Wow, traffic sucks in the mornings again. But at least the park is empty. There was only 1 trailer there when I showed up.

51 degrees at the launch. Blue, bright, sunny sky. Water temp showing 64.xx.

I see my gas tank is getting very close to empty. Which is perfect, since it's almost time to winterize and that means less for me to pump out. But in the back of my mind, I am afraid of getting stranded....

I decide to boat to the west side of the lake, thinking since it's been receiving sun, fish might relate to the potentially warmer water.

As I'm pulling up to a point, I see the 35-40' zone light up at the bottom. I suspect they are perch. As I get shallower, I see individual large arches. So I spin around and toss out the DS. I wasn't getting any bites at all at first. After about 15-20 mins of casting out into deeper and shallower water, I finally start feeling a few pecks. Couldn't get a hookup from the small bites. Toss out the tube and didn't get a nibble.

So I start heading into shallower waters to see if I can find anything. Hit a few docks without any action except for a couple of fingerling SMB chasing my line. Was tossing my swimbait and also a lipless. I had this stupid seagull that kept diving at my lure a few times... It'll be near at boat side and that damn bird would swoop down ready to grab my lure. Damn bird was flying rod length around me. After the 4th or 5th time, the bird gave up and flew away to bother someone else.

I move out into deeper water and start following the outside weedline. I finally get a strike and it's on the DS, in 16' of water. It jets towards the surface and digs back down. A couple of headshakes and it pops off. UGH. Was ~14-15" SMB. Oh wells. 1 hour of fishing and I finally hook up, only to lose it. I'm starting to get that bad feeling of a skunk day...

I continue along the weed edge and nothing. So I started motoring out and I noticed a couple of markings at 32'. Turn boat back around and toss the DS around. I'm feeling light pecking. I feel a bit of weight and set the hook. Fish on! But it's not big. I reel it up and see it's a large perch, about 11.5" long. I think my biggest so far.
Was skinny though.

Toss the DS back out there and a few mins later, I get another bite. This one feels like a better fish. Definitely feels like a SMB. I get it up and scoop it into the net. A decent 14-15" SMB.

Toss the DS back out again and a min or 2, I get another bite and this one feels like a better fish! It's digging down and pulling a little bit of drag. Into the net it goes. ~16.5" SMB @ 2.43lbs. Trying to remove the hook and the hook bends. Do not buy the Damiki dropshot hooks. They have a sharp point and penetrate great, but too soft.

Out of my favorite size, so I switched to a larger Gammy.

I thought maybe I was onto something in that area and fished it for another 10-15mins,but all I felt were nips.

I decide to boat across to the east side, while watching my fuel gauge....

I fish another outside weed line and felt a few nips from I assume perch. I move out into deeper water. Ended up in the 30' depth again and I see something on sonar. I'm jigging my DS pretty aggressively now and I get a WHACK! Fish hit it hard. I set the hook and it's fighting pretty well, but doesn't feel like a SMB and feels small. I'm thinking maybe a trout? I get it close to the surface and at first glance, looked like trout, but turned to disappointment when I see it's actually a squawfish! But a nice size one, at 18" and was lively and flopping in the net. The odd thing is this gross looking welt on the bottom area. I helped reduce the population by 1 and tossed it back into the water. I continue fishing that area since I still see some markings down there. 7 mins later, I hear a swoosh and splash. I turn around and see an eagle hauling away what I assume to be my squaw. The eagle banks towards me, almost like saying thanks and I can clearly see it's a squaw. Got this quick shot before it was too far away.

I decided to fish farther north. Stop off at a deep area, 42' of water. I see 2 markings, good sign.

Tossed the DS out. I'm waiting for line to get to the bottom. I'm fighting the wind a little bit now. I reel in the slack and feel weight. Set the hook and YES! Feels like a quality fish. It's staying down and pulling drag, always a good sign.

I get it to surface and see it's hooked in the corner of the mouth and it's a quality fish. I was thinking today would be the day to break my 3# streak..... but nope, streak is still alive. ~18.5" @ 3.30lbs.

Toss the DS back down there and I feel I assume perch playing with my bait, but I manage another SMB @ ~14" and get another 10-11" perch.

I decide to stop off at a deep point for another 15-20mins and no more action. Called it a day.

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