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Wanted to fish the other day so I told my wife to call me on her way home from work so I could be ready by the time she got home. Well, she didn't call, and I didn't even wake up till after 1am....I wasn't very happy about it and gave my wife a little attitude as I stormed out the door...
I took off alone ( CJim was gonna go with me but backed out ), got a late start, but I figured what the heck..... I need to get out of the house.
As I pulled into 12-mile, a toon was in front me. He put his boat in, then came over and talked to me for awhile. We talked for about 20 minutes sharing info etc and he then asked me where I was gonna fish. Told him not far from the ramp cause I don't have a motor on yet. He said that he was gonna go out a few miles and that he would pull me on out there too if I wanted. I said no at first but he was a really persistent guy, so I said what the heck...lets do it.
Got out there and we both anchored up for awhile...very few hits...took a vote to move on. Moved shallower and he untied me and he said that I was welcome to tie off to him. He had 2 other guys with him so I told him I would rather stay back from them and give them room, but I'll try to stay in talking distance. I respectively let him anchor up first, then I went to town with the Gps looking hard. Then bam,,,I found exactly what I wanted to see. I set anchor and began throwing out rods.
Got done and realized that I didn't ready the net...worst mistake a solo fishermen can do IMO.... SO I got it out and 10 seconds later a clicker went off-""zzzzzzzzzzz"" she went,,,, loud as can be. First fish was a 8# blue, not big but fun ; )
Well I'll get right to it, in the end I caught 14 cats. Four were dinks but the majority of them were between 8# and 12#...but a few bigger ones too.
These cats were in full blown spawn mode. I got a pic of a 19# blue that was beat up bad by apparently a much bigger cat. I felt so bad for these fish and took extra care with them. The mouths/heads on them were so swelled up I didn't even wanna mouth them....man ,,,it looks painful.
Now the bad part is that the 3 guys didn't get any fish,,,,I really felt bad and couldn't explain why. They moved all around me but it just wasn't working.
At about 8:30am it was hot already and he had to get going. He was towing me back in and I realized it was still early so I had him drop me off out there where I knew I could still make it back to the ramp. I caught a few more out there and was back at the ramp by 11am.
I gave him my number because he told me he needed another catman to fish with. He has a few health problems and his wife gives him heck if he goes alone. Then he goes on to tell me that he has been fishing Hartwell for over 25 years.....I was like"wow !!!!". I told him my story and he said he would be more than happy teach me what he knows, and that he looks forward to learning some things from me...and that's what I wanted to hear ; )
Bad part is, I haven't heard from him yet. I don't have his number but he has mine. Maybe he'll call after the holiday or he could have lost my number. I know his name was Rick or Rickey and he had a white toon with headlight on the front, the truck was white or silver I think. Dunno if any of you Hartwell folks know him or not but I enjoyed talking to him and I hope to hear from him sometime. Oh,,,and I can tell he is a good fishermen for sure,,,he just had one of those nights like we've all had ; )
Oddly this post really isn't about the fish I caught. During my drive home I realized that when I left home I gave my wife that attitude....not bad, but never the less...it was wrong of me. When I got home I gave her a kiss and apologized. If I didn't run late I would have never had this good trip. Sometimes ya just gotta remember that all things happen for a reason and if things don't go your way, let it go. I think the big man upstairs wanted to reteach me a lesson but decided to take it easy on me this time.
This trip by no means was a big fish success but my lesson was better than any fish I could ever land. So tonight I'm heading out alone again.....and honestly,,,I don't care if I see one fish ; )~ I'm a very lucky man to have such a great family and friends....who can ask for anything more,,, Thank you Lord................
-Jim-
I'll put up a pic of that beat up lookin #19'er on my other Pc here shortly.
I took off alone ( CJim was gonna go with me but backed out ), got a late start, but I figured what the heck..... I need to get out of the house.
As I pulled into 12-mile, a toon was in front me. He put his boat in, then came over and talked to me for awhile. We talked for about 20 minutes sharing info etc and he then asked me where I was gonna fish. Told him not far from the ramp cause I don't have a motor on yet. He said that he was gonna go out a few miles and that he would pull me on out there too if I wanted. I said no at first but he was a really persistent guy, so I said what the heck...lets do it.
Got out there and we both anchored up for awhile...very few hits...took a vote to move on. Moved shallower and he untied me and he said that I was welcome to tie off to him. He had 2 other guys with him so I told him I would rather stay back from them and give them room, but I'll try to stay in talking distance. I respectively let him anchor up first, then I went to town with the Gps looking hard. Then bam,,,I found exactly what I wanted to see. I set anchor and began throwing out rods.
Got done and realized that I didn't ready the net...worst mistake a solo fishermen can do IMO.... SO I got it out and 10 seconds later a clicker went off-""zzzzzzzzzzz"" she went,,,, loud as can be. First fish was a 8# blue, not big but fun ; )
Well I'll get right to it, in the end I caught 14 cats. Four were dinks but the majority of them were between 8# and 12#...but a few bigger ones too.
These cats were in full blown spawn mode. I got a pic of a 19# blue that was beat up bad by apparently a much bigger cat. I felt so bad for these fish and took extra care with them. The mouths/heads on them were so swelled up I didn't even wanna mouth them....man ,,,it looks painful.
Now the bad part is that the 3 guys didn't get any fish,,,,I really felt bad and couldn't explain why. They moved all around me but it just wasn't working.
At about 8:30am it was hot already and he had to get going. He was towing me back in and I realized it was still early so I had him drop me off out there where I knew I could still make it back to the ramp. I caught a few more out there and was back at the ramp by 11am.
I gave him my number because he told me he needed another catman to fish with. He has a few health problems and his wife gives him heck if he goes alone. Then he goes on to tell me that he has been fishing Hartwell for over 25 years.....I was like"wow !!!!". I told him my story and he said he would be more than happy teach me what he knows, and that he looks forward to learning some things from me...and that's what I wanted to hear ; )
Bad part is, I haven't heard from him yet. I don't have his number but he has mine. Maybe he'll call after the holiday or he could have lost my number. I know his name was Rick or Rickey and he had a white toon with headlight on the front, the truck was white or silver I think. Dunno if any of you Hartwell folks know him or not but I enjoyed talking to him and I hope to hear from him sometime. Oh,,,and I can tell he is a good fishermen for sure,,,he just had one of those nights like we've all had ; )
Oddly this post really isn't about the fish I caught. During my drive home I realized that when I left home I gave my wife that attitude....not bad, but never the less...it was wrong of me. When I got home I gave her a kiss and apologized. If I didn't run late I would have never had this good trip. Sometimes ya just gotta remember that all things happen for a reason and if things don't go your way, let it go. I think the big man upstairs wanted to reteach me a lesson but decided to take it easy on me this time.
This trip by no means was a big fish success but my lesson was better than any fish I could ever land. So tonight I'm heading out alone again.....and honestly,,,I don't care if I see one fish ; )~ I'm a very lucky man to have such a great family and friends....who can ask for anything more,,, Thank you Lord................
-Jim-
I'll put up a pic of that beat up lookin #19'er on my other Pc here shortly.
