Co-angler journal FLW

[Team houston]

Well it seems a little slow around here so I will do a quick journal. Tons of free stuff at the meeting including a rattlin rap some Coppertone and a slew of hats. The meal was great including beef chicken and pork with all the trimmings including a huge dessert table. I drew out a late boat number as always, I think it was 173. I was paired with a really nice young (27) guy from Port Clinton,Ohio. His name is Jared Rhode and his dad has been a guide on Erie for 30+yrs and he helps him during the summers as he is a teacher the rest of the year. He was reserved but optimistic.

The run to Pelee was not to bad, 55 minutes I believe it took. We start fishing and really there was no other boats nearby only a couple in the far distance. Had not been there 5 min and he hooks up, 3.5 lber in the box. I'm thinking oh man this could be good. He proceeds to work slowly into the wind covering a large area and catches fish at a consistant pace. He is fishing nothing but a drop shot and does the whole day exclusively.

After about an hour with the drop shot and no bites I pick up a tube and finally am on the board with a 3lber. He is catching 3 or 4 to my one but I am slowly filling the livewell.

By now some guys are fishing closer but still not even close to what he is on. He decides to move and after a short time with no bites or fish on the graph we move again. This 3rd stop starts producing for us and he culls a couple times and I fill my limit and cull also. He decides to head in early and take our time. We do fish one more spot on the way  but get no bites. He has 2 dead fish and still weighs 18+ I have 1 dead one and end up with 15.1.

I caught half of mine on the tube and half on the drop shot. I finally managed some bites on the drop shot  but I had to use what he was using. We both had Gulp but his was a slightly different size and color. Did it matter? It seemed too that day.

Day two I was paired with BP pro Tracy Adams from NC. He was fishing St. Clair which made me happy because I prefer St. Clair personally and it blew a lot harder the second day. Tracy weighed in all LM on day one but told me we were going for SM first and then Lm if he needed to.

We made it to his spot on the American side in15 ft and started fishing. Tracy is dragging a tube and does so about 90% of the time when we are after SM. Just as fast as the day before Tracy hooks up and lands a 3+ SM. He catches a couple of shorts and another keeper before I get my first fish on the tube. 3lber a good start. Tracy sets the hook again and believes it to be a drum. I get the net anyway because we have not caught one yet.

Sure enough his line starts racing for the surface and a big fish clears the water. After the battle I slip the net under the big girl and she goes 4.14 on his scale. Things turn my way for a while and I catch 3 keepers in a row. It gets to be about 10:30 and he says he doesn't feel comfortable without a limit in the box.

So with my four and his three we head for the LM. Very quickly he is getting bites on a chatterbait but can't hook up. He switches to a jig and gets a couple of shorts and a 3lber. I was trying different baits, a topwater among them. As he is unhooking his good fish I make a cast with a Yellow Magic. I pop it one time and the water explodes. Though the fish is not big it sure made a heck of a commotion and will make the 14 inch mark.

That gives me a limit for the second day and I am happy because I know I will get a check as long as we make it back. Tracy switches to a swim bait and catches some more shorts and two more good keepers to fill his limit and cull. I am still rotating baits and end up with a shakey head in my hand. I throw up to a light sandy area that is next to a dark bottom and think I see a fishes tail moving towards my bait. After a short hop I see my line moving off and set the hook on a good keeper. This one culls the other LM.

Content with his limit we go back out to the SM. We run back and forth between a couple different spots. Tracy catches one more that will cull the rest we catch are shorts. We do make it back ok and Tracy has 1 dead and weighs 16.9 my 5 go 14.3.

Both of my pros were great to fish with and I had a lot of fun. I ended up 32nd in the tourny and got $1100. I want to say congradulations to all the locals that did well. Mark Modrak, Kim Stricker, Dave Reault, Mark Frickman, Mike Weidman, Todd Robbins and Barry Narin who was 1 spot away from a top 10.

I can't wait till the big boys come back again. I did hear the Stren Series will be back next summer so save your pennies. Also on a side note fishing related. I was at the Sportsmans Wharehouse over the weekend and found out this is the last week for them. They are closing down because of a lack of business. I really liked that store and am bummed out. I think someone should be fired. there was no advertising at all. Nobody even knew they were there.

[1javelin]

Awesome job, sounds like you had some fun and really paid attention to what was going on.  Plus you cashed a check, which is always a huge plus!  Great job

1Jav