12/27 and 12/28 . tragic humor and some success

[gfishes]

Was able to hit the river for several hrs on Friday and a couple hrs on Saturday morning.

On Friday morning I moved the same fish two times in about 5 minutes. The 40"ish followed a shallow invader up to the boat and then swam away. I casted back in the direction it darted away with no luck; I repeated this several more times. I decided to upsize to a walleye pounder to see if I could trigger a strike. I got her to follow back in one more time but couldn't get her to bite. She even opened her mouth and did what looked like a yawn. No other fish seen in the morning.

In the evening I tried a new spot down river. I've always thought fish would be in this spot, but its a pretty good hike away and its down river which always makes things more interesting if there are boat issues. I moved two different fish but neither fish was willing to bite. Then the tragedy struck. I have two main casting setups. For some reason one of my Lexa reels has always been a challenge to cast. I have to really pay attention or I will nest up the line. I have been using a bait caster for 25 years. Not sure exactly what the deal is. Anyhow, I nested while throwing a pounder into a slight breeze. I picked out the minor nest and reeled in for another cast. I loaded up to cast and the lure shot out perfectly normal for about 15 yards and then the dawg came to an immediate stop, ripping the rod right out of my hand!! I must not have fully gotten rid of the nest from the previous cast. I chased after it, but sadly the rod sunk to never been seen again. A split grip Mojo with a Lexa 400 will not float in case anyone was interested. LOL () . It was 5:15 and I had a 30 min run back to camp in an area I wasn't super familiar with. I had to head back in the dark and call it a loss.

I was peeved all Friday night about the combo loss. My original plan was to head home Saturday AM. I changed my plans and decided to head back to that spot and try to jig for the rod. I wouldn't feel right if I didn't least try to get the rod back. I made a 5/0 treble hook and lead weight contraption. I jigged the area for about an hour and after many snags and no luck I decided my effort was at least good enough let me acknowledge and swallow the loss.

Since I was in the area, and I had 30 min to spare, I casted the spot where I had the two separate follows. I hooked up and landed what I think was a smaller of the two fish. Made the extra morning worth it and I left the camp on a high note for the year knowing that I found some new to me territory.

Happy New Year Everyone!