Clint Bailey from Lynchburg has fished with me the last four years. Clint helps create that wonderful libation known as Jack Daniels... and he is prone to share, so I always really like it went Clint comes calling. :grin:
This time he brought his Dad, Dwayne, along and said they wanted to try and split the day between the search for a trophy smallmouth and a few cats... so that was the game plan.
The first drift (with Jack's shiners) and a 4 lb. smallmouth erupts from the water on the end of Dwayne's line. High-five's all around and we do it again. Second drift, Clint size's up when a 21-inch, 5 lb. beast of a smallmouth that bends his buggy-whip of rod double. (video coming later). It was still so dark it was hard to take decent pictures. With a pair of trophy fish in the boat in 15 minutes, I asked Clint and Dwayne if they just wanted to head for home and save some money.
Fortunately they said, "No," because the hits just kept on coming. After Dwayne had a good striper come unbuttoned, the initial drift line shut down (except for pesky white bass) but we spread out and just kept finding fish hungry for more shiners (presented just the right way). All morning long a variety of species of fish just kept coming, including a 3.5 foot gar and FIVE more big smallmouth. I think it was the most "quality" smallmouth I've ever put in the boat in one morning... seven brown fish and there wasn't a single one under 3.5 lbs. I think we could have stayed on 'em if the wind hadn't kicked in hard, making it nearly impossible to provide the right presentation.
No matter, we figured it was a sign to just switch to cats (plus we used up five dozen shiners, the majority of which caught a fish).
My drift bite for cats is dead right now... unbelievable for the month of May, but as we all know, it's a strange year. Thank goodness the one sweet spot (and special secret light tackle presentation) I found a couple of weeks ago paid off again. It wasn't a fast & furious bite, but over the course of four hours, we smacked a good number of blues from 10 lbs. up to 21 lbs. At one point Clint was fighting a beast that would have gone 30 lbs. He got him to the boat three times, but remember... I don't carry a net, encouraging folks to "fight 'em to the finish." Dwayne hooked another fish and like an idiot, I encouraged Clint to "put some heat on him," to get his fish to the boat. He did... and the line parted ways. :crazy: Dumbass Guide!
I made him swear to never reveal it publically (to protect my secret spot)... but I was rolling video on Clint's iPhone so he can pull out clear evidence of my "dumbassedness" for years to come.
Bottomline... we fished a solid eleven hours. Again, it wasn't fast & furious but we pretty much "whacked 'em & stacked 'em" all day long. Clint quesstimated we put 300 lbs. of fish in the boat (not counting the lost 30 lber)... and that means life is good and gettin' better every day. Now excuse me while go enjoy a little Lynchburg libation.
This time he brought his Dad, Dwayne, along and said they wanted to try and split the day between the search for a trophy smallmouth and a few cats... so that was the game plan.
The first drift (with Jack's shiners) and a 4 lb. smallmouth erupts from the water on the end of Dwayne's line. High-five's all around and we do it again. Second drift, Clint size's up when a 21-inch, 5 lb. beast of a smallmouth that bends his buggy-whip of rod double. (video coming later). It was still so dark it was hard to take decent pictures. With a pair of trophy fish in the boat in 15 minutes, I asked Clint and Dwayne if they just wanted to head for home and save some money.
Fortunately they said, "No," because the hits just kept on coming. After Dwayne had a good striper come unbuttoned, the initial drift line shut down (except for pesky white bass) but we spread out and just kept finding fish hungry for more shiners (presented just the right way). All morning long a variety of species of fish just kept coming, including a 3.5 foot gar and FIVE more big smallmouth. I think it was the most "quality" smallmouth I've ever put in the boat in one morning... seven brown fish and there wasn't a single one under 3.5 lbs. I think we could have stayed on 'em if the wind hadn't kicked in hard, making it nearly impossible to provide the right presentation.
No matter, we figured it was a sign to just switch to cats (plus we used up five dozen shiners, the majority of which caught a fish).
My drift bite for cats is dead right now... unbelievable for the month of May, but as we all know, it's a strange year. Thank goodness the one sweet spot (and special secret light tackle presentation) I found a couple of weeks ago paid off again. It wasn't a fast & furious bite, but over the course of four hours, we smacked a good number of blues from 10 lbs. up to 21 lbs. At one point Clint was fighting a beast that would have gone 30 lbs. He got him to the boat three times, but remember... I don't carry a net, encouraging folks to "fight 'em to the finish." Dwayne hooked another fish and like an idiot, I encouraged Clint to "put some heat on him," to get his fish to the boat. He did... and the line parted ways. :crazy: Dumbass Guide!
I made him swear to never reveal it publically (to protect my secret spot)... but I was rolling video on Clint's iPhone so he can pull out clear evidence of my "dumbassedness" for years to come.
Bottomline... we fished a solid eleven hours. Again, it wasn't fast & furious but we pretty much "whacked 'em & stacked 'em" all day long. Clint quesstimated we put 300 lbs. of fish in the boat (not counting the lost 30 lber)... and that means life is good and gettin' better every day. Now excuse me while go enjoy a little Lynchburg libation.
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