Not creekin' this time...

[Al Agnew]

Did a long float trip today.  River was in perfect condition, and I caught about 85 bass, but the vast majority were less than 12 inches.  In fact, I doubt that I caught more than about a dozen that were over 12 inches.  But some of them were really good fish...I caught four 18-inch (give or take a quarter-inch) smallmouth, and 2 largemouth that were about 17.5 inches.  The weird thing today is that I was consistently underestimating the size of those fish, until I put them on my paddle blade, which has marks on it for 18, 19, and 20 inches.  I'd catch one of those smallmouth, hold it up and look at it, and guess 17 inches, and then put it on the paddle and it would be right around the 18 inch mark.  So when I hooked one that actually looked a little bigger than those fish had looked in the water, I was excited.  Had to be 19 inches.  Got it right up to the canoe, was even holding the net and beginning to work it toward the net, and the danged line broke.  

The last mile of the float, I had some nice fish blow up on the topwater, caught a 16 inch largemouth and a 16.5 inch smallmouth, and I just had a feeling that there was one really big one just waiting to hit that walk the dog lure.  It was a perfect spot, right at the bottom of a riffle with a good log, current sweeping past it.  When the fish hit, it was a splash the size of a washtub.  Current was sweeping the canoe toward that log.  The smallmouth surfaced, and I saw that it was CONSIDERABLY bigger than those 18 inchers had looked in the water.  I grabbed the paddle and worked the canoe away from the log, rod held in my other hand.  The fish leaped  three times.  Stayed hooked.  I had it close to the canoe.  It jumped twice more.  I knew it was over 20 inches.  I grabbed the net, got the fish coming toward it...a foot from the net, it leaped one more time, and was gone.  Anybody watching me would have thought I was nuts.  I was cussing LOUDLY.  

I'm calm about it now.  That strike was absolutely spectacular.  The fish was about as hot and strong as a 20 plus incher can get.  It was fun.  And what the heck, I was going to release it anyway.  Not a single person seen all day, but two deer crossed the river in front of me, two turkeys flew across, an eagle gave me a really good look at it.  Great day!