Bangenem kindly offered to show us how he has been targeting/"bangenem" at Santa Rosa lake lately so Flicker, Mariposa, Manley Fisher, and I readied the boats and hit the road. We got to the lake around 7:45 and right away noticed This pile of crappie carcasses... A sign of things to come.
We launched the boat and started booking it to bangenem spot. While we were cruising I Noticed a bald eagle soaring over the lake and it just felt like it was going to be a special day. I WAS STOKED to get the boat back on the water!!
The eagle is flying dead center in this picture just above the skyline.
Making wakes...ROLL OUT!!
And some fish pics.... many of these were caught today!! Me and MF were even catching fish on our icerods! :lolsign:
We started jigging and right away bangenem and Manley Fisher were cracking fish left and right. We caught on to the pattern about 20 minutes into the day and joined in on the action. There was about 7 other boats along a half mile stretch or so and it sealed like everyone was catching. We were getting hits like crazy, alot of nibblers, missed and lost fish but by the end of the day we easily got 35 crappies! Flicker caught the only smallie of the day and we also landed 9 or 10 walleye too. It was awesome to get out there and stick it to some warmwater fish! The crappies were anywhere from 9-13" and the eyes were 10-16" but MF ended up with a 21"er.
We were drifting a ledge that went from 50-25' within a 10' stretch when Mariposa set the hook and gave the usual "got one". Suddenly her rod bends over and drags starts flying off the reel while She was screaming in excitement! Right away I knew she had a big walleye on, I kept saying..."you got a 5-6 pound eye on babe"! The wind was picking up and I had to stay on the motor so Flicker waited for the fish to surface so he could grab it for her. By now the fish wasn't fighting much anymore and was just coming in slow and heavy. Suddenly a true "monster fish" appeared boatside!! I dropped my rod and ran to the back to grab it. Right when I got to the edge of the boat the 6# test snapped!! The fish just sat there about 3' deep and lethargic from the rapid accent and pressure change. I dove out and lunged into the water instantly and managed to get my hand around it's tail... I HAD IT!! Then the fish gave one good kick but then went limp, I reached out my other hand while lying on my back and swooped the fish into my lap!!
Amazing fish, awesome story!! Bangenem put us on the bite, Flicker provided the special jig, Mariposa caught the fish and I made the diving save... Then Manley Fisher provided the celebration beer to help kick the shakes!! LOL What an awesome experience...
:headbang: I miss fishing with the wifey! It's going to be a great year getting on the water with her more often. This fish went 31" and had a 19" girth!!! It weighed 11-12 pounds on my rapala lock-n-weigh which I haven't greased for about 2 years!! An absolutely huge fish! The fish wasn't going to live :sick: :confused1: :hmmm: :happy3: so we tossed her in my livewell, fished for another 45 minutes and headed for the ramp. We hit the road at 2:30 and stopped at the gas station for ice to keep the fish in good shape cause this beast was going straight to Dave's Wildlife Studio to get it mounted!!We were pulling the fish up from 50' and the majority of the fish weren't releasable due to the sudden pressure change so needless to say I'm gonna have a fish fry soon! It sounded like the other guys left the lake around 6:00 and they had 34 crappie and 9 eyes, they released dozens of fish too.
Great day, good company, good fishing and good weather. Doesn't get much better then that!!
