Got up to the lake on Thursday to less than ideal conditions with pretty rough water. We hit a few different spots and boated several salmon but hadn't decided where to start on Friday as nothing was "dependable". Our rental was awesome though and great to come home to...
Picked up my buddy at Shep Browns docks at 4:30 and cruised to our spot. As I came off plane, he says "do I need my license on me?"....back to the ramp-so we got a little late start. We got into fish steadily for about 2 hours. Lost two huge salmon. One broke me off on his first jump (a few FEET out of the water) and was easily 5 pounds...knot failed. Second fish as lost in the prop wash and another solid board fish.. We moved to a few different spot but the bite had died down so we moved to a regular producing spot which produced nothing for almost except a 21 inch laker (almost). As we were getting ready to move on, one of my boards goes under just as Marine Patrol is approaching - big fish! It took my buddy 20 minutes to get the fish to the boat as I netted his nice 25 inch laker at 5.86 pounds which took 4th for the day...Marine Patrol gave a nice smile and congrats has he moved on (nice guy). We had to come back earlier than we would have wanted so we could hit the awards meeting.
Next day I had limited time as I had to be in Salem at 8AM to attend my sons Pinewood Derby district finals. Another buddy, his brother and nephew joined me. We agreed to get the boy onto some fish in the little time we had and got out very early at 4AM. With about an hour left, one board is pulled down same as the one on Friday - big fish! The boy fought it masterfully to the boat and landed a fish "around 22"...we had to keep it and get it checked. I left soon after and found that he was 1/8 of an inch short.
I did not get back with my boy until around 3PM and the wind was HAMMERING us as it came up the broads and produced huge "surf". We dealt with it for a few hours then did a few hours in our protected bay but only landed smallmouth. We got wet and winded and called it an early night before the rain became steady. We wanted to get out early on Sunday but the rain was still steady at 4AM. At 6AM, it broke and we went for it. We got into fish quickly but the wind returned with a vengence and my son just couldn't take it. We finished early to clean the camp but and a wonderful "adventure" that he is looking forward to again next year.
Went to the awards and got a few grab bags. My buddy's laker but pushed down to #6 and out of the prizes for lakers...he was the exact same weight as #5 but 1/4 inch shorter (just missed a pair of leadcore setups).
What a fantastic event. Salmon numbers were down for us from last year but lakers were way up. We had competative fish on at different points of the weekend even with the tough weather. Already counting the days to next year!
