Day 269
Finally made it out on the lake yesterday. It felt really good to be out on the water and wetting a line. I have a new fishing reel I hadn't used yet and I was curious if it would give me any trouble. It's a Zebco 202 with 10 lb. clear mono filament line. An old standard from my childhood. The first fishing rod and reel I ever owned was given to me by my father and has been my standard go to combo. I highly recommend this combo for any young angler just starting out. It's easy to use and cast, and it's reliable. I've never had a problem with the line getting tangled.
It was a beautiful, sunny and calm day yesterday. There were about half a dozen boats beside us out on the water. Amazing considering the DNR public boat launches were full every weekend in July. Also the west side DNR public boat launch at Higgins Lake was full to overflowing. I'm sure the state parks were full also. But August is historically slow here so maybe it wasn't so surprising there was so few boats on the lake.
We made it to our fishing spot around 10:30 am and after getting setup (my brother had his rig in the water first), he had a hit almost immediately. He was fishing with leeches (yuk) and I had my worms. The fish were sneaky and stole the bait from my brother several times before he reeled one in. A nice perch.
I had a double on my first catch; a perch and a bluegill. I realized right away I needed to reset the drag on my new reel. Having done that the rest of day was very productive. I even switched to plastic bait for a while but had to switch back when the fish stopped biting.
I caught a couple of nice sized bluegill but mostly small perch. Perch are active at this time of year in this area and can range from small 3" up to 12" or larger.
All in all a very fun day. I only wish there had been more of a breeze. The sun was very hot and we came in early do to the heat and chance of sunburn. As I had bathed in sunblock before venturing forth on to the lake, I escaped with slightly pink skin and no burn. We returned to the marina around 1:30 pm. About 3 hours spent fishing and we never moved from our original spot. Usually we have to try several before we get some serious action.
The summer has been so warm this year that I have spent most of my time indoors in the air conditioned living room with my computer. I'm not made for 90 degree weather. The 70's are my best temps.
So although August is hot and allergy season is at a high, it's also a great time to get out on the lake. This coming weekend, Aug 6, is the infamous annual Bud Bash at the Limberlost. So we will be crowded again but then we should slow down until Labor Day weekend the last hurrah of summer.
Until tomorrow,
Ken
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