A friend and I fished Melody Tuesday pm and all day Wednesday.  Despite brisk wind, Tuesday was awesome!  In only 3 1/2 hours we caught close to 20, with 13 below 15 inches harvested.  We didn’t catch any lunkers, but had several nice ones around 2 1/2 to 3 pounds.

What helped tremendously was an idea I got from a poster here: a drift anchor.  Got a 36 incher from Bass Pro, tied it to the front of the boat, threw it out, and our drift slowed dramatically.  Tuesday’s 10 to 14 mph southerly winds were no problem at all, whereas otherwise they would have been annoying.

Wednesday, though, was a raging norther, with winds close to 20mph and gusts above that.  Bluebird skies, cold, northern winds shut down the good bite.  Still, this is Melody,  and with the help of the drift anchor we did manage to catch a dozen, harvesting five.  Once again we topped out around 2 1/2 to 3 pounds.

The lake is cold, still in the 50s, and we saw no spawning beds nor any bloody tails.  Everything seems weeks behind times due to the cold winter.  Melody is full, at maximum capacity, and I am delighted to report ZERO hyacinths.  Patti’s hard work has gotten rid of the nuisances!

Speaking of Patti, she had purchased a Pelican boat, somewhat similar to a Bass Buster.  Only a little over 10 feet long, it looked small from the dock.  However, it has a wide beam and isn’t tippy in the least.  Seats are wonderful and it has luxuries undreamt of in the old boat: cup holders, battery box, live well, even rod holders.  By the end of the trip I preferred the Pelican to the old 14 foot johnboat.  I took a photo which I’ll try to send to the club.  Thanks, Patti!

Steve, we took out 18 this trip, and I harvested 10 my last trip, so my total Melody harvest this year is 28 fish, probably around 20 - 25 pounds.

PS We didn’t catch any crappies this time, but we did hook several giant redear sunfish near the old submerged dam.  What fighters!  We quickly released them, they are very large but (in my opinion) not plentiful enough to stand much harvest.

When leaving Melody we came across a large wild boar rooting around the side of the clay road.  He was totally unimpressed by us and the car, never stopped rooting and barely glanced up when we drove past within five feet.