07-10-2009, 09:00 AM
Took my new to me boat out for the first time this morning. I even backed it into the water, a first for me backing up a trailer. Sounds dumb, but it was a good feeling with my first boat.<br /><br />Scott and I started out catching some bluegill, and then we went drifting/anchoring for some cats downriver. Scott had a good rip and ended up breaking off, but that was it. We really struggled. After they turned the water on, we tried anchoring more with no luck. I don&#39;t think we had enough weight, and we&#39;ll be better prepared next time. In desperation, we went up to drift the dam for some cats with cut bluegill. We had no knife, so we were ripping them in half. We caught 4-5 blues/channels. Things were coming to close, and by this point I was wishing for some chicken.<br /><br />I told Scott, heck, I&#39;m putting on a live bluegill. Maybe a big cat will get it. I was fishing it on a casting bass rod that I haven&#39;t used in years. I felt a good rip, and then the drag was burning. I thought it was burning a little hard to be a cat, but you just never know on the light action stuff.<br /><br />After several minutes of chasing it around and running around the boat, I ended up with a 19 lb striper. Now, I expected to put a big fish in my boat eventually, but never the first big one to be a striper!<br />I was pretty pleased with the boat, pretty stable and a good tailwater boat.<br /><br />Thanks a lot Scott for coming along and helping me out. I have a feeling my days on land are numbered once I get comfortable enough.