The three of us spent 12-4 on the lake. For the first three hours we were the only ones there. We wore light long underwear and layers of shirts and jackets so we'd be more warm than last week. It was generally cloudy with light wind, 50 degrees and 55 water temps. Within the first five minutes we boated two trout. Things were looking good.

We trout-trolled for the first two hours and each had hits we missed, a couple that got off right at the boat, but generally plenty of action the entire time. We were surprised when we consistently got into the largemouth bass. Normally, they don't move much this time of year but while not large, they provided plenty of fun. P. boated 6 bass, 2 trout, K. boated 5 trout and 1 bass, and I scored 3 trout and 9 bass, plus dibs on the largest of the bass. I had a mess with my "perch pole". Finally got the greasy, jammed line undone from under the gears and began casting the light weight pole with 6lb test and a very small lure. I made a cast and said, "Man, that's such a good cast, it deserves a fish!" and before I said "fish", a good strike happened taking my lure to the bottom. I said I can't horse him cause this is my perch pole. So with some finesse, I got him to the boat. He was pretty skinny, but a fun fish and the biggest guy for the day.

We found a calm corner and enjoyed the barbecued hot dogs, chips and cookies without the potato salad as I left it at the house by accident.
As the afternoon wore on the sun came out a bit more as did the people and lake toys. Right now the water is quite high and two areas that normally separate into islands, had full water between the structures and we could practically boat straight through so we had some fun exploring areas normally inaccessible. We hooked up to a few tree limbs and lily pads, but overall the excursion was pretty smooth with consistent fish. K boated the last two of the day as we neared the launch ramp. P. did a great job backing the trailer and I trailered the boat on the first take despite a low battery for the trolling motor. With two trolling motors, we use four batteries and three of the four are on their last legs/cells, so gotta spend some money on new batteries to enjoy the rest of our short season.

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