Getting Back Into the Fishing Groove This Summer
Finally, my boat is out of the shop and at my house! It has been a long journey getting it here, and it’s still not done. For the next few nights I will be getting some finishing touches done and getting the new trolling motor hooked up. It has been a nightmare; everything that could go wrong with getting the 112 in and hooked up did go wrong. I ended up getting an 80 pound thrust, which is just fine for up here, but if I go back to California I will need something stronger to battle the current. Unfortunately, even though I finally have my boat, I have to finish out this season as a Co.
I put a lot of extra pressure on myself for my last tournament - the state qualifier. I did decent on day one but day two, unfortunately, was a different story. On day one the craziest thing happened. I caught one pushing four pounds, was working to get the hook out of its mouth and noticed something in its throat. I did not want to look like I didn’t know what was going on, and it turns out neither did my boater. I was thinking maybe the swim bladder had come up but I caught it in fourteen feet. Something was looking back at us, seriously. The fish had swallowed a huge goby and all we could see was its eye! Day two a buddy of mine hooked me up with some big goby lures he had made himself.
It was crazy late in June for the fish to be spawning but the changing water temps made it possible. The main water was about 72 degrees but where we launched was only about 58 degrees. I could still see fish on beds.
It’s always easier to identify what went wrong when looking back on your performance, and this tournament was no different. I stayed locked into drop shotting for too long on day two. The conditions were no longer conducive for this set up as the water temperatures had drastically changed. Things just shut off and I could not get a keeper in the live well. I had a close one that I thought I would be able to put in the boat but it was just short of being a keeper. Later that day, we had a double hook up. I was hooked up, set my rod down and ran over to my boater to help him net his catch. When I got back to my pole she was gone. Day two was rough, but I am looking forward to the next tournament.
Things are starting to come together in Washington. I have my boat but I still need my family here. I head to North Carolina to pick up my family and should be back by August fourth with them. I have my work cut out for me while I’m there, my wife has tasked me with helping her to catch a bass. We will get her one before we leave.
My schedule has recently changed up and I will not be able to make it to iCast this year. I am especially disappointed because I was going to teach a fishing seminar with Seattle Parks and Rec around here too.
I miss fishing for largemouth. In Washington I do a lot of finesse fishing for smallmouth; you get the numbers but not really the size you would prefer. California was the best of all worlds… fishing for spots, largemouth, and smallmouth. There is an Costa on Clear Lake this October and if I can get in, I already know my plan of attack.
I cannot wait for my boat to touch the water. Since I got it back on June 29th, I have been itching to even just go out and play with my new electronics. I am going to try to get out on American Lake next weekend.
I’ve had a lot of setbacks since moving to Washington, but I am going to keep on moving. We have a club tournament, the last qualifier, on August twelfth and thirteenth. I dropped down to eighteenth and I basically have to win this one or at least make top five. It will be a grind but I’m not stopping. I dropped a lot of money on containers to get my tackle organized to make me more efficient on the water. I recently switched over to Lew’s reels and am pairing those with my Kistler Rods. I will be ready for this next one.
