Texas Transplant
Well-Known Member
Fished our 'spring weekend away' tournament on Lake Keowee (SC), this past weekend. Went up on Friday, and pre-fished for about 5 hours.
Since I haven't used the boat for some months (last fall), in a tourney, I decided to test the live wells on Friday while on the water. Neither pump worked. Shortened version of the story is that we got both working (somewhat), on Friday, and they operated good the balance of the weekend.
Also, decided on Friday that the 2 trolling batteries were in fact, too old and weak. So while working on the livewell pumps, put in two big ol' Wal Mart specials on Friday night.
Both partner and I caught some fish on Friday. Saturday rolled around, and partner managed to put three in the boat. I caught one, but it was a shorty.
On Saturday night, I cut off most of what I had been using, and made changes. Went back to the Tex. Rig setup that I prefer (spinning outfit); differnet jerk bait; completly different crankbaits. Then the storm rolled in.
It rocked and rolled for about 2 hours. Big electrical storm and rain. Got the weather forecast for Sunday - windy with lake advisories. 20-30mph winds.
On Sunday, got out and decided it was not too bad (wind wise), so we ran up the lake (about 13 miles) first thing. Wind was around 10-15 mph. Somewhat rough ride, with minimal bouncing and water spray. Stopped once on the way due to wave action, and then moved on. This was my first time running a bass boat in heavy water, so I was learning on the job. Took me a little while to find the right combination of speed/handling (somewhere around 35-37 mph did the trick).
Found that our spot (decent sized secondary creek arm) was pretty wind protected. Caught a couple of keepers in there. Decided to make the run down the lake around 11:15AM, giving us another 2-2 1/2 hours to fish.
Got to the main lake, and it was a 'rolling'. Winds had to be in the 25-35 mph. It was really blowing. Really rough, and not much of a chance to get near a wind protected shore. Took a good 'shower' 2-3 times, and only had to stop one time. Hit some real big-un's, and the boat got 'out-of-sync' with the prop/water/making headway.
While running back down the biggest open stretch that I had, there was one of those big old cabin cruisers making about 20-25 mph up the lake. No way to avoid the wake that was heading our way, so I did the smart thing and slowed to just 'making headway'. Partner indicated that 'the wake doesn't look any worse than the general whitecaps, let's go. I deffered. Then my partner hollered 'oh crap (cleaned up a little here)! Came a good 5-6 foot swell/hole. I was positioned pretty well, and rode through it with little or no problem. My partner then thanked me profusely for taking it slowly.
Finally got to the lower lake, and got into a somewhat protected creek arm. Managed to pick up 2 more keepers on a bandit crankbait (200 series I believe). Four to the scales in all. Not a big weight by any means (3 spotted bass and 1 LM), but I got to weigh in 4 fish. Several zeros.
Made it back home, sore-tired and ready for a cold one.
Three weeks to Santee for the federation.
Tex
Since I haven't used the boat for some months (last fall), in a tourney, I decided to test the live wells on Friday while on the water. Neither pump worked. Shortened version of the story is that we got both working (somewhat), on Friday, and they operated good the balance of the weekend.
Also, decided on Friday that the 2 trolling batteries were in fact, too old and weak. So while working on the livewell pumps, put in two big ol' Wal Mart specials on Friday night.
Both partner and I caught some fish on Friday. Saturday rolled around, and partner managed to put three in the boat. I caught one, but it was a shorty.
On Saturday night, I cut off most of what I had been using, and made changes. Went back to the Tex. Rig setup that I prefer (spinning outfit); differnet jerk bait; completly different crankbaits. Then the storm rolled in.
It rocked and rolled for about 2 hours. Big electrical storm and rain. Got the weather forecast for Sunday - windy with lake advisories. 20-30mph winds.
On Sunday, got out and decided it was not too bad (wind wise), so we ran up the lake (about 13 miles) first thing. Wind was around 10-15 mph. Somewhat rough ride, with minimal bouncing and water spray. Stopped once on the way due to wave action, and then moved on. This was my first time running a bass boat in heavy water, so I was learning on the job. Took me a little while to find the right combination of speed/handling (somewhere around 35-37 mph did the trick).
Found that our spot (decent sized secondary creek arm) was pretty wind protected. Caught a couple of keepers in there. Decided to make the run down the lake around 11:15AM, giving us another 2-2 1/2 hours to fish.
Got to the main lake, and it was a 'rolling'. Winds had to be in the 25-35 mph. It was really blowing. Really rough, and not much of a chance to get near a wind protected shore. Took a good 'shower' 2-3 times, and only had to stop one time. Hit some real big-un's, and the boat got 'out-of-sync' with the prop/water/making headway.
While running back down the biggest open stretch that I had, there was one of those big old cabin cruisers making about 20-25 mph up the lake. No way to avoid the wake that was heading our way, so I did the smart thing and slowed to just 'making headway'. Partner indicated that 'the wake doesn't look any worse than the general whitecaps, let's go. I deffered. Then my partner hollered 'oh crap (cleaned up a little here)! Came a good 5-6 foot swell/hole. I was positioned pretty well, and rode through it with little or no problem. My partner then thanked me profusely for taking it slowly.
Finally got to the lower lake, and got into a somewhat protected creek arm. Managed to pick up 2 more keepers on a bandit crankbait (200 series I believe). Four to the scales in all. Not a big weight by any means (3 spotted bass and 1 LM), but I got to weigh in 4 fish. Several zeros.
Made it back home, sore-tired and ready for a cold one.
Three weeks to Santee for the federation.
Tex
