Well, I managed to get out on Sunday to drown some worms and toss a little bit of hardware. Got there about 2pm and very quickly was into some Rock Bass and Catfish. The Catfish are fun (when they don't try and swallow the hook...and yes, I fish barbless mostly) and pretty consistent. I did manage to land a few Smallies (pound or so) and a surprise catch...a friggin Gobie! I have NO idea how the heck it would have gotten up that high (above Belwood). That of course ended up on the bank!
So while I was fishing I see this "odd" thing floating in the water (at first I thought it was a stick)...and wondered if it was a Gar, but then realized it was a big bloody turtle with his tail straight up floating backwards down the river. He would disappear every once in a while and I did land a catfish with a chunk out of him (fresh and bleeding).
I get this BIG hit and then nothing...reel in...hook is missing! darn turtle! A bit later another big hit (but I could see the Turtle)....bam bam bam...peeling off some line...then nothing. Reel in...hmmmm....hook is still there...well, there are some big Carp in there...so a possibility..just didn't feel like a Carp though.
Meanwhile....an old boy shows up and starts fishing off of the bridge and within 5 minutes...his first Bass....he shuffles back to his truck, comes back and 5 minutes later another one! Goes back to his truck...walks back and does it again another 5 minutes later! LOL! He jumps in his truck, stops on the bridge and tells me of a place I should try. He leaves and I start to pack up.
There is still 1/2 a worm left on my hook, so I thought what the heck...he's gone, so I'm going to snake the spot he was at and giver a go. I go to where he was and tried for about 15 minutes and nothing! I thought...hmmmm...there is a hole on the other side of the bridge that is a hard cast, so figured I would give it a try. Drop the line in....jig it a couple of times...and BAM...this was no little smallie!! Reel in...and it is the biggest Pike I have seen in that part of the river (hard to judge on size or weight...but I have landed a 4-1/2lber and this was a LOT bigger and quite thick!)
Now I have a problem....he's 20 feet or more below me! There is NO way I could get to any shore to try and land it...so now what? I didn't want to cut the line and leave that much attached to him...so...figuring I'm going to grenade my little sub 6 foot Ugly Stick...go for broke and try and reel him in (hoping that maybe the line would break at the knot). Got him just out of the water, he gave a bunch of huge head shakes and dropped back in!
Learned a couple of lessons I did!! Barbless is a good thing...and don't fish off of a darn bridge if you can't get to the shoreline easily!
Tight lines all!
And no, I didn't get a picture as I figured I would drop my phone off of the bridge for sure if I tried! LOL!!
