Fun day

[capt hoop]

My friend Bobby and I have had some good fishing trips together. We started out today looking for trout to the West. As we are heading out I decide to check out something on the East. Why do I always second guess myself? That move wasted a few hours and almost 12 gallons of gas.

Back on the west side I run to an oyster reef that had a lot of smaller specks on it the other day. Some were keepers. Bobby is using Vu Du shrimp Cajun Pepper and I am using Egret minnow purple. Both baits have chartreuse tails. We get a lot of short strikes which is indicative of smaller trout. The gaff tops and hardheads are eating up the artificial baits. Bobby lands the first trout. It is short but they are here.



This is not happening so I move on. I get to an area I had never been before and find some boats getting ready to move. Seems the bite was on and just ended. 2 guys in one boat did well with live shrimp. All of the marinas now have live shrimp. We chose not to take any with us. After we left there I was easing through unfamiliar waters and noticed a small patch of somewhat cleaner water behind a small island. I kill the big motor and use the trolling motor to position the boat. As I am doing this the water becomes alive with bait. It was not long before I am diving for the net. Bobby is coming in with a very nice trout. We now have our first fish in the box.



This 19 incher was a nice way to break the ice. For the next half hour we missed a lot, landed a few catfish and managed a few yellow
mouths.



We put 9 in the box very quickly. The Vu Du shrimp was the ticket. We gave it another half hour and only put 2 more in. We were happy with 11 in the box around noon but decided to search some other places. We bounced around and picked through some shorts as well as cats. About 2:00 we called it a day. Bobby enjoyed a beer as I fueled up the boat and we headed to my place for the fish cleaning party.



Bobby cleaned the boat and I cleaned the 16 trout from 12 to 20 inches.



Life is Good!
Fishing is not a matter of life or death. It's more important than that.

CAPT HOOP -- OUR FREEDOM