04-18-2005, 04:14 PM
Hooked into my first wiper (ever) at around 1 p.m. after kicking around in a float tube with my waders full of water for about 5 hours along the dike that heads southwest from the south marina. (I don't have a clue: I was riding a little low and my waders gulped plenty of 44 degree water before I fixed the problem.)
I was using a bluegill-colored crankbait, a silver-and-black Rapala, and a blue and white Frenzy and just casting them every which way over and over again. Varying my retrieve speed a bit cause I don't have any idea what I'm doing.
I kicked all the way to that southwest corner then kicked a third of the way back before I started getting hits.
About 1, I started getting hits on the crankbait. It got bumped about 10 times in 12 casts before I finally hooked one. But man, once I hooked him ...
He headed for the bottom flipping and pulling and taking line. This boat stopped -- "Get that thing in, I want to see what you got. I've been fishing all morning and haven't got a bite -- and watched. Soon they cut the engine.
Drag's still screaming. I'm now turned around so I can kick toward this fish so he doesn't take all of my line. Only once does the fish surface, showing a spiny grayish fin.
Pretty soon, the hecklers are saying, "You wanna come sit in the boat for a minute?"
Then, "Want me to hold your pole?"
Then, "You need us to drive over there and net him for you?"
They're getting bored cause it's been 10 minutes or more.
"Get that thing in. I wanna see what it is."
It's finally close to the tube but still fighting on the bottom. That's when I started to get excited, impatient. Horsed him a little bit and SNAP!
He was gone. After expressing their disappointment, the boaters were gone too. So everything's quiet. And I'm alone with no fish. ..[unsure]
But I hooked another about 30 minutes later and got him in with a 2 minute fight. He was a fat, I dunno, 15-inch wiper. My first. Caught him on the blue-and-white Frenzy. Released him.
No pics and it's a good thing I didn't have a camera. I was wet. My shoes in the pocket of my tube were wet. The camera would have been wet and dead.
Then, I called it a day, leaving around 3 p.m. after chatting with aquaman near the marina. (Nice to meet you.)
Nice weather. Fun day. Fun fish. I'll be back.
[signature]
I was using a bluegill-colored crankbait, a silver-and-black Rapala, and a blue and white Frenzy and just casting them every which way over and over again. Varying my retrieve speed a bit cause I don't have any idea what I'm doing.
I kicked all the way to that southwest corner then kicked a third of the way back before I started getting hits.
About 1, I started getting hits on the crankbait. It got bumped about 10 times in 12 casts before I finally hooked one. But man, once I hooked him ...
He headed for the bottom flipping and pulling and taking line. This boat stopped -- "Get that thing in, I want to see what you got. I've been fishing all morning and haven't got a bite -- and watched. Soon they cut the engine.
Drag's still screaming. I'm now turned around so I can kick toward this fish so he doesn't take all of my line. Only once does the fish surface, showing a spiny grayish fin.
Pretty soon, the hecklers are saying, "You wanna come sit in the boat for a minute?"
Then, "Want me to hold your pole?"
Then, "You need us to drive over there and net him for you?"
They're getting bored cause it's been 10 minutes or more.
"Get that thing in. I wanna see what it is."
It's finally close to the tube but still fighting on the bottom. That's when I started to get excited, impatient. Horsed him a little bit and SNAP!
He was gone. After expressing their disappointment, the boaters were gone too. So everything's quiet. And I'm alone with no fish. ..[unsure]
But I hooked another about 30 minutes later and got him in with a 2 minute fight. He was a fat, I dunno, 15-inch wiper. My first. Caught him on the blue-and-white Frenzy. Released him.
No pics and it's a good thing I didn't have a camera. I was wet. My shoes in the pocket of my tube were wet. The camera would have been wet and dead.
Then, I called it a day, leaving around 3 p.m. after chatting with aquaman near the marina. (Nice to meet you.)
Nice weather. Fun day. Fun fish. I'll be back.
[signature]
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