Yesterday started out just about like most days, My wife awoke at 5:00 a.m. and we got up to start our day. I had Occupational Therapy (OT) at 8:00 a.m. for my elbow and it went rather well.
When I arrived home, I jumped on the computer to check my emails and to surf the net. Around 9:45 a.m., I got a text from Jeff (a.k.a. Tracker_Jet_120 and Chargd). He wanted to know if I was out fishing on such a gorgeous fall morning.
"Nope. Had OT and came home to take care of the dogs."
I asked him if he was fishing and he said he was. In fact, he had an empty seat, too.
We planned to meet at the Pequea Boat Access around 10:30 a.m. He already had one fish in the boat and was hoping for more. When I boarded the boat, Jeff turned to me and asked if I wanted to run his inboard Tracker with a 175 hp..."Ah, damn right I want to run this baby!"
I had never driven in an inboard Tracker. I do have several friends who own them, but I have never fished out of one. That 175 hp sure has some kick to it, folks. I used to own a Skeeter with a 150 Johnson GT. So that initial punch didn't scare me one bit. I had her up on plane and flying up river in a heart beat. It had been, however, quite some time since I felt that power in my hands. Nice!
It wasn't the greatest few hours of fishing, but we were enjoying the conversation. We tossed a lot of lures and made tons of casts with only a few swipes and misses.
Jeff had a spot that had been successful last week for he and his wife. So we headed there in the mid-afternoon and that spot did not let us down! As we approached the "hot spot", Jeff set the boat at the right angle and gave me a shot at catching the bass... The bass didn't fail us!
Our First Bass was a 16"
This second bass came in at 16.75" and broke my GLoomis rod. DANG!
Jeff also nailed one around 14" in a hole nearby. That, folks, was three bass in just under ten minutes, plus one broken GLoomis rod. :(
My GLoomis has two types of "Lifetime Warranties." The first covers material and workmanship and the second covers accidental damage (not the rod's fault). I spoke to George Acord at SFT and he explained that they would ship the rod back to GLoomis for an evaluation. If GLoomis decides that it was an accidental break, then they would want me to pay $100 for a new replacement rod.
Personally, I have a hard time trusting. I cannot see how catching a fish, with a witness on board, would be deemed an accidental break. Oh well, I'll do what I can and send it back in to them to see what they determine. I'll keep you all updated.
As the evening approached, the sun dropped behind the western hillside and it started to chill up a bit. I reached for my fleece to keep warm. I caught my final fish along some rip rap in about 3' of water. It was our longest fish of the day measuring in at 17".
This was the first time Jeff and I were able to fish together. It was nice of him to put up with my rambling and old timer stories... LOL.
The water temperature was 64 degrees on a blue bird sky day. The water clarity was murky which moved me to toss a chartreuse bladed spinnerbait. Jeff was throwing a chartreuse skirted blade with hammered gold blades.
We had numerous sitings and even had the pleasure of seeing two mature bald eagles playing in the skies above the Lancaster County hillside (east shoreline). They would fly at one another, turn upside down with their talons exposed, hit, and fly away. They did this several times before taking to the thermals to soar above us.
We also sighted several immatures. We chased one from his perch as we ran close to the eastern shoreline in the morning.
The air temp was only in the upper 40's at 10:30 a.m. and rose to 64 degrees as the sun warmed the clear skies. As evening approached, Jeff landed our last fish and mentioned that the fish felt warm. It was most likely warmer than the air temperature at that point.
Take care and stay safe!
Dad
