[1028]

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the bite started slow and we had to move around a bit to find the fish, but when we did, it was fast and furious!!! i had 3 fish on at one time, on 2 different occasions. i didn't ever count exacly how many we caught, but it was 12 or so, all good fish between 3 and 7 pounds. they were hitting close to the bottom in 35 to 40 feet of water which seems a little unusual from what i'm used to this time of year. i normally pick up hybrids at 15 to 25 feet in 30 feet of water this time of year. this morning, we would drop it to the bottom and crank it up three turns or so and BAM!!! i kept seeing fish near the bottom on my depth finder and decided to go to the bottom with one pole and they hit it immediately. i lost my little earl today, and we lost 2 good fish due to tackle failures. i had a 1/0 dihatchi bleeding bait hook straighten out on me, and we had a fifteen lb test flouro leader break right in the middle. the fish that straightened my hook felt huge!! it was slowly pulling away and i couldn't stop him. i think i had my drag a little too tight, or the hook was dull and didn't set well.

 

[1028]

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we went to the same spot this morning and didn't do as wel, but we managed to get a few good ones. my buddy also caught a 5 or 6 pound chain pickeril. the biggest i've ever seen. unfortunately i left my camera at home and didn't get a pick. i don't think they are good to eat so we let it go. a little while after that he hooked into a gar that was at least four feet long. it jumped clean out of the water right next to the boat and scared the crap out of both of us! most of the fish were caught very early, and only one hybrid was caught after 7:00. ended up with an 8 lb striper, a few 4 lbers, and a few little 1 lbers.

 

[1028]

that's what i heard. as big as it was i couldn't justify keeping it just to show it off.

 

[1028]

got on the water at 6:00 and was in my spot at 6:30. things were a little slow, but i picked up a nice 4 or 5 lber every 20 minutes or so and as the morning went on the fish were biting deeper and deeper and at about nine o'cloch i hooked a nice 12 pounder just off the bottom on my smallest pole and it fought like the devil!!! i wanted it to be a 20 lber so bad but i'm not complaining one bit!! the fish started out hitting at 15 to 20 feet in 30 feet of water but later the were hitting at 36 feet in 40 foot of water. there were fish trying to school in the cove i was in but they wouldn't really turn on all the way. they could have been white perch, but i think at least some of it was hybrids cause the splashes were pretty big. the fish shooled for 20 seconds or so right next to the boat while i was fighting a fish and i tried to throw to em but it's hard to reel two poles at once. this happened to me twice!! i had my limit by 10 and i saw 2 bald eagles playing as i started to head back. one would dive under the other and turn upside down. it was pretty awesome. i may be back out tomorrow, not sure.