May 2 Saturday Report

Nice meeting Mplant1 and Rootpro on Saturday. Tried your advice but couldn't hold at your best spot because of high winds.

10-15 MPH winds may now sound like much, but at Deep Lake, it could ruin your day.

I came to fish with my great nephew Mike and the day started out horribly.

I somehow managed to shear a pin on my 4 HP motor. Rowing was an olympic event for 30 minutes. Went back to shore to "rent" another motor form Jack.

But Jack said he doesn't have motors to rent AND PROCEEDED TO REPAIR MY MOTOR ON THE SPOT. Is Jack of Jack and Lydia's the best or what? I reached for my wallet to pay Jack something but he smiled, waved, and walked back up the hill. When you visit, tell him Kayak Rich said many, many thanks.

Life is much different on the water with a motor at Deep Lake.

I tried fishing the windward shores but the water was too choppy and the wind too cold. I took my 20 year old great nephew to fish some spots out of the wind.

Mplant1 in his Sunday post theorized the bigger bass were sitting deeper just outside the weedlines? I think he was right. Here's my quick report.

1) By the sandbar, my great nephew Mike caught his first bass. He was delighted.
2) Mike caught another bass in 10 feet of water that gave his 7 foot panfish rod the bend of a lifetime. I watched him fight it for about 60 seconds until it came back to the boat and wrapped itself around some weeds. Lost the fish after that.
3) Mike caught something and I realized the rod was bending. "Is it a bass?", I asked. Yep. 10 feet from the boat there's a big splash and a flash of silver. Then Mike reels in a 5 inch bluegill. Apparently he caught the bluegill and a bass swallowed it and finally spit it out when the bass neared the boat.

Yeah I know, fish stories, but true. Mike caught one just barely legal bass and hooked two big ones just south of the western sandbar. I caught a beautiful black crappie that I think was 12 inches solid, didn't measure it but kept it for Mike's dinner. The magic lure? The Cubby Mini Mite chartreuse jig with black body and a few waxworms. When things are slow at Deep Lake I always fish my panfish rig with the chartreuse/black Cubby Mini Mite and catch some kind of fish.

Me, I kept rigging the rods so that Mike was fishing all day. I had a bass swipe and hook itself on a chrome Rattletrap by the SW flats by the apartments. But that was around 5 PM and the bass shook itself off. I set the hook hard twice and chalk up the lost fish to sharp but not razor sharp hooks on a brand new Rattletrap.

I sometimes think I'm not at the same level as the rest of the fishermen on this website. Maybe it's because I don't fish at the crack of dawn or at sunset. But one thing's for sure, I can flat out teach people what I know about fishing.

More importantly, as my great nephew and I drove home we were quiet, listened to some music (his stations, not mine) and stopped off at McDonald's. After a few more miles of silence on the Interstate Mike says, "Uncle Rich, let's go fishing again."

You bet Mike, you bet.