Duct Striper, Me 2 vs Duct 1
Woke and start getting ready for the day. No intentions of fishing cause the plan was church at 8:30am and then watch my team play at 10:30am. My wife says we are going to 10:30 service. Well if I'm going to miss some of my game then I will just run out to the duct since I now have a couple of hours to kill.
Grab just one rod out of the garage and jump in the truck and go. Wind blowing like 30mph with gusts to 45mph+ . Oh well I'll just stay close to easy access spots like bridges and maybe even find some shelter under them if it pours down too hard. I get to the first spot and it's raging wind and rain is falling. I get out and walk in and look under the bridge but the water is so high that no access under there from the elements. Start to cast and on the 4th cast I get what feels like a hit. It was hard to tell cause the wind was raging and the line had lots of slack. I was working the mid water and it got hit on the fall so line was even looser. Anyway I set the hook just in case and it is on. It feels like a good one. It is ripping down flow and drag peeling. No slowing it down, stopping it or turning it. Goes on for some time back and forth and I make a little progress on it and am walking the bank with it and it runs again. By now I am getting close to the bridge and the center support that goes down the middle of the duct. The "oh chits" start dancing in my head. It's going to run on the other side of the divider and bust me off. I thumb the spool to slow it down and start to hog it back by walking backwards and the rod is full bendo and working hard. I see it splash as it comes near the surface. I keep walking backwards and it finally turns and heads up flow. More battling and it seems like it lasted 10 minutes or more and I am getting it in. It comes in real mellow and just rest against the cement. It's a big one. Another DD and a well fed hog. No way I can drag it up and too slippery cement side to walk down to it. I decide to drag it in the water to a ladder that is off in the distance. The fish starts to come back to life and is flopping and dancing. It twist and splashes and I see my line twisted around the gill plate. I knew what was coming next. No way I was going to make it to the ladder so I start to brag it up and it does a flop twist and busts off. I see it swim away. No biggie because I was going to release all fish today but I did want a photo of it first. Had camera and phone in the car because of the conditions anyway.
So I go back to the truck to grab another lure out of my backpack. Oh chit where's my backpack? My wife took my truck last night to an event with a friend so she must have unpacked it. All my gear is in there so I am fumbling through the truck looking for any lure I could find and there are some deep divers I found on another outing that I threw in there but don't want that with full flow. I keep searching and find a white and silver 2oz bucktail. Score! Perfect for the conditions. Tie it on and go back out. Make about 7 tosses and I get hooked up. This one is not a DD and I can get this one to the edge and just sling it up with ease. Still a nice chunky fish. Take a quick pic and drop it back in the water. Keep tossing there for a bit longer and nothing.
I decide to try one more bridge very near this one. I have caught many fish there in the past so I decide to give it a go. This spot usually has a little wind break but not today. I'm tossing the buck out and working it and then get hit. It's on and just as soon as it was on, it's off. A few casts later I get hit again and it's on and this one gets landed too. I am at a spot with a little less slope and I can just drag it right up. Another chunky one. Take a quick pic and release this one too. I keep working the spot and nothing else. I am now wet and cold so I decide to call it a morning. It's probably a good thing cause it's really pouring down now as I write this.
Mr. DD got me today but that's cool. I still got the upper hand with 2 other fish.
Fish one
Fish two
Duct waves
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Originally Posted by yolo
