Make the most of it!!

On Monday I headed back to the lake at my parents house to try and get some crappie points for Kayak Wars since I tore them up the week before. Also, I was planning on taking my boat out the next day with my buddy Capt. Luke and his dad to chase the elusive Black Drum that make a short windowed appearance in the middle Chesapeake Bay during the month of May. But I'll get to that story.....

So I got to the lake and launched at about 2pm... planning to target crappie for most of the day then try for some largemouth on the evening bite. Since I had fished the day before in VA at Briery Creek Lake I still had some topwater tied on. After launching I decided why not throw the popper in the 1st cove, which is generally shaded most of the day to see what happens... fourth cast of the day.....BOOOM solid blow up underneath some hanging tree limbs that were bordered by underwater laydowns and brush on both sides. The fish immediately started zipping drag and the fight was on..
I was certainly afraid that I would get tangled up in the brush as the fish made a number of runs, and a jump as she got close to the yak. I knew it was a big fish so I played it cautiously until I could get the net cleanly...BAM fish in the boat!! Measured out to 21.5" and 6 lbs on the scale. A few pictures and she was off to be caught again.

10th Largemouth Citation on the Kayak

 

I continued to go on and catch a boat load of crappie the rest of the afternoon, but only 7 were over 12", with most being just shy of 12". I generally troll slowly for best success, but I will also cast when I find a good school on the fish finder.

 

This is my go to crappie lure, DOA 1/8oz jig head with a Doc Irv Custom Baits Grub Tail in smoke color.

 

 

 

Day two started out just fine... I got the boat and trailer loaded up behind the car and had everything prepped for some light tackle monster drum fishing.

The rig looks awesome with all my toys!!

 

Unfortunately, the motor gave us issues from the start. She didn't want to turn over... then we got her running... and let her run for a bit... then we thought we were set. Little did we know.... off we went out of the marina and 500 yds out she cuts off on us... couldn't start her up again... GOOD thing we brought the kayak paddle. WE started paddling back towards the marina hoping another boat would venture out and give us a hand.

Finally a kind boater.

 

We get back to the dock and while I'm loading the boat back on the trailer we get talking to another slip holder at the marina. Luke asked him if he wanted to fish, that we had all the gear and would pitch in for fuel.... and wee were off!! How lucky is that... we made friends with a good guy and his pup Murphy and we were heading back out on the mission.

 

We fished a re-built Grady White 26 Wahoo Inboard Front Shaft, there are only less than 10 of these still on the water.

 

Off we went to the fishing grounds just outside of the Choptank River and south a bit. Overboard Rods rigged and ready with cut soft crab, egg sinkers, 60# leader, and a 8/0 octopus hook.

 

The way you fish for drum is you slowly motor around looking for lots of marks on the bottom of the fish finder before you drop the bait. You ideally want to put it right in front of their faces so they have to bite it.

 

 

After a little searching we found a decent enough school to make a drop, Luke misses then almost immediately hooks up on the second bite. Now the fiasco ensued... like always we make it interesting when we fish. Luke's Dad had snagged the bottom and was right in the way of where the fish was swimming. After trying to pass the lines up and over and under and around we decided to cut the other line and focus on this fish. Who knows it might be the only one we get. Luke is fighting the fish on a 7' MH Overboard Soul Pole Series rod with micro guides, essentially it is my LTJ rod for stripers. But we didn't want to only catch big fish, we wanted to do it sportingly.

 

After about a 10 minute or more fight, working the fish until it was dead tired we got it to the boat and I completed the net job. We usually don't care who reels in the fish as we fish a lot of tournaments and a fish in the boat is a team effort, so we were all stoked and posed for the a picture with the fish. Everyone was impressed with the durability of the Overboard Rods while fighting a 50# fish.

 

Me with the team's prize.

 

Our new Buddy Aaron with the 1st black drum on his boat!!

 

Capt. Luke at the end of the day with his beauty!

 

Unfortunately we weren't able to catch anymore, but we were robbed a few times of bait. But it was an awesome day that we really made the most of a lost cause!!

Our only other catch of the day and probably my most impressive catch to date... try and do that with that big of a hook.