The Ones That Got Away

Craig was back once more with Herm, still looking for that elusive 6 pound smallie. They would be with me for two days this time and it looked like they brought the crappy weather once again. Rain and strong winds were what we would be in store for and just maybe a little cloud if we were lucky. Air temps never went above 45 degrees and the water temps were somewhere around 52.5 degrees in the mist and rain as we set out in search of Moby. They were both throwing jigs at the start and caught several decent fish up to almost 4 pounds before the strong winds really picked up. This time however, they were from the SW and at least we had that going for us! Drifting & dragging tubes in 20 plus feet of water helped as we caught a bunch of bass and even a couple of bonus walleye. Although there wasn’t really any of the giants I was use to, they were still picking at them as 3.5 pound clones were the norm. Eventually, I was forced to give Herm the spinnerbait rod and let him loose! After his last outing, he was glad to have it back in his hands once again. It didn’t take him long before he was tight to another smallie and actually smiling again. Several fish later he tangled with a bruiser, but we’ll never know just how big it was as it came unpinned before the boat. By the looks of her though, she was definitely a high five and maybe closer to 6! He redeemed himself a short while later by landing a 5.25 pound beauty and all was forgotten. Craig was also having his share of fish while throwing a spinnerbait but couldn’t better the 4 pound mark. Later in the afternoon though, he did manage another fish over 5 pounds and lose one real giant that I did get a close look at, alongside the boat. This one also hit a blade and bolted like a northern. By the width of her back and the length, I was pretty sure that this one was over six pounds. We’ll never know but we will have a good story of the one that got away! In the last hour of the day they had pounded a bunch of quality fish in the shallows despite the dark, gloomy mist that was falling. Another great day with loads of rain and wind but at least they caught plenty of great fish. What will tomorrow bring?