Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Where do I start??

Greg and I were supposed to fish the 'doah today with CT Campbell but CT called and said the water is too low for him to get his skiff over the rapids so we had to cancel. Knowing this might happen, I had reached out to Chris Campo a few days before to see if he was open. He was. I asked him to reserve the day for us but to go ahead and get out if he had other clients call him. Lucky for us, he was still open when I called him on Friday morning.

The float we did is not something that he does normally with clients.

We all met up at the put in place and I got a chance to commiserate with Chris' dad whom I've know for many years as we used to work together. That was a bonus!

In order to do this float, we had to dismantle the raft and take two trips through the woods down to the river. Once Chris put the raft together, we then had to walk (wade) the raft out to where we had enough water to float. Looked like a Seal team getting ready for maneuvers. OK, morning workout in, time to go fishing!





The place looked like Mars, if it had water.





That's not a bridge in the above pic, it's a tree on a rock!



Despite a full moon, extreme low water conditions and blue bird skies, we caught fish!













Both Greg and I lost some fish but none as disappointing as the one of the one that Greg lost. It was a beast! Let's say a minimum of 18" but who knows. It was haunting! He also had a break of. On one of the fish he caught, he had  monster following it. We could not catch it.

I also had a harrowing experience. I was slowly swimming the fluke over some rocks (well, that was we did most of the day) and as I was picking  my lure (maybe a rod length away) I heard and then saw an explosion. No way to react to it as I was done with the cast. The fish definitely made some noise. Quite a visual.

I then got hit as we were going through a mini chute and all hell broke loose after we saw the 20" beast (as verified on a Hawg Through by the firm of Campo and Folts) jump! Chris grabbed the net but still had to manage the raft. The fish was having it's way with me. It was controlled pandemonium and Chris adeptly netted it so I could get a picture!




For the day, I kicked Greg's butt on catfish as I caught 3 channels and a blue. And he caught none! 



I think we got 15-16 smallies, all fat, healthy and strong. None less than 12"!


At lunch, we set up and rested here.





We set up lunch at the rock.



We got subs from the Filling Co. in Ashburn. They were good but they got devoured quickly!

Near the takeout, this tree took a piece of the island with it.



We had to hike up and back to our car. A most different scenario than normal.

Amazing day in Mars!