4am, rise and shine, grab our gear and out we role. The 30 minute drive to the beloved Miss flies by in anticipation, not just because its Pike and Walleye opener, but also due to the generous donation of CEO Sean White from Militant Outdoors.
The Bassassins have themselves a boat but not just any kind of boat. Its the perfect vessel, refurbished to shine again in her full glory, swift as the wind and quiet as a mouse we embark the banks of the river.
The mist still lingers over the glass like waters, one pull and the engine purrs like a kitten, dashing forward towards our hunting grounds.
Pike opener was long awaited and the whole expedition reeked of success, the first cranks cut through the air with a thin whistle. It doesn't take long for first contact.
Andre drew first blood, no monster but the skunk is off. We continue the morning picking pike and walleye from the shallow weedy bays. Shallow cranks, big spinner baits and bright coloured spoons are the key to stir up a morning ruckus. We like to ring the alarm clock as its breakfast in bed for the toothy critters.
Carefully watching out for schools of bait fish under distress, we quietly hit and run the shorelines. Every spot seems to produce fish and keeps us occupied but we were still waiting on the big one.
As noon approaches and the early morning feeding frenzy unfolds in to full blown lunch feast the pike get more aggressive. Up sizing the bait with a faster presentation doesn't seem to scare off the little ones.
As I release another teen age esox, Smooth is on to something. A big wake follows the shallow crank but misses it by a second.
Cast again, same general direction, the Xcallibur hits the water, followed by a mad smash, he's on! He simply couldn't resist!
Nice fat male, looked like he just had a bull frog for lunch.
Well over 2 dozen toothy gators make it too the boat,
Andre hits the jackpot with a nice old bruiser of a perch that hammered one of the custom made large spoons.
Greedy bugger!
Time to leave the water comes way too soon, Smooth and I manage a few back to backs on the way to the peer. Sometimes its not about breaking records but a day full of constant action is always welcome in our books! Hell it still beats sitting on the couch getting fat!
Next on the menu are monster eyes, more pike and the illusive gar!
Tight lines
