Econfina 10-8 & 10-9

[Jumptrout51]

Got down to Econfina about 10 a.m. Friday.
Checked in to the Lodge then went to the ramp.
No water and many boulders at the ramp.
Backed in and left the trailer tires dangling on the end of the ramp.
The boat was still not wet.
Walked around the car to the other side of the trailer to see if I could go back further.
Slipped on the green snot covering the exposed ramp and busted my arse and back.
Good news was I could go back a little further on that side.
Backed up a little and the bottom of the boat touched water.
Got on the trailer to try and push the boat off.
Left too much arse on the green snotty ramp.
A nice guy coming down stream in his jonboat saw me pushing and stopped to help.
Together we got the boat to slide into the near waterless river.
I climbed over the bow to run the boat up to the dock.
Stepped on the deck and my wet green snotty shoes went out from under me and I busted my arse and back once again.
Not to be daunted,I slowly idled to the mouth of the river to catch the incoming tide.
At the mouth there was still too little water to run a straight shot to my hole.
I took the left at the tripod then back right for a south run.
I was 6 miles out before I had enough water to turn and run 2 miles down,then 5 miles back in to the fishing hole.
By now the tide had turned in and was coming in very strong.
There was no wind,only tide movement.
I was drifting at 1.5 mph on the GPS.
Going across beautiful bottom I could see trout and reds spooking from the boat shadow.
I was throwing the "Warrior Special" and the trout were nailing it.
The few that missed the topwater plug were fooled by a soft jerk follow up bait.
Boated 6 19-20 inch trout and knew where I would be fishing tournament morning.

FRIDAY NIGHT
Got back to the ramp at 5 p.m.
The once waterless river was flowing into the parking lot.
Got the boat out and took a shower.
Headed to Deals World Famous Seafood House for dinner with Warrior and Nicole.
Too much oysters shrimp scallops and mullet on my plate to eat it all.
The cheese grits was perfect,real cheesy.
Back at the lodge by 7:30 and asleep by 8.

SATURDAY MORNING
Woke up a little past 4.
Shower shaved and dressed walked outside to wait hours before most arrived.
Had a very frightening sight at 4:30 when SirReel pulled up.
Not what I wanted to see that early in the a.m.
Walked down to the ramp to check on a boat that tied up the night before.
The 2 a.m. high tide put half the boat on the seawall.
With a little nudge it fell off and back into the water.
Before long there were boats everywhere as the members and guest started showing up for the 6:15 sign in.
About 5 'til 7 everyone began idling down river in the dark.
About halfway down the daylight started breaking over the horizon.
My partner Grizzly Adams and I stopped short of our intended spot to try for reds close in.
Saw several tailing and chasing bait.
They would not bite.
The water was quickly falling and we had to leave or get stuck.
We idled down and out about a mile and a half to yesterdays fishing spot.
The Bass Boys were already there and pulling in trout every other cast.
We set up near them and a couple cast later we start putting trout on ice.
Sixteen inches of water and thick grass caused us to lose several really large fish.
As the day progressed we managed a double limit of solid fish while releasing 2 or 3 limits of trout.
Back at the weigh in we managed 10 and 1/2 pounds.
Top honors went to Preacher Aman and his partner.(They fished at MyWay Seafood house in Panacea).
Second went to Showboat and K8show.(K8show caught all their biggest fish).
Warrior,ReelCowboy and their guest Frosty took 3rd.(They burned 30 gallons of gas looking for a bite).
Got to meet Juan coming all the way from Cottonwood Alabama to fish my holes.
Ate some real good J R sandwiches made and delivered by J R himself.

[Harmsway]

Great report, JumpTrout51. Sounds like a banner weekend ('cept for the green-snot-arse-busting thang).

[Chalk]

[Dubble Trubble]

I took the left at the tripod then back right for a south run.

Now he's fishin' MY holes

Dubble

[Atticus]

Nice report. I will have to try that seafood place.

All we could find on Saturday were 17-19 inchers. Never got to the Hawg we were hunting.

What is the Warrior special?

[hokiega]

What a great read. That made me laugh out loud, thanks. I fell down two weeks ago skipping down the metal slope at the Keaton public ramp. I still have a scab on my knee and my partners are still laughing.

[SHOWBOAT]

sorry to hear you busted Steve. Nice fish.

[Jumptrout51]

I took the left at the tripod then back right for a south run.

Now he's fishin' MY holes

Dubble

Nope not your holes.
You didn't read the part about catching good fish.
Your holes don't hold good fish.

[onefishtwofish]

Buy some new shoes.