My buddy James is in town from CA, and we were both anxious to hit the point for some serious plugage. Unfortunately, James always seems to bring bad weather with him. The skies to the South were filled with ominous black clouds, when we left the marina at 7 PM. I had a very bad feeling which only intensified as we approached the bay. The wind was howling against the outgoing tide and you could feel a storm approaching. The chop was just too much, so we bailed out and headed for Aberdeen Creek to get out of the wind. After several drifts along the shoreline, with zero action, I made an executive decision and headed out to the shoal. James is my original topwater buddy and I was determined to show him how good things have been this summer. We finally anchored up at the rock pile at 8 PM. Conditions were horrible, but workable, so I grabbed Popa Dogg and went to work. On my second cast, I had a nice blowup and boated a healthy fat 22. Not to be left out, James grabbed my other rod with a Popa Dogg and hit the same spot....BAM. We both knew instantly it was a big fish. With the wind and full moon tide, the drag was singing. I have fished with James more than any of my buddies, and I can honestly say this was the best fight any fish has ever given him. It turned out to only be a 26, but in those conditions it might as well have been a 36. The wind was now howling and the clouds getting closer, so we headed in. We were having a good old time on the ride in when all of a sudden my engine started to wizz and it was clear that something big was wrong. I was able to move, but could not push her beyond 500 RPM's. So when we finally pulled into the slip I felt a huge Dark Cloud over my head with the knowledge that I will probably be out of action for a while.
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James and his 26 |
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My 22 |
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Decent sunset for such lousy conditions |