EricM, More Nick dam, dam, dam-age, Flathead and channel cats, 06-05-09

[FishNews]

Well............. I just HAD to go down below the Nick dam dam dam to see what was going on - up close and personal. I didn't even shut off the big motor before I drifted into the wing wall - slowly - without thinking that the trolling motor was kinda sticking out the left side of the bow while in the stowed position. Upon contact with the concrete, the cover once again fractured (along a twice-before used fracture line, at least it's consistant), and the recently-freed plastic piece did a 6 revolution, 2-1/2 twist arc about 3 feet above the boat before considerately landing almost in my lap instead of in 15 feet of water. I would have tried to catch it if I wasn't so busy cussing emoBadLanguage and smacking my forehead emoDoh emoDoh and using that brick (well, concrete) wall as indicated ----- emoBang emoBang emoBang .<br /><br />OK, the disaster was over early, so I threw the net for bait. Huh. A bluegill and a white bass. Threw it again. Huh. Stuck on the bottom, wrapped the line around a cleat and hit the trolling motor. Whoops! Couldn't tell which way it was pointing (no cover!! emoDoh ) and almost flipped myself out of the boat. Fortunately, the net came loose - aha! the makings of a good day. (Hey - you measure your way and I'll measure mine!) Threw the net again. Huh. Nothing. Threw the net again. Success!! Two 5 inch shad! Threw the net again. Wow! Three skipjack!!!!!!! Threw the net again, and again, and again. Nothing. Threw the net against the wing wall and let it sink deep. Huh. A buffalo, a flathead, and a channel cat, all good sized. Spent 15 frustrating minutes trying to keep the stupid fish calm while I untangled spines and netting, with really slow progress. emoFish <br /><br />Soooo, I now have two shad and three skipjack. With the first shad, I hung the bottom and had to break off. Huh. Second shad, no bites for ten minutes before I hung the bottom and had to break off. Huh. Looks like I'll be using cut bait. Fished in the boils, around the boils, along the seams, along the walls, around the corner, in the pockets. One good flathead and one OK channel cat. Huh - I caught that many in one throw of the net earlier! I was wet and really cold (what happened to summer??) and decided to head back to Cleveland in time for my afternoon nap!<br /><br />If you look really close, you can see the epoxy build-up on the edges of the break (both ends of the trolling motor head) from previous close encounters of the turd, er, third, kind. emoDoh