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Decker 2/26/23

1K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  jcthurman 
#1 ·
I proposed two lakes to Todd this morning, Decker or Bastrop. He said he was good with either lake. We both assumed a shortened day due to the forecast 30mph gusty south wind. We decided to stay closer to home and agreed on Decker.

Todd and I arrived at our usual reasonable dawn patrol start time of 6:00AM. I was somewhat surprised to see an empty lake and we launched first into the white-out fog. I wanted to start in the back of an uplake cove but Todd decided to start on a mainlake shoreline. A beaver swam by. We were talking about hunting beaver while I dead-sticked a senko in 5FOW next to the reeds. In the calm of the morning it was easy to detect the subtle tick. It is the best feeling in the world to wind up the slack, rear back with a swift pivot and watch the rod bend double with the weight of a largemouth.

We couldn’t get another fish from there, so we brought up the lake map on the Lowrance. I pointed out all the spots where I got bit yesterday. Todd ran us uplake to a shallow cove. He kept pushing shallower, which goes against my grain, but he’ll usually get at least one. Sure enough, he was slow rolling chatterbait along the mouth to the backwater when a good’un ran down the lure and knocked some slack in Todd’s line right under the boat, yeah buddy. I enjoy watching Todd get short-lined, but this time I jumped down and scooped up the fish for him.

We tried the backwater, but no one was home so we came out and worked along the shoreline of the home of the giants. I caught another senko fish. The fog refused to burn off. Another beaver swam by. We approached the community hole and I got excited. I said, “You know the five pounder lives right there!” Right then Todd’s rod went double with another chatterbait fish. This fish went 3-12 and was the best of the day. I said, “Well you caught his little brother, anyway.”

I was trying all the tricks from yesterday and nothing was biting my hard baits. We moved across to a grass flat and each caught drop shot fish. A beautiful red Bass Cat appeared out of the fog into the cove on the opposite shoreline. We continued to fish and when we crossed paths, the Bass Cat came near to say hi. “5 good bites” called us by name and said good morning. Then he related a tale of woe concerning his first bite of the morning. He knew he had a really big fish but couldn’t get to the net fast enough before the giant threw the hook. It was great to meet you, Randy!

We continued fishing our way out of the cove. I cast out chatterbait to the reeds. I was reeling it back with a steady crosswind bowing my line. I was trying my best Steve Kennedy impersonation, zigging and zagging the chatterbait, popping and juking when a good’un smoked it on the fall. Alright!

We explored a little bit and the wind came up. We caught a few more drop-shot fish. Todd caught a square bass that was as tall as he was long, milting like crazy when held. Getting tight to the reeds was tricky in the gusty wind. Todd had been patiently trolling over to get my line when I wrapped a reed, but at the end the autopilot troller accelerated faster than I could open the bail and my line snapped. I have to give props to the FG knot, the 8# flouro broke near the knot, but you could still see the flouro dead end “tag” coming out of the knot at the live end of the braid. Todd‘s DS rig was wound up with wind knots, so we called it right there and headed to the ramp.

We were greeted at the ramp by GW. Todd is always happy to see these guys. He’ll wave them over and strike up a conversation while he shows off his life preserver and boat horn. They asked for our fishing licenses and I saw a look of horror come across Todd’s face. He handed GW the folded license and asked, “Is it expired?”

GW handed it back without unfolding and said, “You tell me.”

I had a sense of deja vu and Todd said, “Didn’t you write me a ticket for expired fishing license last time you saw me?” I remembered back a couple years ago when this same Warden wrote Todd a ticket in my boat on Lady Bird. The officer looked in his phone and said, “Yep, actually that was my partner that cited you.” I shook my head in disbelief. Todd had gotten out of the first ticket by charming the lady ADA prosecuting the case into dismissing the ticket. This time, the Warden let him get online and purchase a license. After Todd showed GW proof of purchase, he issued Todd a warning. Then GW told me it was my job to make sure that Todd’s license to fish was current before we went fishing. I guess I’m a deputy GW now, LOL! We caught 12 total, six each with Todd claiming big bass honors. Can’t wait to get back. Off at noon.
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#3 ·
Nice meeting you guys as well Jeremy and Todd. I got a little bit of a late start around 8 and stayed til 2:30. It did get pretty windy. Spent a good deal of the day trying to figure out my Active Target. That's what I was doing when I hooked into a really nice one but didn't get her in the boat after missing her twice with my hand. (net still in storage...duh! That'll teach me). Ended up with only three fish, but got a good bit of time on the FFS. You guys kill em on that place! Nice work boys. Hope to see you out there again!
 
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