I’m about a week deficient in filing this repot. I pulled onto the property around 8AM to find Eric, the property owner, directly behind me pulling a tank of shad. He’s a great guy if you haven’t met him. He invited me to watch him unload the roughly 6,000 shad into Blue Rock. Pretty spectacular sight as some blow-ups start to occur (maybe this is why Blue Rock was a bit slower than normal per a recent report?). By the time I got evertying in the boat and was out on the water it was about 9. When I was about 50-feet from shore I threw my first cast. There was little wind at that point, so I didn’t drop the anchor or anthing. I just paddled a bit from shore and drifted. Next thing I know I hear a gurgling sound. I look down to find I’m ankle deep in water. I’m like, “Oh s&*%! There’s a hole in the boat!” Nope…there is no plug. I don’t know if it fell out or it was missing and I didn’t notice. Either way, the ship and crew were going down quickly. I grabbed my paddle, was fortunate to get close enough to shore that I could jump in the water which was up to my waist, and save everything—boat, geat, etc. After switching to another of the three boats [and checking it had a plug in the drain hole] and putting my wet clothes out to dry on the bed of my truck, I was back out fishing by 10. Fishers gotta fish, right!? It soon became very windy. I managed to land seven fish ranging from 2-4 lbs. at various points around the lake, mainly in the shallower flats and in the corner across from the ramp near the submerged tree. I never have any luck in the other corner near the road which appears SO promising and is better protected from the wind. Most importantly, the boat stayed afloat and I made it out alive. My first year of fishing in this club has taught me a LOT of lessons. Hopefully I don’t repeat past mistakes.

One last note to share: Eric shared what I thought was a good suggestion. Discount the weekday rates on properties to encourage people to fish fish weekdays if their schedule permits, reducing contention for precious weekday spots. It makes sense to me so I said I’d pass it along.