Fishing Report 2017 Final?

[Scott McKee]

I love northwest winds in the river. I have caught a few really nice fish in them over the years. But, with the bow slamming in the chop trolling downstream, the steadily increasing winds in the Triangle were becomimg a real nuisance when my rod fired with a long, slow, steady rip.

Even though I know it's not always the case, I am usually thinking El Dorado when a rod pulling a big bait buckles. Fortunately, I had just sharpened the hooks on the orange belly perch, 13" Believer I was pulling.

I wish the rest of this story unfolded an epic struggle with a Niagara Queen in rough seas, which I'm sure some of you may have been anticipating, but after I grabbed the rod and my brother put the boat in neutral, I knew it wasn't a pig. After a quick measurement to keep my eye-ball measurements accurate for another year, my long, slow, steady rip turned out to be only 42-inches long. Albiet a highly aggressive 42". Sorry if I fooled you with my first paragraph, but you should know better.

The fish hit at 10am, just as the wind started howling. I had 70 back in 19 feet of water. The water temp was 45, and the visibility was less than a foot. We quit at 1pm and we started around 8:30.

I'm sure some of our older members feel the same, but as I get longer in the tooth, I get colder more easily. I had on fleece long Johns, sweatpants, a fleece shirt, a heavy, windproof fleece jacket all topped off with my Guidewear, with an oil cloth cap and a Balaclava upstairs, and boots with wool socks below. Bruce, ten years my junior, was wearing gym shorts, a T-shirt, his Guidewear and sneakers. He's a tough little, 6'4", bugger.

Either way, we had a great time, and any fish in the mud is a good fish.

Good luck tomorrow, everyone. Carrie and I may go for a short morning troll, but more likely today was it for me for the 2017 season. Certainly not one of my best efforts locally, but it's one more for the books and I had a lot of fun complaining and beating my head into the wall with great friends, the best brother in the universe and my wonderful gal (oh, and Carrie, too (hi, honey!!!))

[John Jarosz]

you're toast, man

[Scott McKee]

All signs point to yes, John.