off... for a bit

Ahh...off for almost a week. I'm looking forward to a little carp fishing, taking my dad to the Me and spending a great holiday weekend with my family and friends. The nearly twenty degree temperature drop that we've endured over the last couple days didn't bode well for the smallmouth fishing. Yesterday was one of the toughest days I've had on the water in a long time. It went from nearly ninety degrees and humid to barely sixty with a relentless wind. Bart and I had a two boat trip yesterday and everyone got fish, but we had to work our tails off for them. Sometimes that's just as satisfying as when you have a fifty fish day. The stretches in between fish can feel like an eternity, but when you finally hook up and slide that fish into the net, the smiles and hard work make it that much sweeter. Today was much better. It was a little warmer and the wind laid down early in the afternoon. We got a good number of popper fish, the minnows produced and the pike kept us busy in between bass. Other than that, it's been a great season thus far. Good numbers of fish, some good sized fish and great customers in the boat have kicked '09 off in a good way. Six or seven days off with a little R&R and we'll be back at it after the 4th weekend. Below on the right are some pictures from the last couple weeks.