More humble pie

[Al Agnew]

Hog Wally commented this afternoon, after he, Mitch, and I had flogged the water unmercifully for a few hours and I'd finally caught one decent fish, 15 or 16 inches, that he was wondering how I could report this trip, it was so bad.  But in keeping with my belief that maybe poor fishing has something to tell us the same as good fishing, here goes...

First time fishing with Hog Wally, who knows his section of the river about as well as anybody I've ever known.  First time in his boat, which, I hate to admit it, makes me wish I had one just like it.  Beautiful day, water temps in the low 60s, water still a bit high and murky, visibility a couple feet.

Hog Wally showed me a whole bunch of spots where he had caught big fish this past winter and early spring.  Some were spots we both knew, but some were spots I had never thought to fish.  In many ways they were obscure spots, not your usual big, deep, rocky pools, not rocky or heavy log cover.  I learned some things.  I kinda doubt that he learned much from me.

But the fish had left those spots, and though we fished where the big ones should be staging to spawn or hanging around waiting for their turn or hanging around after spawning, we got almost nothing.  So we fished other spots as well, places where the fish might be in midsummer more than in the spring, and got almost nothing in those places, either.  So let's put it this way...it didn't matter where we fished, we didn't catch much.  And it didn't much matter what we fished, either...crankbaits, topwaters, spinnerbaits, the craw, soft jerkbaits, regular jerkbaits.

Near the end of the day we hit one bank, and caught several fish, including a 14-15 incher for Mitch on a crankbait and a 13 incher and the 15-16 incher for me on a spinnerbait.  It was a bank just like a dozen others we'd fished with nothing much to show for it.

So yeah, lots of humble pie.  And I'm not sure we learned anything from it.  And to add insult to injury, Zipstick sent Mitch a photo of a big one that his client caught today, so SOMEBODY had something figured out, just not us.  

But even though our pride may have been hurt a bit, the three of us had a lot of fun fishing together.  

 Oh...we quit early enough that I could go to our land and do some morel hunting...and found only one.  It was that kinda day.

[Hog Wally]

Your too kind Al.  It was a very fun trip. You answered all 40 of my questions ! You are a encyclopedia of info on this beloved  river I call home.  Anytime you pass thru I'm usually game. What a day man. I missed several solid bites. At least you and Mitch caught every fish that bit you guys. Dang man I thought I was gonna take some time off but I'm going again tomorrow.  I can't handle the agony of defeat.  

[Mitch f]

I think the biggest thing I caught today was Al's hat!!?

[MOsmallies]

Awesome despite the slow bite. Glad you guys were able to hook up for a day on the water! Just like every day I've spent in Aaron or Mitch's boat... We have a blast whether the fish were biting or not!

[Smalliebigs]

Aaron's boat is quite amazing and he is a very gracious  host on his boat.

We finally  got the Stl 5 together  some what.....always a good time.

It's a  tough bite out there to say the least right now.....but if the water stays a nice even  flow aN April  spawn  is good I would think???

 

[Greasy B]

1 hour ago, Mitch f said:

I think the biggest thing I caught today was Al's hat!!?

Fishless days, angling nights. 

[Al Agnew]

Well, I did tell them why Lost Hill is named Lost Hill, so maybe they learned something.  

Mitch did sink the hooks in my hat pretty well.

I learned the names of most of the landowners along the river...I think most of them were either Hog Wally's relations, his friends, or dirty stinking bass giggers.

I learned a bunch of stuff I will never ever divulge to anyone else.

I scored some more craws and jig heads.

I even learned a trick of running a jetboat that might actually work with my 17 mph boat the same as it works with Hog Wally's 57 mph one.

I saw the inspiration for the next big Mitch and Hog Wally bait...Trump would say it's gonna be HUGE.

And on a downer note, we found out that there's a good chance another big gravel operation will go in at a beautiful spot on the river.

[Hog Wally]

It was a great day for me.  A bunch of big fish might have sent my ego over the edge.  

[Chief Grey Bear]

8 hours ago, Smalliebigs said:

We finally  got the Stl 5 together  some what.....always a good time.

There was an update quite some time ago. I thought wrench may have told you. 

It's STL7

[Hog Wally]

It was a great day for me.  A bunch of big fish might have sent my ego over the edge.