smaller 13" bass and then a beautiful 16.75". Both came on slow rolling spinnerbaits down a rocky slope from 3' of water into 10' of water. After catching the two fish, we moved on to look for other spots.
Mike running his Snyder Jet on Lake Aldred...
Our second spot didn't produce any fish, but our third spot was a charm!
This 19 1/8th inch smallie came in 11' of water by slow rolling, once again. The same spot yielded several more bass and then we moved on.
You may be wondering "If you're catching fish, why move on?" It's quite simple, we do not want to "beat up" on the fish population that may help Mike win a tournament.
What is neat about Mike's club is that it is a "Paper Club". That means that they use the Golden Rule as a measuring standard for all fish caught (LM and SM) and then record the catch on a club designed paper. The the fish is immediately released without being live-welled. They use a 12" size limit and "weigh-in" their top 6 fish.
I had only one fish below the legal size limit that I later would have culled with a legal size fish. In a 6 fish club limit, I would have weighed-in close to 17 lbs of fish on the Golden Rule.
I caught one 15.25" bass that actually weighed 2 lbs and 4 oz on my Boga! This smallie was a real porker. I caught this fish off a great spot that a very good friend of mine, Dave Weitzel, and I used to fish many, many times years back. We lost Dave to cancer a few years ago. So, I dedicated that "Li'l Porker" fish to my very good friend and fishing buddy. I miss Dave.
We had great weather today. We started out fishing in overcast skies that remained with us until early afternoon. The sun peeked out for about an hour and then the wind shifted from the NE to the S and another cloud cover moved in over us.
The winds were holding at about 3 mph this morning and picked up to about 10 mph when the shift occurred.
Not only was the weather great, but we got to see the bald eagles that call Lake Aldred home. With Mike's help, we were able to locate one of the nests along the York County shoreline... Cool!
We even came across a beaver hut that was built along the west shore of one of the many islands that dot the water-scape.
There was a ton of baitfish everywhere we stopped. It just amazes me that there is that much forage for our smallies to eat and yet they fall for a presentation of a piece of plastic or metal... Gotta love it!
I wore a brace on my wrist to keep it from twisting and a compression sock on my forearm and elbow to help support the elbow joint. It worked out rather well and my elbow held up nicely. Maybe I'll feel something later tonight when I sleep, but I don't anticipate it.
When I got home, I immediately iced it down and now it feels pretty good... Keeping my fingers crossed!
Take Care,
Dad
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