River Trip: April 20th-22nd, 2012

I wasn't planning to do much this past weekend due to a serious lack of funds. Well, that is until I got a last minute invite to the river with my parents along with my brother and his girlfriend. I showed up at their house with some of my gear at 5:30 Friday morning, load up their truck and boat, and soon we're east bound and down, loaded up and truckin'!

We launched the boat at Squaw Lake, I unhook the trailer and drive the truck around to meet them at Ferguson Lake. It was a bit warmer than usual for this weekend, at about 103. Low 70's at night. I slept on the dock, with a cool breeze, shooting stars and a couple catfish. The bluegills were everywhere. After a few minutes I figured 10 would last me the weekend. If not, just catch more! Around 10pm the first night, the clicker on my spinner started screaming. Pulled up a 3lb channel cat that ate my biggest bait! I guess he was really hungry... About midnight my bait caster started making noise. Now here's something I just thought about: Whenever a channel cat picks up my bait its a very fast run. Clicker screaming and line peeling off the reel. Flatheads just pull away at a slow and steady pace. That's my experience at least. So I bring in this next fish and its a 10lb flathead. Nice. No more runs for the night. All fish CPR'd. (Catch Photo Release)

On Saturday we spent the day out on the river at a sandbar, swimming, drinking, and BBQ. I got to sleep early that night, woke up at midnight and fished until dawn. No bites. However, just as the sun was coming up I notice a lot of activity at the surface just off the dock. Baitfish being chased. I grabbed my bass rod with a crank bait and soon I was into a school of striped bass. It was awesome! As the morning sun burned away the night sky the water around me danced to the commotion of predator and prey just below the surface. The flashing sides of the bass was like an underwater fireworks show. I caught 6 but only kept 3 for the freezer. They ranged from 2 to 6 pounds. Then after a few hours spent on the river we packed up and headed home. Should have put on more sunscreen but at least my sunburn has stopped hurting now.

The striped bass were delicious! Salt & pepper on one side and garlic salt on the other side. Pan fry the fillets in butter and they're good to go in under ten minutes!