MY FIRST TEN
I fish with my childhood friend Andreas and we had decided that we would look for pike in a water where we had previously caught pike and I have seen echoes on the plumb line bigger than I have seen anywhere else.
We got out on the water just after the sun rose, it's seven degrees in the water, it's raining and blowing pretty hard, but we're hooked.
We decide to start in a bay where it is like a pit of 200x200m where in the middle it is just over 10m deep and around only a few meters and in this particular bay the bait fish usually gather like that today too. There are such dense shoals that sometimes the plumb line registers it as the bottom and you can see larger fish around the shoal. It is for this bay that we chose to test the lake again.
I initially fish with jigs from 20-100g without a pet during the first hour, but I see the fish! So what to do? I think that with so many baitfish just everywhere, I need to be seen and since there were still two of us out there, it is enough for one to fish "smaller" baits. If it is visible, it might as well be substantial! I bring out the curliest rod in the arsenal, st.croix big dawg, and hang on a wolfcreek monster curly in zombie perch and two pieces of 15g pear lead one on each side of the bait lock. Monster curlyn has a magical waddling gait, the big tail moves seductively at the slightest movement and I imagine that the two lead weights should hit each other and then also attract fish with the sound a bit like a rattle chamber.
It's ten meters deep where I'm standing, the baitfish stand tight between two and six meters. I get a "feeling" that I should have some followers, but I'm fishing so deep that I can't possibly see if that's the case. I tap the plume a bit so that I use my front transducer and fish slowly enough that I make the last crank stop directly under the front transducer.
The echo from the bait is around 5m and very true I see a bigger echo that shows a few meters below, I lower the bait to get movement on it and smack followed by a counterstab so that the rod looks like a U. I immediately understand that it is big and heavy. It becomes even clearer when she starts pulling the line even though the brake is on. As the line is short, there will be a hell of a fight where she pulled the line a number of times. But then I could make sure I was ready with the net as soon as she surfaced. The adrenaline rush is sick and it doesn't get any less when I see her, it's big...really big for me. Much bigger than what I caught before. I lock the net in the armpit and bring her to the net, a couple of tries and poof there she is. My feet drum against the floor of the pro angler of adrenaline, a roar of joy and now it's time to see what it is I've hooked...
As we were relatively close to land, we stepped in and I got help with photography, measuring and weighing. Now it must be my turn, ten kilos must be it. My previous personal best was 102cm and around 7.5kg and this is much bigger. Lays out the measuring board, puts down the fish and 119cm! Weighs in the net, subtracts the net....10.5kg!
Personal best by far!
Thoughts in retrospect are that I am very satisfied with how I arranged it in the kayak, I keep almost everything behind me and have as clean as possible in front just to be able to handle fish.
Pro Anglers H-Rail is perfect when you have the fish in the net, then you can put the net so that it is held in place so that the fish can rest while you fiddle with what you need to take care of it.
Thoughts about the fish itself haven't really had time to land yet, but I felt the adrenaline rush and couldn't really focus on anything for an hour afterwards. Crazy fun and I want to go out again now!
I started kayak fishing almost two years ago, it only gets more fun and now I have a new PB to beat:
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