Persistancy Results In LUNKER!!!
On Saturday we decided to try our luck again on Boon since the first trip resulted in much success. Jen's Dad Rick, and Napa joined me during the four hour outing. It was another day in consistent tip-ups and fish as we caught about a dozen in total. We concentrated on the same area I had been a couple days before- the cove that I now refer to as the "Guarantee." Most of our catches were bass and we added a few pickerel as well.....no lunkers but a great day out on the ice. I was glad everyone smelled like fish by the end of the trip. It was great to get Rick out on the ice and it's always a treat to have Arrogant Anglers out there in full force.
I decided to go out again today as it was my last day off before reality will strike as I return to work tomorrow. Based on prior day success and witnessing a few missed tip-ups that resulted in much of my line getting spooled, I decided to head to the same cove for another try at landing a big bass. The work was minimal as I recycled most of the holes from days past and after setting the first trap within a minute I got my first bass. I was out there solo but chose to put out 5 traps to maximize my odds to land the fish I had been searching for. After my first two hours on the ice, from about 1pm to 3pm I caught about 10 bass- another day of running after flags. There was a 10 minute lull and thats when I figured I might as well make the rounds and check the bait on all traps. As I headed to the first trap the flag flung up and the set-up was shaking at the hole. I calmly made my way to the hole and saw that the line was running at a good clip, music to my ears. I removed the trap and pulled out some line to give myself time for a solid set, a second later resulted in fish on. The fight was awesome as it was the first Lunker Bass in my 2011 season, I retrieved about 20 yards of line and elevated a the bass through the hole- BLEEP YEAH!!!!!!!! It was a monster and biggest fish I've pulled through the ice since I started ice fishing last year. The beauty weighed 5 pounds 4 ounces and was just over 20 inches long- what a way to end my week off and a warm welcome to the new waters. Persistancy paid off!!!!!