The Trip: Part 1

By Chris Erwin

I told you I was going to take you along with me on my fall trip this year, so here we are. We have spent two days getting the cabin ready, including cutting firewood for the stove and getting the bass boat in the water. Moving the pontoon boat into a better location, the water is falling, and we don’t want it to be dry-docked.

Our supplies are all put away, and the generator is full of gas. Monday morning we plan to get out on the water and see whether any of our planning will pay off.

To recap, our bass boat is in line to have the big engine rebuilt. However, we planned this trip for some time, so we will fish with the trolling motor only. We may pull the bass boat to a different location using the pontoon boat, but we will be limited without the use of the big engine.

As we start Monday, everyone has gone home except my fishing buddy Hershell Crum and I. We are running late by the time we eat breakfast, get our boat gear stored and make it to the water. I glance at my watch as I start to make my first cast: It’s 2:15. I think to myself, “the day is half gone.”

The water looks cold with a dark cast to it. The bank line is so low it looks like a different place, long bank lines that normally hold water are now long sandy beach looking areas. While the forest is splashed with color, the water looks strangely barren.

It appears the water has turned over or is at least in the process. After reeling in my first cast I stuck my fingers into the water. It was cold! I looked at the water temperature gauge it was 58. I was beginning to think this could be a lot tougher than I thought it would be.

After fishing down the bank line for a while, I told Crum I was moving into the tree line next to the channel. The only fish we were catching were seven-inch bank-runners.

Now in the channel throwing a crankbait, I made a cast to the edge of the tree line. As I began my retrieve, three or four cranks into it, my reel stopped cold! I set the hook!  My rod bent hard. The thumping and bouncing of the rod made the rod come alive in my hands.

The bass breaks the water, just as Crum makes a move to the dip net. We both see the fish at the same time. Crum put the net in the water as I guide her into the hoop. It’s fat body hits the tape at 18 inches. Things are starting to look up.

As we head down the tree line, the fish are taking our offering with some degree of regularity. As we get into evening hours, we see we have caught 14 fish. Five of them were over 16 inches, two of them were over 17 inches and one tops the tape at just over 18 inches. The balance of the bass were in the slot 13 to 16 inches.

All the good bass we caught came from the channel trees and all the tree lines that produced were near deep water. I also managed to hook one muskie on the same crankbait. I got the beast to the top of the water but lost her as she shook her head. The fish looked to be in the low 40-inch category. As we head in the first day, we are on cloud nine feeling like we have figured out the fish. Please pick up next week’s issue to see how our week ends.