Weather: Clear & Sunny
Water Temp: 75 Degrees
Team Bassmasters had a tournament at Candlewood lake. All of us expected a massacre on the lake but we worked for our fish. Those of us that caught fish had good numbers while others struggled to find fish. I managed 2 fish, one on a crankbait and the other on a jig. I had a third on a jig but I had no clue the fish was on the jig until I reeled the jig back to the boat. As I worked that jig I decided to reel the jig back to the boat for another cast. With absolutely zero weight or pull, I assumed my jig was coming back to the boat untouched. Little did I know a fish was swimming with the jig in his mouth. By the time I set the hook we saw each other and the jig came out the mouth.
The jig fish that did come to weigh-in to take pictures (3.71 LBS):
Weather: Cloudy/Light Rain
Water Temp: 75 Degrees
Went to Croton to see what the fishing was like since I had not been there in a while. My brother joined me for the morning since I was only fishing till noon because of a night tournament I was having this same day. Launched the boat about 6AM and worked some top water. Had a few blow ups but no hook-ups. We were going to work the main lake but decided to work our way toward boat area 6 instead since there was a steady wind blowing us in that direction. After about 2 hours I had a hook up in the large cover across from boat area 4 with a spinnerbait. It was a short but still a fish.
We worked our way over weed flats and fished points with no luck. Fished the islands near area 6 but there were 3 other boats in that immediate area so we worked the shoreline heading back to the boat launch since half our morning was already gone. Hooked up on my second fish as we left area 6, on a spinnerbait. I could not buy a bite on plastic for some reason. Just as we approached our launch area I worked my hula grub some more and had an immediate strike that landed me my 3rd fish for the day. Fishing was tough but for the few hours I was there I was happy with the 3.
Weather: Sunny & Hot
Water Temp: 85 Degrees
Launched the boat at 8:30AM and fished near boat launch for about 30 minutes. Began working the shoreline closest to boat launch for a while getting zero strikes. We continued working the shoreline toward the far end of the lake, still with no strikes what so ever! It was VERY hot and humid so wife and I decided to give the lily pads a shot.
With the trolling motor on full speed we raced toward the lily pads only to SLAM into a stump under the water that caused the boat to ramp up onto it causing us to become immobile. At this point our boat was tipping like it was on a see-saw and we all put on our life jackets prior to trying to free ourselves. I began rocking the boat to see if I could shake us loose with no luck, we were pretty stuck real good. Trying to think how I was going to free us I was thinking of 2 options. (1) I could jump in the water and try to free us or, (2) I could blow my whistle to signal a boat within visual distance to come over and assist us. After careful thought I decided to try and pry us free with an oar before I weighed my other options. With a little effort using the oar I was able to free us, what a relief we felt!!
After that crazy incident it taught us that anything can happen on the water and safety should be our FIRST priority so for now on we are going to wear our life jackets when we are racing across any lake at full throttle with the motor. We pulled ourselves together and worked the lilly pads as we planned to. A few slurps but nothing solid. Wife threw out a spinnerbait to land a short but our only fish.
After landing the one fish we both had enough of the heat and difficult fishing; our inability to find a pattern. After 3 hours we threw in the towel and called it a day leaving at 11:30AM. Wife got the 1 and I ended the day with a bad smell -- SKUNKED!!
