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Thanksgiving week trout fishing vacation and my first Citation!

3K views 21 replies 15 participants last post by  dbeam 
#1 ·
Boy it would be nice to be able to do that every week or at least when I wanted to to. No lines at the ramps during the week, no excessive amount of boat traffic stirring up the water, no rush to get to your favorite place to beat someone else. Just get up and go fishing and take your time. I had the pleasure of fishing with different ones last week. Timmy, Ed and Robert and a couple days by myself. Timmy did well on the Billy Bay Shad, Ed worked magic on a Lucky Penny Betts Shrimp, and Robert sticking with his big ugly Savage Shrimp. Mostly I fished the MR17 and the Billy Bay Shad some as well. I aslo caught a few big fish on the Betts pink grass shrimp. Most fish were caught in 10' or better. Water temps ranged from 49 -54 degrees.

After catching some nice trout up to 23" I decided to fish an area by myself that I thought would produce bigger fish, a place less traveled and quite. It turned out that my first fish of the day would be the one I was looking for. Threw the 17 and let it sink, twitched and got a tick. Threw it again and let it sink a little longer and twitched and BAMM! Drag pulled, fish came toward the surface and pulled the hook. Swirled big as a wash tub and it all happened in about 2 seconds! I settled down and threw some shad and shrimp with no luck back at him. Put the 17 back on and put it right back in the hole and when he hit it he was on a mission to crush it! After several good runs in 12-15' of water he came to the boat but stayed deep and all under and around every motor I had. I picked up the heavy rubber net and stayed calm. He surfaced and I put the net handle across the rail of the boat and he came in sideways and laid across the net. I couldn't get him in it! He swam on across and I figured that was it it but I had him hooked good evidently. Fought him back around but this time had him coming head first and in the net he went. :)

Man what a relief. Mirrolure had one set in the top and the the other set in the bottom of his mouth, couldn't have hooked him any better. Measured him up and to my surprise finally my first citation! :D I have been so close with lots of 23 to 23.75" fish but never broke 24". This one went 24.75 and 5lb 3 oz. weighed in at Eastern Outfitters in Hampstead. So mission accomplished and the pressure is off.

Several citation fish have been caught in the past few days and trout seem to be averaging 17-19 or better so it's not a bad year at all. It was a great week but now it's back to work and fighting the weekend crowds again. Congrats to all of the retirees that have done their time and can enjoy the weekday fishing, you truly are living the dream!


23" fat boy Jeans Sky Water Hat Tartan
BillyBay Shad Water Outdoor recreation Eyewear Tartan Glove
Timmy w/Billy Bay Face Water Sky Plant Sunglasses




Ed w/Lucky Penny Water Sky Tree Headgear Plant
Personal Best Automotive tire Feather Tints and shades Magenta Felidae



Hooked good Seafood Oncorhynchus Salmon-like fish Fish Fish products
First Citation Smile Sleeve Fish Fisherman Active shorts
 
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#19 ·
Boy it would be nice to be able to do that every week or at least when I wanted to to. No lines at the ramps during the week, no excessive amount of boat traffic stirring up the water, no rush to get to your favorite place to beat someone else. Just get up and go fishing and take your time. I had the pleasure of fishing with different ones last week. Timmy, Ed and Robert and a couple days by myself. Timmy did well on the Billy Bay Shad, Ed worked magic on a Lucky Penny Betts Shrimp, and Robert sticking with his big ugly Savage Shrimp. Mostly I fished the MR17 and the Billy Bay Shad some as well. I aslo caught a few big fish on the Betts pink grass shrimp. Most fish were caught in 10' or better. Water temps ranged from 49 -54 degrees.

After catching some nice trout up to 23" I decided to fish an area by myself that I thought would produce bigger fish, a place less traveled and quite. It turned out that my first fish of the day would be the one I was looking for. Threw the 17 and let it sink, twitched and got a tick. Threw it again and let it sink a little longer and twitched and BAMM! Drag pulled, fish came toward the surface and pulled the hook. Swirled big as a wash tub and it all happened in about 2 seconds! I settled down and threw some shad and shrimp with no luck back at him. Put the 17 back on and put it right back in the hole and when he hit it he was on a mission to crush it! After several good runs in 12-15' of water he came to the boat but stayed deep and all under and around every motor I had. I picked up the heavy rubber net and stayed calm. He surfaced and I put the net handle across the rail of the boat and he came in sideways and laid across the net. I couldn't get him in it! He swam on across and I figured that was it it but I had him hooked good evidently. Fought him back around but this time had him coming head first and in the net he went. :)

Man what a relief. Mirrolure had one set in the top and the the other set in the bottom of his mouth, couldn't have hooked him any better. Measured him up and to my surprise finally my first citation! :D I have been so close with lots of 23 to 23.75" fish but never broke 24". This one went 24.75 and 5lb 3 oz. weighed in at Eastern Outfitters in Hampstead. So mission accomplished and the pressure is off.

Several citation fish have been caught in the past few days and trout seem to be averaging 17-19 or better so it's not a bad year at all. It was a great week but now it's back to work and fighting the weekend crowds again. Congrats to all of the retirees that have done their time and can enjoy the weekday fishing, you truly are living the dream!


23" fat boy View attachment 168994 BillyBay Shad View attachment 169018 Timmy w/Billy Bay View attachment 169026



Ed w/Lucky Penny View attachment 169034 Personal Best View attachment 169042


Hooked good View attachment 169050 First Citation View attachment 169058
Way to go Andy. That's a slob. Keep it up.


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