Ok, so I post when I have a decent day; guess I have to post on days like today as well
Mako Mike is leaving to fish the Keys shortly AND he has been struggling this trophy season; so I promised to show him how to run boards, and hopefully put a few fish in the boat. Sometimes the best intentions go unfounded.
Mike brought two friends with him, so I really wanted to put a few fish in the box. We caught nothing
Had one boat rod hooked up and lost the fish transitioning the rod from one angler to the other
This was an early bite, so no problem, we will get another couple of fish
It was not to be. I tried everything in my bag of tricks. We trolled faster, then slower, checked lines for snot and grass (some, but not much), adjusted one side of the boat to run lighter/higher in the water. Pulled rods about 2 hours later and cleaned lures and again adjusted rods. Nothing worked!!!!!!
After 7 hours (yes, I said seven hours) of trolling, we called it a day. I tucked my tail between my legs and headed for the barn. As we slid into the creek, the sun came out, the temperature warmed, and we made the decision to get some fuel and head back out (At least I'm not a quitter)
Fueled up and dropped lines just outside Deale and trolled another 2 hours with the same results.
I ran 16 board lines, (and 5 boat rods too). I had lines out 90, 84, 72, and 60ft off boards. At one time, I even had some 48 ft off boards on one side. It was unbelievable that we couldn't find one unlucky fish to bring boat side.
I'm mentally beat. The company was good and so was the food/drink. But it was just not meant to be.
Mike and Dale got pretty proficient at clearing lines and resetting
but that was only supposed to be part of todays experience.
A lot of people struggled today, but some (named Bruce) did well on the scattered fish
It won't be long before my head hits the pillow.
5th