Nimrod71
Senior Member
I haven't been fishing in a week, time to get back on the river. The problem is to much water. We got 3 1/2 inches of rain here this week. I forgot to pull the plug on my boat, when I checked it yesterday the gas tanks were floating and the battery was almost covered with water. I checked the river level report last night an it showed 71 ft. at Baxley, 5 ft. over good fishing.
Well I loaded up this morning and I was on the water at 7 a.m. Headed up river to the gator slid my normal tie off limb was under the water. I didn't have a good feeling about today. Baited up two rods and cast to my fish catching spots. After 45 minutes I got a bite, bait Stealer. Rebaited and cast back to the eddy. The next thing I knew the channel rod was nearly bent double. I had a biggun on, a rod breaker. People ask why I have 40 lb. line on my reels, this is the reason. The fight was on. I lost a big Channel two weeks ago in the same spot. I hoped I had him again. The one I lost, the hook was a #5 Aberdeen wire hook and it was hooked in the corner of its mouth, anyway when the dipnet touched it the fish pulled off the hook. Todays hook was a forged steel Kahl hook. Today I got the fish, it was not the big one that I lost, this scale said it weighted 6 lb. 4 oz. I fished 45 more minutes here and didn't get another bite. Time to move.
Last week I had caught fish in the back of the lake so I headed that way. At the back of the lake I put out the trolling motor and slipped my line stop all the up the line. I use a 12 ft. pole with 12 ft. of line. The river has come up about 3 ft. from when I fished here last week. I fished for an hour all over the back and into the swamp but no luck, not a single bite. Back to the river.
This time I went to my #4 spot, the Turkey Tree, this is where I saw the Gobblers Dancing a few weeks ago. I have caught fish here in the past. I tied off, I love them gator grips. Anyway, I baited up two rods and cast one into the current and the other towards the bank. After about 15 minutes the bank rod hit the deck and fish on, and the fight too. I had another big Channel. When I got it to the boat I could see it was well hooked the leader was down in it's mouth. i had to use the dip net again. This one was not as big, weighted 4 lb. 9 oz. by the scale. As I was getting it off the hook the other rod bent nearly double. I dropped the fish in the boat and grabbed the rod fighting to get it out of the rod holder before the handle broke. I got it out and the fish put up a good fight in the current. After I got it in the boat it was the twin to the one on the bottom of the boat.
I baited up again and put the rods out as before. This time the one in the current connected up first. This Channel was a good eating size about 1 lb. I like catching big fish but I prefer eating the half to 3/4 lb. size. I caught two more about the same size with the current rod and I was about to call it a morning when the bank rod took a big hit. Again I had a big Channel this one looked to be about a 3 to 4 lb. size. Enough for today.
I'll be back in the morning.
The Lord Blessed me this morning. When I left the house I didn't expect to catch anything, the river was to full, the temp was to cold 47 when I put in, we just had over 3 inches of rain. But I had faith in myself as a good fisherman. I know how to catch fish and I know where to go. But the Lord put them on my hooks.
Well I loaded up this morning and I was on the water at 7 a.m. Headed up river to the gator slid my normal tie off limb was under the water. I didn't have a good feeling about today. Baited up two rods and cast to my fish catching spots. After 45 minutes I got a bite, bait Stealer. Rebaited and cast back to the eddy. The next thing I knew the channel rod was nearly bent double. I had a biggun on, a rod breaker. People ask why I have 40 lb. line on my reels, this is the reason. The fight was on. I lost a big Channel two weeks ago in the same spot. I hoped I had him again. The one I lost, the hook was a #5 Aberdeen wire hook and it was hooked in the corner of its mouth, anyway when the dipnet touched it the fish pulled off the hook. Todays hook was a forged steel Kahl hook. Today I got the fish, it was not the big one that I lost, this scale said it weighted 6 lb. 4 oz. I fished 45 more minutes here and didn't get another bite. Time to move.
Last week I had caught fish in the back of the lake so I headed that way. At the back of the lake I put out the trolling motor and slipped my line stop all the up the line. I use a 12 ft. pole with 12 ft. of line. The river has come up about 3 ft. from when I fished here last week. I fished for an hour all over the back and into the swamp but no luck, not a single bite. Back to the river.
This time I went to my #4 spot, the Turkey Tree, this is where I saw the Gobblers Dancing a few weeks ago. I have caught fish here in the past. I tied off, I love them gator grips. Anyway, I baited up two rods and cast one into the current and the other towards the bank. After about 15 minutes the bank rod hit the deck and fish on, and the fight too. I had another big Channel. When I got it to the boat I could see it was well hooked the leader was down in it's mouth. i had to use the dip net again. This one was not as big, weighted 4 lb. 9 oz. by the scale. As I was getting it off the hook the other rod bent nearly double. I dropped the fish in the boat and grabbed the rod fighting to get it out of the rod holder before the handle broke. I got it out and the fish put up a good fight in the current. After I got it in the boat it was the twin to the one on the bottom of the boat.
I baited up again and put the rods out as before. This time the one in the current connected up first. This Channel was a good eating size about 1 lb. I like catching big fish but I prefer eating the half to 3/4 lb. size. I caught two more about the same size with the current rod and I was about to call it a morning when the bank rod took a big hit. Again I had a big Channel this one looked to be about a 3 to 4 lb. size. Enough for today.
I'll be back in the morning.
The Lord Blessed me this morning. When I left the house I didn't expect to catch anything, the river was to full, the temp was to cold 47 when I put in, we just had over 3 inches of rain. But I had faith in myself as a good fisherman. I know how to catch fish and I know where to go. But the Lord put them on my hooks.
