Hitting the Motherload of Bass Part II

Begrudgingly she came in, not before giving it one more spirited run. Waiting for the right moment, just as waves were about to rush in, I turned her head and she planed on top of the wave between the rocks. Twenty two pounds read my Boga! Man, that feel good, the fish, the rod, the whole night. After getting skunked the night before this was satisfying.

I released her in the water and climbed back up onto a dry rock and made another cast.

BAM!

Jesus, this fish felt the same as the last one. After (this time very timidly sliding down the rocks) I landed the fish and had a hell of a time getting a bucktail from its mouth. It swallowed the whole bucktail so deep I struggled to get it out. I knew after spending way too much time trying to pop it out that the fish might not make it. If I toss it off the rock, and she goes belly up, I can’t retrieve it. Besides, I wanted a fish for a table . So I decided to keep it for dinner.

After stashing a fish I checked my leader. Frayed . Ok, it’s a good time to change. Then it hit me.

Because I did not have a Surf Bag with me, I did not have my leader wallet !!!

I left it in the truck .@*$@#^$%^&/*

I cut back on my leader but after 3 more fish I hung the bucktail on the rock and broke it off. Now what? Go back to the truck and waste half an hour of the best fishing I’ve seen in this spot in years or fish without a leader? Smart man would chose number two. I never said I was smart.

I texted my buddy with numbers after weighing few fish, and then again and again. I must have texted him ten times… But he was tied up at the function and could not get out of it.

I stood at water’s edge, not waiting to climb up on the rocks, down the rocks, every few casts. It was just easier if I stood on a slimy rock as long as I did not make any sudden movements. I kept banging fish every few casts, not one under 15 pounds. Crap, in this spot I call every buddy I know when I catch a 14 pound bass! Where do they all come from? Maybe a fresh school of fish came off the ocean? What were they feeding on ? I had no idea.

How did I land fish with no leader? Oh brother…. I couldn’t grab it with my bare hand so I would position the fish in front of my rock in a specific spot and when the wave would rise I would “plane” the fish onto the rocks. And I kept retying and retying and retying the bucktails. Funny thing was I did not lost a single fish to broken line. Yet when I have all the stuff, Korkers, leaders, when I am ready for war, then I lose half of the fish I try to land!

The St Croix Avid preformed absolutely flawless as did a drag on zb. About two hours into this madness the fished moved about twenty yards down current and I moved with them. The problem was there was a pile of rocks further down current jutting into the inlet. The current at this point was running hard. And every fish I hooked wanted to take me around those rocks and break me off. I could not get to that point in my waders, I had to hold my ground where I was. So I tightened up on my drag and leaned into the fish with an Avid to prevent it from turning a corner. At some times I thought the rod would explode under pressure but sure enough, every fish eventually gave up and started to move towards me. The largest fish that was twenty seven pounds on my Boga. I was sure she was going to bust my rod yet the Avid held its ground.

Not only that but the most remarkable thing was that St Croix Avid never “spun”. I don’t expect rod to spin the top section under normal circumstances but I would sure understand if it did that night. For Christ sake I was holding rod parallel to water, almost pointing at the water while the fish was twenty yards down current trying to cut me off. If the rod spun its top section, even if it broke, I would have understood because at times I was sure that it was bent to its max. Yet neither of those things happened

I know it’s only one trip but the damage was close to 30 fish, with ten fish going over eighteen pounds. I did not even bother weighing teen fish after an hour or so. It was a night that I will not forget for a long time. I lost all my bucktails but one by hanging them on the riffraff on the bottom. I lost the top of my pork rind bottle and all the pork rind in it, but I was a happy (and lucky man).

And the elbow?

What about the elbow??? I was so full of adrenaline I forgot all about it. Only when I would straighten my arm to land a fish would I be reminded that I am not well.

To be honest writing this 2500 word blog hurts more than all the fish that night.

Go get them boys because in the words of immortal Vito Orlando “If Z is catching, they must be thick”

God knows I needed a night like that…back to popping Alive

Of course we went back the next three nights, with Korkers, leaders, long rods and every bucktail we owned. We managed few fish, but nothing, nothing like that crazy night

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good