Decided to head over to Potholes for a few days. Planned to stay 2 night.

Got there at about 2:30. Hmmm, self check in only. Only have enough cash for 1 night. Weather might not hold until Weds too...

Set up camp and hit the waters by 4. Really want to try and get a LMB. Went back into the dunes and try my luck. After 45 mins, just wasn't working out. I figure i'll look for some SMB. Stopped by the bird island for about 20 mins without a bite. A little after 5, figure i'l try the rip rap along the highway. 3 casts, 3 bites, landing 2 SMB. Next 2 hours was a blur. Fish after fish. Must have caught between 20-30 in that time span. Only 2-3 about 10-12". Majority about 15". Those 1.25-1.5 pounders. Guessing about 10 in the 17" , 2# class. Only weighed a couple and they ranged from 2.24-2.4 #.

Then at about 7, action just died. Don't know if I wandered off the hot spot or it was just time. Headed back in for some food. Oh yeah, all the SMB were caught on 1 baggy of soft plastic. Didn't bother trying anything else....

Over night, woke up to the sound of rain. Bummer. Would sprinkle on and off. Woke up early to the wind howling, but it is dry.... I figure 1 night is enough since it doesn't appear weather would hold. Slept in for a couple more hours and cleared out the campsite.

Looked at the water and it doesn't look that bad... sure a little choppy, but not bad. Instantly notice water temp down almost 10 degrees for yesterday. Still wanting a LMB, I ventured out deeper into the dunes. I see the temp rising. Increased by 5 to 56 degrees. Also, water much cleaner up there. Sure is windy though. Only way I could troll against the wind is with my trolling motor on max. Started with a spinner and mixed in with a swimbait. Wow its windy. Did I mention its windy? There is zero cover. These dunes don't provide any protection. Made a cast in very shallow and clear water. Felt my swimbait get heavy, but with the wind, felt like I was just dragging against that brush I see. I reel it in and then felt a fish fighting. Woot, got the LMB off my back. Not a big one, about 1#. Finally have an idea of where or what pattern to use, but no way with the wind like this. Maybe if I have those fancy shallow water anchors....

After fighting the wind for 2 hours with only 1 fish. Not to mention scared of ripping off my lower unit.... I decide to head back to the riprap. It was a very wet ride with the wind and waves. Choppy waves. Soaked.

Get to the riprap and use the hot lure from yesterday. 30 mins and not a single bite on it. Hmmm. Maybe its the locate. I see a boat sitting where I was yesterday, but didn't want to invade. A slight break in the wind, so I tossed out the DS. As soon as it hit bottom, fish on! Thought I was onto something but nope. Hard to use bottom contact setups, since it snags almost every single cast.

I see the other boat leaving. I scoot in and toss the hottie, and get a bite quickly. Only one though. Last lure of that pack. Need to change it up. Put on a football head and move out a little deeper. Still getting hung up, but caught 3 quickly. Riprap wasn't producing except for that one fish, so I ventured out into off shore and deeper structure. I could feel my football dragging on the rocks. It'll get snagged here and there. Several of my hits came when I popped the lure out. Wind was just manageable to get a dropshot here and there. But this day was mostly football. Out in deeper water, I did catch more smaller fish.

Its about 330 and I need to head in and head home. I stopped off at one of my early productive spots with the FB, but nada. By now, its mostly sunny. Drop the DS down. Feel a bite and set the hook. Felt like a tank. Stayed down and wouldn't come up. Knew it was a good one. It comes up and yep, conform a nice SMB. Get it in next and decided to use my new ruler. Not bad, 3.88#. Drop the DS back down since the bait was still attached. Snagged and that's my cue to head home.

So first day, even though I only fished for a couple of hours, caught the most fish.

The last day, I think I fished for about 6 hours and caught maybe half. So only about 10-15 only. Go figure. That biggun was fun though.

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