Anxious to get out and try for some of the trips recently planted in Silver Lake, as friend Pete had knocked 'em dead earlier in the week, catching three of the "biggies" on Wednesday. Met Pete at 6:00 AM, he beat me to the lake and had lines in the water by 6:15, was into his first, a 10" to 11" stocker almost immediately. I started with chartreuse Power Eggs on one rig, piece of nightcrawler under a float on the second. Air temp was 44 degrees and cloudy at the outset, water temp off the pier was 52 degrees at 15'. Action was pretty brisk right away, Pete took his second stocker at about 7:00, then I landed one at about 7:30.
The day became rather frustrating for me, rather quickly. By 7:00 many more fishermen were showing up and squeezing onto the pier. By 8:00 I counted no less than 15 fishermen on the pier with a total of 22 lines in the water. Pete and I had started out no more than 3' apart, and an hour later two fishermen had squeezed in between us... RUDE!!! I spent the greater part of the day untangling my line from those who incessantly crossed my lines with their errant casts. I have a great deal of patience with the kids who are learning to fish (Lord knows I was one once), however, the bozos who put on 2oz of lead so they cast half way across the lake, and then have no idea which way their terminal tackle is liable to end up, with them my patience runs thin. Perhaps it was my bad attitude that the fish picked up on, but I caught only one other stocker, about 1:00... meanwhile, Pete had limited by 11:30, including two chunky trips that went 16" to 17" apiece. Pete is a great fisherman, nothing seems to bother him much, he just hauls them in, one after another! Saw a lot of fish caught, perhaps 16 to 18 of the trips, but not great fishing for the number of lines in the water during the day. Fish (including trips) were caught on either side of me, and try as I might (used every color of Power Bait/Eggs in the rainbow, beside nightcrawlers, shrimp, spin casting several offerings... tried different lengths of leader (from 2' to 5') I just couldn't get hook-ups. Had many bites, no hook-ups! Rain showers began about noon, and the crowds thinned out... left the lake about 4:00. One of those days where the fishing is great (always is!), but the catching isn't. Good morning at Church on Sunday for an attitude adjustment and will be fine for next time out! PTL!

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