I gotta hand it to Bob, he knows how and WHERE to catch those stripers and hybrids. He has got the ultimate setup for this type of fishing, one kickass boat and enough gear to make you want to cry because you don't have it...plus he is a tireless individual when it comes to throwing that cast net.
His favorite saying is " I would love to catch one shad per throw of the net every time". And after watching him throw that thing for 90 minutes and averaging one throw per minute, I can see why he says that.
He wanted 36 shad for the morning's trip and it took about 90 minutes to get them. And he can throw a circle every time! I would be throwing "tacos" every other cast.
After netting our 36 shad (and bluegills and crappies and catfish and white bass) we headed out of Stewart's Creek and drove downlake to start fishing. We hadn't fished for 10 minutes when we caught our first fish, a two pound striper. Ten minutes later it was a four pound hybrid. I tried to get Bob (aero) to reel in a fish, but he pulled the Captain Bligh trump card and said as the new swabbie on board, it was my job to do all of the dirty work!
He did finally pick up one rod when I was reeling in another 6 pound hybrid, only because I was occupied and he didn't want to chance having the fish break his line and cost him a sinker and hook. You can see these fish in the video, mine was the biggest (of course) weighing in at 6 pounds even while his was a mere 5 lbs 15 oz. (Guess who was reading the Boga?)
We caught a total of 5 hybrids Cherokee bass for those who aren't familiar with the lingo, (jad2t, mnfisher), couple of undersized largemouth bass, one very nice crappie, and a catfish (Bob's specialties, catfish and carp). Bob was pretty well into a funk because he didn't catch a carp, but I cheered him on when he caught the catfish, telling him it ranked right there in popularity with the carp. That lifted his spirits tremendously, but I know he was secretly hoping for another big carp to mount for his den.
For this little foray, he says I owe him a crappie trip. So I wheedled and hemmed and hawed and said IF he'd take me on a guided trip to Tim's Ford with his Great Lakes setup and fish for stripers there, then I figured those two trips would even out to a guided crappie trip on JPP.....and I'll even throw in an autographed picture of me. Snicker....he went for it!
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