Got set up a Dog Island and begin catching good fish right away.
Tom hooks up to a quality trout just to have it come unhooked. Cast again and the line parts. Retie. Cast again. Retie. Cast again. Retie.
Look at rod tip. Retire rod. Bad eye on the tip.
Cast again...tarpon takes and breaks. Tom never got upset. Just kept fishing and catching some really good trout.
We watch rain storms all around us for several hours. Look to the East at a nasty looking waterspout.
Call Butch to see if it is near him. He said it was right on top of him. It did not last long. The storm headed straight for Tom and I. We come up with a evacuation plan. (Raincoat and ride it out.)
Just as it gets to us, it veers inland to Carrabelle and stays there awhile before blowing out.
Tom and I resume catching some good fish.
Took Tom in at 2:30 for judge duty.
I went back out to catch the falling tide. I caught a just under 4 pound trout to get me on the board Friday night.
Saturday a.m.
Met Ashley(warrior) Mock and Junior Dice at the Lanark ramp at 6 a.m.
Called Tom at 6:15 a.m. to see why he was late.
He was not late. He told me of the message he left the night before about not being able to go with us.
We head out into lots of thunder to a early morning trout hole. Bait is being crashed everywhere. First cast, trout in the boat. The more we fished the more we caught.
The porpoise moved in to feed we moved out with several upper slot trout in the cooler.
Move down to hole #2. The bite is going strong here too.
A couple 4 pounders, then the hog takes my bite a bait. About 10 feet from the boat my line breaks. Hog gone. She spends several minutes crashing and thrashing trying to dislodge the plug.
The storms are coming together to make one really big storm heading our way. We decide it is time to return to the ramp to get Juniors forgotten hat and my forgotten sandwich.
While at the ramp the storm turns and comes in on top of us.
Here come the boats. The small marina fills to the brim with everyone seeking refuge.
Thirty minutes later, back on the water.
Hole #3 has some good fish, just no big ones biting.
We make a long run to hole #4.
This is the hole we are looking for. This is were the big trout are. Also the big redfish. We boat 3 reds 25-27 inches the biggest weighing 8 pounds. The reds are beating the trout to the plug. We catch several and then decide to leave and let the reds calm down.
We come back in about 30 minutes and the trout bite is on.
We all caught good fish to 4 pounds. Ashley had the skill and luck to catch the tournament winning trout at 5.05 pounds.
Not a really big trout, but definetely big enough.
Congratulations to my fishing partner for a great tournament a great win and a fun time.
I did not have to net a single fish. Junior would not let me after throwing 2 of his out of the net last week.
