Looked at the weather forecast last night and just had to get out today.  Leonard Black Hat was available and it's only about 45 minutes from home, so I made the reservation.  Got on the water just a little after noon, and discovered my depth finder wasn't powering on.  Fiddled with it usuccessfully for about 10 minutes before giving up, and getting a line in the water. Hit the brush pile just in front of the dock, then across to the rocky point and worked my way up towards the dam.  Just before the spot where the fence is in the water, I got my first hit, on a Texas Rigged Rage Tail Craw.  Nothing special about the hit, but it was a special fish.  Fought it for a couple of minutes and got it in the boat.  Super excited.  It was 10lbs6ozs on both of my scales.  Just a shade under 25" on my measuring stick.  A little story…....last spring I was fishing with my friend Tom Dillon and told him I was concerned, since I frequently fish by myself, that I would catch a trophy fish and not be able to get a good picture. So, he gave me a "selfie stick".  Put it in my tackle box and never thought about it again.  Until this morning…..for some reason, I decided to get it out and practice with it a little.  I know when you catch a nice fish, you are rushing to get it back in the water.  So, I figured out how to attach my phone, reverse the camera, and use the timer.  Took a couple of practice pictures in my kitchen.  Boy am I glad I did.  I was able to quickly set up the selfie stick and take the photo you see below.  Thanks very much Tom.  So, about my measuring stick.  I need to get one that's not orange.  Last year I caught my PB, a 12 lb fish, and got a picture for the contest, but you couldn't make out the numbers on my orange stick with the bright sunlight on it.  No worries, I was happy to catch the fish and was OK not being able to enter it in the contest.  It was right at 26".  I see I have the same problem this year, but expanding the photo with my ipad, I can make out the number 27" mark on the far right.  Then, I can faintly see the lines at the top to work backwards and see that my fish is a 1/4" short of the 25" mark.  However, if the judges rule it is not clear enough, I'm fine with getting to catch, and release, another great fish.  The rest of the day was good.  Fish were scattered but I caught 2 that went 4lbs, another 5-6 that went 3lbs and several more with only 3-4.  Caught most on the Rage Tail.

Posted By: Marty Newman