Today I choose to try my luck at some of the smaller local ponds. First pond I tried gave up two small pickerel about a foot long each. Too small and bony both slammed the lured so hard so hard I had to cut it out of them. I hate killing fish I don't eat so I hopped back in the truck and went a bit further up the road and found me another likely spot. I sat in the truck for a bit and fired up a Romeo Y Julettia Maduro and just watched as moon edged up over the horizon as the daylight began to fade. I walked over to the pond and began to cast an imitation perch floating lure ( about 1 1/2 inches ) along the bank casting to the weedy edges and kept trying, going back and forth along the banks. I was about to give up when I said to myself "one more cast". I made the cast and paused to tap the ash off my cigar when this guy slammed my stationary lure and took off for the other side of the pond. I dropped the stogie as my rod (Daiwa 4 1/2 ft ultralight) bent double and the fight was on. I was using 4lb test line and thought it was going to break but I managed to get him landed and lipped him to get him out of the water. Not one of the monsters some of you catch but a personal best at 3 1/2 lb for me. Today was a good day. I managed to save the cigar too ! ETA: tried to edit the top pic to a smaller size but the big size keeps showing. Mods please change if its still too big.
Ah a happy ending! Saved the stogie! Would have been a shame to waste such a primo smoke. But the fish would have eased the loss. Now my mouths watering, I have to go pull a Cohiba out of the humidor. Congrats on the fish, and saving the smoke!
As a saltwater fisherman by choice, my perfect day fishing goes like this. No boat, motor, trailer, hauler, launch, recovery problems. weather excellent. within 1 to 2 hours of start, enough good eating fish are in livewell or cooler to support 2 fish frys feeding 4 people. someone in boat scores a personal best. someone in boat gets humbled by a fish so large there is no stopping it. (keep in mind I have floats attached to my anchor line when in use so we can throw off line vice hauling anchor to follow fish and retrieve line.) I have a small and large gaff (sharp) and a large net (inspected before start of trip). The constant very real possibility of all 3 of these thing happening every trip to saltwater, keeps me going back. . Congratulations on the personal best!