Bako - Buena Vista - and more - Marathon of fishing and fiasco's !

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

Hiro & I embarked upon a marathon…not of the running type though..

A fishing marathon….nothing short of a quest..

A quest for more and more hookups.. this quest involved a couple different species and we knew the cold conditions and impending lack of sleep was going to play part in what we do and if we stick to any game plan so we remained open and ready to “fly by the seat of our pants” and change things up if we needed to.

Thursday night / Friday morning:
Bako’ DUCT bound we were and Bako’ DUCT we did achieve…
We met up with Cutbait probably about 9:30PM or so….

1st spot…

Hookup !.....................

1st cast !...

I was ON !

Solid feesh too….about 5-6 lbs

Drag peeler too……..!

went to drag ‘em outa da water…..AND..

Wump…wump….wump….wahhhhhh!

Came unhooked…..ooooops ! (embarresed!)

After a few more casts Mike hooks up !…..the fish comes unbuttoned (dayam !)

Many more casts produced about 3 more short strikes for Hiro and 3 more short strikes for myself…

We moved on…..

Next spot….nada…

Next spot….instant strikes for Hiro and Mike….but no hookup : (

We fished other zones pretty hard and I got 4 strikes there and 2 quick hookups but lost them instantly…I am almost certain those last strikes and hookups were LMB…they felt like a bass strike…

Mike had to go home to his family so we said goodnight and went to the next spot..

1st cast !

Hookup !

This time it’s me again…..I lose him….(sheesh !)

Several more casts…..

I get hooked up again but I lost ‘em AGAIN (whatup ?)

Several more casts…..


HOOKUP !

And when I use caps when I say hookup….I mean HOOKUP !

Hiro is on….he sets the steel…the drag it peels…rod goes bendo and Hiro reels….the fish in….

He land the fish !

And this is where the HOOKUP (all caps) comes in play…

He had the fish but was holding the lure at the same time…a carbon copy of what happened to me on Halloween occurred, the fish violently shook and spun at the same time….driving the treble hook into Hiro’s thumb…and the fish is hanging from his thumb the lure connecting the 2 together !

I saw the look on Hiro’s face and I knew something was amiss…

I helped him out by holding the fish as he struggled to get the hooks out of the fish 1st….

Then we assessed the damage….didn’t look too bad at 1st (wrong !)

So he tried to remove the hook by pulling it out….no go !

It was deeper than it looked !.....BAD !

I told him “your gonna need to push it through and cut the barb off !”
Do it quickly before it swells up more !

He took it like a man and pushed it through and I tell you…IT WASN’T EASY !

By the time he got the barb pushed through, the entire shank of the hook was imbedded in his finger (Dayam….that was rough !)

We cut the barb off and and pulled the shank back out!
(Whew ! – no pics of the hook in finger though…sorry !)


After about 10 minutes

I hit a different zone !

Hookup !
I land it…a nice chuncky Bako fish hits the deck !


Several more casts…..

Hiro is ON !
Hookup…

He lands another real nice girthy Bako feesh !
AND he lands it on the lure that’s missing 1 barb that he cut off ! (Bako Stud !)


My next 2 cast had the same fish swatting at my lure (I saw ‘em !) but no hookup !

No more love after that and on to a spot many miles away we went…

We both hooked up in the 1st 10 minutes there but lost ‘em

Then about 10 minutes more into it, I got tired of losing my hookups so when I got struck, I drove EXTRA HARD !

Hookup !.....thump…..thump thump !....and into the main current he went and did a series of extra violent thumps then…
Dunk !....

he shook off !

Or so I thought…

I fished on for about 10 minutes and noticed finally that my front treble hook WAS GONE !
I looked closely at me lure !
That last fish had straightened out the split ring and ripped off my treble hook !
(Dayam !-strong motha !)
(I’ll post up a photo of the bent / pig tailed split ring later)

We had a couple of other strikes in other spots but no more fish hit the deck, a little tough night but it wasn’t that bad after all…we made contact with many fish but unfortunately didn’t land them all but that’s fishing.

Friday morning about 10am or so:
We met up with Cutbait (Mike) and his group of pals at Buena vista lakes for some trout fishing (still no sleep from the night before).

It was Sloowwww !

They were scraping a few fish every couple of hours but it was rolling out to be a real tough day.

Hiro hooked up on a spinner twice and had a few other strikes but by noon I didn’t have a single strike..

I fished a number of different lures and tried some PB too but not a sign of a strike (I even pounded the shore for about 1/8 mile.

I made my way back to where the group was fishing, casting my trusty mini jig on 2lb test…

About 10 minutes after I got back there I got HAMMERED !...

Hookup !
That trout SLAMMED my jig and rolled on his side once displaying a nice lengthy girth !

I said….

“It’s a TOAD !”

And it RIPPED drag out….

way far out about maybe 50-70 feet

and the drag was SCREAMING !

It did 2 real long screaming runs like that and worked me pretty hard for 5 minutes.

Someone took a video of it, I hope it gets posted up, I’d love to see it !

Some REAL SWEET action on real light line !

I ended up landing it and on Mike’s buddy’s scale it went just under 7 lbs.

Here’s Mike’s catch of the day…ha ha ha ha

j/k …..Mike actually scratched a limit out (Bako Stud !)

We fished the day out till 4:30pm (still no sleep from Thursday)

And hit the campgrounds for some fiasco driven camping..

Grilled New york steak shiskabobs (courtesy Hiro)….dee-licious !

Hiro is crashed out in the tent and Mike and I hung out and had a beer by the fire !…

After Mike left I sat there by the fire ad I heard something weird..

I turned around to find about 8 Racoons right near me…about 4-5 feet from the table.

WTF ?

I shined the light on ‘em…..still there….theyre not leaving !

Finally I shoo’ed them off and I kicked back by the fire then went to bed.

Aparently during the night the coons drug one of my Stripers off and ate the eyes and lips off of it….those suckas left it in the middle of Mike’s pals campground (sheesh !)

Then…it get’s worse.

Sometime during the wee hrs of the morning, the Racoons UNZIPPED MY TENT !
Came in there while I was sleeping (must have been several of them) and trid to get at my Chips Ahoys Chocolate Chip cookies !

I WAS STILL SLEEPING IN THERE !

The cookies were 1 foot away from my feet and the coons came within 2 feet of me trying to get at them.

Here’s a pic of their tracks in my tent !

There must have been a couple of them by the look of the tracks !


I am guessing I must have shuffled before they got the cookies cause it didn’t seem like they ate any !

I’m not kidding…I WAS SLEEEPING RIGHT THERE ! and those suckas unzipped the door and came right in…
I NEVER even thought any animal would come into my tent while I was sleeping…those suckas are very brave out there and fearless of people !

I’ll sum things up by saying: “Dayam ! those Coons know how to Party ! and we had one helluva time in my tent !

By the next evening we exchanged numbers and even hit the duct together….
they can fish!….
they can party !
They will keep you warm on a cold night….what a country..

Here’s a pic of us hangin out at the duct afterwards !

[cutbait]

It was a blast!

BTW, what really happened in that tent between you and the racoons, should stay in that tent!

[fishinone]

That sounds like a great adventure.

You might want to put tetanus shots on you to-do before fishing list.

I hope Hiro's OK now.

Good thing you didn't loose any Chip's Ahoy's that would have been really bad.

fishinone

[kpn]

It was a blast!

BTW, what really happened in that tent between you and the racoons, should stay in that tent!

Hahahaha........
I'm going to said the same thing.......

Great job out there Gary & Hiro. That is a hardcore trip.

KPN.

[sreykmao562]

WOOW!!! you guys get down and dirty when it comes down to striper fishing

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

It was a blast!

BTW, what really happened in that tent between you and the racoons, should stay in that tent!

You know I do write a whole lot of songs....do I hear a spinoff of "muskrat love ?"

Hey man me and da coons had a hot night in da moonlight...

I don't want to keep it to myself as there may be some lonely fisherman wondering where they want to go this weekend for some hot action......

..............hey man...I'm reffering to the fishing...what r U thinking I meant ?

Ha ha ha...

Makes ya wonder about Grizzly Addams and those cold nights with the bear...doesnt it !

Ha ha ha ha..

P.S.
We followed up those 2 trips up with a stop at Pyramid lake on the way home and slayed 2 limits of trout and released about 8-10 as well....

I then followed up with a trout trip to SARL on sunday.

I am a fishing maniac....I think this week will be a little laid back though

[spooky007]

You guys put in some serious work!! How many miles have you put on the past 6 months??

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

Hahahaha........
I'm going to said the same thing.......

Great job out there Gary & Hiro. That is a hardcore trip.

KPN.

Hardcore is our middle name !

look it up in the dictionary...it has our photos ! (of the fish-ha ha ha)

WOOW!!! you guys get down and dirty when it comes down to striper fishing

Nothin wrong with a little outdoor activities !

You guys put in some serious work!! How many miles have you put on the past 6 months??

Too many to bother counting...on foot and by car......too many fish to count as well...thats a great problem to have.....rest is fr the weak !

Ha ha ha....

When will the next marathon begin ? I'm sure it won't be long now !

[Hitts0n]

hahahahaahahahahahahhahaha that was a great read gary !

[breeze71]

RACCOON LOVER!!

The trip was a great...stripers...raccoons...trout...cold conditions...mileage...lots of laughs!

That trout was awesome....Gary pulled that one at the right time and in front of the right crowd...ha ha

Mike, thank you again for the hospitality. Expect the same whenever you or Scott head down this side of town!

Btw...after 2 large trebles in my fingers in the last 18 months I can give some helpful suggestions:

***** My first suggestion would be to access and if bad go to the hospital to get it removed.

1. Always carry pliers on you...not in you bag or in the car...in your pocket at all times of fishing.
2. If you have a fish on the hook at the same time, put you foot or knee on it head near the gill area to stop it moving and remove the hook from its mouth first. Luckily Gary was there and he held the fish down for me but that's gonna be tough alone but doable.
3. See how deep the hook has penetrated and if it will pull out. Chances are that if the barb has gone into the flesh and you will have to push the hook through.
4. Plan a exit strategy for your hook. If the hook tip is pointing towards a bone then you will have to pull up and then around and up away from the bone. If the hook is not obstructed then point the tip towards the closest skin exit.
5. Press hard on the area where the hook is for 2-5 minutes until the area goes numb from pressure and pain.
6. Bite on your teeth...tense your muscles and push the hook through WITHOUT HESITATION.
7. Snip the end of the hook with the barb off and pull the remainder out.

The more you hesitate...the more it's going to prolong and hurt you.