Cold Weather Footballs
November 7, 2019
Craig & Herm were back for their annual fall fishing trip, for smallies today. They would be with me for a couple of days, looking for a few giants and I aimed to make it happen!
We hooked up early and headed to the water in hopes of some great fishing. Although we launched in clear cold weather, our run to the first spot had us in a snow squall! It even lasted for a little while giving Herm his first fish in the white stuff! Eventually the clouds blew through and so did these conditions, but the wind actually increased. It was going to be a blustery day!
With only a few fish to show for their efforts at our first stop, I decided to try a little shallower to see if anything was going on there. Apparently it was the right decision as Craig nailed back to back giants! His two fish were the reason why they always come back in the fall. Herm had the next two fish but only managed to get one into the boat as the other unfortunately came off on the jump. Too bad this was all they wrote for the area and I made another move in hopes of better numbers!
Our next spot had them throwing different baits and several other fish were hooked, with about half coming into the boat. They may have been smaller but at this time of the year, every fish is welcomed.
We hopped all over today, stopping on several productive areas and both Herm & Craig managed to land a bunch more fish. Both shallow & deep patterns were working but not for great numbers. The average size was big but I would have liked to see a few more fish!
With the strong north westerly today, the electric motor fought both the current and the winds and eventually the batteries just gave out. I still had some power but not the strength I needed to fight the conditions. I had no other choice but to use the small engine as well as the electric in order to continue the day. Fortunately I have the means to get the job done and we carried out the day successfully!
With daylight savings time upon us now, I was scheduled to leave earlier and hit one last area before calling it a day. Both Herm & Craig managed a couple more quality fish here, before we were done. We packed it up and headed back to take out.
Although the conditions may not have been ideal today, there were still some great fish landed. We will be back again tomorrow and with any luck, they will have another day filled with giant football sized smallies once again. I’m just crossing my fingers for decent weather and not the heavy precipitation that is forecasted. With these temps it may even snow, but hopefully not!
