rsimms, Nickajack (Riverpark), Assorted, 9-25-2010, Michael Drew

[FishNews]

Michael Drew took advantage of a trip I donated to the Ronald McDonald House. It was a very pleasant morning... although the fish didn't seem to appreciate it.<br /><br />Low flow so the smallmouth bite was off badly... caught ZERO. Did manage a couple of small stripers, but it didn't take long to make the switch to catfish. That wasn't too much better. We got on one decent bunch of fish. Probably caught ten or 12 blues and a couple of small channels but nothing picture-worthy.<br /><br />Truth is... the most fun we had was with a monster school of gar. I drifted by them a couple of times catfishing and finally couldn't stand it. I didn't have any gar lures with me... but had a bunch of shiners left. I tied up a couple rods with extra heavy leaders... added a tiny hook to it and we just freelined the remaining shiners through the gar. It wouldn't take long before one would scoop 'em up... You could almost always see them take the shiner and sometimes they would take 'em off the top. It was a really cool bite. Then you had to let them swim off for a LONG time to get shiner and hook swallowed.<br /><br />Then it was off to the races. Michael has fished a fair amount, but at one point he said, "I never thought I could have so much fun gar fishin'!"<br /><br />Always said I'll fish for whatever bites... and I mean it. Just remember.... pure I am not. That means life is good and gettin' better every day.<br />