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My original plan today was to go white perch fishing with a friend who is moving but that did not work out. Then, I found out that Greg was free this morning so off we went.
We were on the water before 6:30a..
...and off we went to our 1st spot.
Fishing was slow but we each picked up a couple and took the skunk off.
Towards the end of that drift, it happened. I got thunked (paddle tail swimbait on a George swimbait weighted hook) as soon as it hit the water. I declared, "holy crap, that's a big fish"!. Then it jumped. "Omy God, that is a huge fish"!
I called for the net but it was going to be a while. Another jump more than verified the size of this monster!
Luckily, I had changed my line out the night before. I was not happy with the Nanofil that I had on and I changed to 8lb braid. The rod is a ML St. Croix Legend built by Danny Grulke. It performed perfectly as did Greg the net man.
I do not know who was more revved up, him or me. He wanted to make sure that he netted the fish properly and I wanted to make sure it stayed on.
It did, all 21+ inches! 4.12lbs.
Once revived, she swam away.
I must say that my hands were shaking a bit and both Greg and I had to sit to make sure THAT just happened.
What an experience!
So....do we just go home now?
We continued with the plan and went to spot #3 where we got a couple of smallies...
... and a hungry BG!
I did try top water there and got a couple of hits from BGs.
We then went upriver to the rock where Mike picked up a 17" on Tuesday but the river had already dropped at least a foot so that spot was too skinny.
We decided to drift back and caught a few here and there but nothing over 13"
Greg ended the day with this guy!
I would say that we each caught a dozen or more, all feisty. Of course, the pig made the day!
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Very Nice! I saw you leaving with the boat as I was on my way to work.
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That is awesome! Congratulations, Ernie! I am so happy that worked out for you. Very near where I caught my C class!
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What a fish! Good job to both of you! Good job netting it this time, Greg
PS love those sun barely behind the clouds and sun peeking out of the clouds pictures!!
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Being there to see Ernie catch his PB Smallmouth was so much fun. Yes, Ernie was shaking while fighting this monster. So was I when I netted him. I swear I had that net in the water when the fish was still 20 yds out. Ernie fought that fish like a pro. It made 3 or 4 runs and Ernie stayed with him and just kept saying "Oh my God, thats a really big fish!" over and over again. Got him in the boat and Ernie just stared at him and said, "that IS a Smallmouth bass, right?" Then we hooted and hollered like 2 kids.
By the way, that last picture was my only way to make any of my fish look big. I don't think I caught anything over 10 inches the whole day...but Ernie did!
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That is an awesome catch..
Capt Mike
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Holy cow, that thing is tank. Way to go Ernie!
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What a slob! WTG Ernie!
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More than 24 hours have passed and I still have the vision of that fish taking a leap. Kinda reminded me of the tarpon that jumped me in FL. Man, what a rush!!
For the most part, the UP has treated us well over the last 2 months....I hope it continues to go that way and better!
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