Milestones...

[WatterBoy]

Last Friday and weekend marked a couple of milestones for me. For starters, Friday was my 25th anniversary at my job -- a computer programmer (ok, technically a "Master Systems Developer") for an insurance company, and it also happened to the day of our annual company picnic. That meant a free afternoon off to partake in any number of company-sponsored activities (golf, biking, hiking, movies, etc.). After taking part in an event, my wife and I headed up to the lake for the weekend. We arrived with just enough daylight left for me to get out on the water for a couple of hours. Fishing was really slow, and I couldn't find many fish in my usual haunts or with my usual lures. I did manage to catch 3 before heading in for the night, and the biggest was my second best smallie for the year at 3 1/2 pounds.

3lb 8oz, 17.75" SM on a Zara Spook


Saturday and Sunday were pretty slow and uneventful as far as fishing goes, but we did manage to catch a few small bass and pike here and there on a variety of lures. We enjoyed the company of my brother-in-law's family and had a great time playing yard games, having campfires at night, and eating way too much good food for every meal.

After our guests left on Sunday afternoon, I decided to head out in the boat and try fishing deeper than we normally do. We almost always fish in 8' of water or less. I headed out to an area I knew had been good in the past and started fishing at a depth of about 15'. I was marking fish on the finder like CRAZY and caught some small pike and a bass using both a DT16 crankbait and a (Thunderstruck) jig & pig. I needed to re-tie after one of the pike shredded most of my 20lb braided line right about the jig eye. While I was doing so, I decided now would be a good time try fishing a swim jig. I had tried it just briefly from our dock at the end of last year after having read several threads about them on this site. I had a couple hits last year, but I didn't catch any.

I pulled out a Strike King Tour Edition Swimming Jig - 3/8 oz, Sexy Shad - and tied it on. I threaded on a Green Pumpkin Strike King Rage Craw as the trailer. Here is what it looked like at the end of the night. If you look closely, you will notice the weed guard is gone and so are several strands of the skirt. That means another milestone was had that night -- my first-ever swim jig fish!



I had only made about a half dozen casts, not really knowing what I was doing with the retrieve, just experimenting I guess, when all of a sudden...WHAM! I set the hook and came up with...nothing but air. A pike had sawed me off completely. Good bye swim jig & trailer number one. After having lost several of Kory's jigs this way last year, I finally decided it was time to put on a steel leader (you might have noticed that in the picture above also) so I could quit losing all my gear to those nasty pike.

After digging out a leader and finding another swim jig identical to the one I just lost (good thing I always buy multiples of lures, right?!) and getting it all rigged up, I was back in business. It wasn't long and I was hauling my first-ever swim jig bass into the boat! It wasn't a monster or anything, but it wasn't a dink either and I was ecstatic to have caught one so soon on it.

2lb 1oz, 14.25" LM - my first-ever swim jig bass


After catching a couple more pike in the deeper water (deeper for me, anyway), I decided to hit a real good weed bed nearby that was only in 8' of water. It turned out to be a good decision as I spent the next 45 minutes introducing 4 pike and 2 LM to the front deck of my boat, all courtesy of the swim jig fished through that same weed bed. I also had one pike hit that ripped a claw off my trailer and another pike all the way up to the boat that jumped, spit, and swam away.

Here are a couple shots of the best fish of the night...

3lb 1oz, 16.25" LM - my biggest swim jig bass...so far!


3lb 12oz, 24.75" - my biggest pike on a swim jig


It was the most fun I've had so far this year fishing on this lake. The pike I caught on the swim jig were just KILLING it. After I released the 3rd one, I noticed my weed guard was gone, but it still fished pretty weedless even through the rather thick weeds I was retrieving through.

Unfortunately, my wife has to work next Monday and Tuesday, but I am able to take the whole week off, so I am heading back up to our cabin at the lake on Friday night and will be there for 8 full days for hardcore fishing with a couple fishing buddies of mine and their families. Kaye will join us Tuesday night after work and will hopefully get out with us for some fishing as well. It's not my favorite week of the year to be at the lake because of all the water skiers, jet skiers, tubers, etc. who will be on the water, but it sure beats being at work! Hopefully I will have another report for you when we get back.

Hope you all enjoy your Independence Day holiday and stay safe no matter where you are or what you are doing!