i started my walk out to howard lake at midnight, got there by 6:00am (23.1 miles) the boat launch was a complete zoo all day i got the raft in the water at 6:30. so there i was frame pack tackle bag, all in a pile in the front of the raft and me lying in it like a lazy boy, had my pole off to the side, and was rowing at the same time. i was trolling an f5 perch colored rapala along the shore to the right of the boatlaunch, first 30 minutes there i caught all my fish, i caught 3, 1 at 16" and 2 at 11-12" it was a funny sight to see.. everytime i got a tap instincts said grab the pole before it gets dragged in, so i'd drop one of the oars in the water, trying to land the fish while frantically using the other paddle to retrieve the one i dropped in the water. when i got in the water there was about 20 boats or so, i thought it was packed then.... NO.. after the first hour there, there must have been 100 people on boats, bout 40 boats, and 100 or so people on docks.. i almost got hit 3 times by other boaters, the fish stopped biting at this point, i threw all kinds of tackle at them, even tried powerbait, i gave up on trying to get a limit and went home at 10:30.
the worst thing though, is there is no restroom, i had to walk about a 1/4mile to find a decent tree to pee behind, that wasnt in plain sight. and by the time i found one i was about to soil myself. the fishing was ok, i'm not complaining about that at all, i just didnt realize the extent to which people batter the lakes on opening day! i knew it was bad... but jeez

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