I had just gotten my cast off yesterday and my wrist and hand are still tight and aching.
So I had to figure how I would keep my hand warm and supported today. What I did was to put a fingerless glove on first and place my brace over top. It was a tight and comfy fit. It was a bit awkward, but I was able to adapt to casting rather quickly. I wasn't too concerned about accuracy at all... cause I would have failed that test. :headbash
It was awful cold this morning. In fact, it was 19 degrees when I awoke. I gathered my stuff and put it all in the truck. I couldn't get into my truck bed because my bed cover locks were frozen. Brrrrrrrrr!
I headed to Josh's apartment and arrived around 8:40 a.m. We stopped at Sheetz to pick up a couple of sammies and then headed to the restaurant for a late breakfast. We saw a beautiful bald eagle fly up from the river and across the roadway in front of us. What a great site on such a beautiful morning. It was now 24 degrees... notice we weren't in too big of a hurry to get out with that cold, cold temperature.
After a hearty breakfast at the local greasy spoon, we jumped back into Josh's pickup and headed north to the ramp. It was now about 30 degrees.
We arrived at the ramp about 9:45 a.m. and prepped the boat for launching... Here we are as we readied ourselves to take a long ride over 44 degree waters and 30 degree air temps. We had a high and bright blue bird sky as you can see by the pics. We entitled these pics... Homey Boyz 1 & 2
Josh is wearing a pair of ski goggles to help his eyes so they don't tear up driving 30+ mph in that cold air. I have my silks on and I'm wearing a face mask to protect my face. It ain't about fashion, it's all about keeping warm! Josh had a couple of hand warmers that helped to keep the finger tips nice and warm while in our coat pockets.
We were getting a bit worried about not catching fish after a few hours. Maybe this was one of the reasons. The guy controlling the boat was constantly on the phone with women... So, we titled this pic "So Many Women, Such Little Time".
No wonder he had that sheepish grin on his face. That was about the 12th call from his little sweetie in about two hours... Geesh! :wub:
We had fished for close to five hours before Josh landed this healthy and beautifully marked smallmouth. She was 18 7/8th inches and weighed about 4.2 lbs on the Boga... Cool!
Now this was what we came for! It was well worth the wait to catch such a great specimen of a bass. Just look at he markings and coloration of this smallie.
Josh caught her on a tube with a 1/8th oz. insert tubehead jig.
About an hour later, Josh hooked into another bass that measured 16"... sorry no pic. This is how that story goes. Josh had just broken off another tube and was off the TM and retying another onto his line. I got a tap... "Josh, I just got a hit." Then another tap and yet another... all along we are drifting down river and away from where the hits came. Josh looked at me and I'm 100% sure he thought I was pulling his leg. So, he takes that nice new tube all filled with Bang juice and tossed it at the spot... WHACK! That's my story and I'm sticking to it... Josh took my bass right from under my nose. :bowdown:
After 7 hours of perseverance, I finally landed my very first post-cast bass. She was a nice 18" smallie caught on a tube.
I actually had several taps throughout the day w/o any takers. This bass was the first to actually 'thunk' the lure and run with it. By doing so, she made it much easier for me and my inability to lay into a nice hook set.
After another 5 or 6 phone calls from his sweetie, we finally called it quits and headed back to the ramp.
It was a very cold, yet great day to be on the water. We had a terrific time. The water was clear with a beautiful green stain to it. The water temperature started out at 43.7 degrees and rose to 44.7 degrees. The air temp was 19 degrees at home, 24 degrees at the restaurant, 30 degrees at the ramp, and 48 degrees when were returned at 5:45 a.m.
We tossed tubes in various colors, Winco CW Delights, lipless crankbaits, and hair jigs. The tubes were the only lures to catch fish. It was a very difficult day on the water with a brisk NE wind that later shifted to the SW by evening.
dadTB
