I decided to burn a couple days off from work and do some solo fishing, just me, the boat, the hammock, and a tarp. Sounds great right? Well, it depends on the definition of great.

I left out Thursday afternoon, knowing storms were brewing and talk of flooding rains for the next few days were all over the TV and radio. Hey, I have a full enclosure, a rain suit, and I don't mind being wet so it didn't deter me. I got camp set up quickly before the storms and just chilled in the hammock once they started rolling through. It gave me plenty of time to think about the striper and where I should start looking to fish.

That night I found a somewhat promising looking creek arm just off the main lake and began trolling shiners I had bought on the way down. I started just before dark, and gave up about 11 without a single hit. I didn't even bother with the underwater light. I was tired, it was raining again and the hammock was calling my name.

I woke up at first light the next morning hearing an outboard humming along, I just couldn't figure out why I couldn't see it. Finally I caught a faint glimpse of green and white and it was gone again. Then I figured out why I could barely see it as it started pouring rain. It was cool, pouring rain on a fabric tarp, and waves were lapping at the shore...perfect sleeping weather! And so I did for about another hour, then got up and watched it rain some more.

That day all I managed to do was waste gas. I hit all sorts of different areas that I would have thought would have striper, only to see a blank screen on the helix. I was truly stumped. I knew where some striper were that I had found before, but that was a 30 minute run across the lake. There had to be some in the area I was in too, but I just couldn't find them. With heavier storms coming in, I headed back to camp...and took another nap while it rained.

After the storms I decided to make the run and see if the fish were where I had left them. I found this while I was there. Whether this is a school of striper or a school of carp I have no idea, but it was neat to see on the helix.

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After fishing the area til dark, I still had nothing in the cooler. I had a few good hits, but nothing hooked. Maybe I am fishing for striper in carp waters! At least the boat ride back to camp was nice and cool, and it didn't take long after climbing in the hammock and I was asleep.

Saturday morning and I'm up at 3am. My wife and son are coming down to fish and I need to make that 30 minute run to where I know there's fish again, put the light out to get bait, and pick them up at the ramp at first light. I really don't envy the life of a striper guide! After picking them up, lines are out and the helix is all lit up with bait and fish in the area we're trolling. Everything seemed perfect that morning and we got a few good hits but just couldn't get a hook stuck. Just when I feel like I'm starting to get this, BAM...back to back to back zeros!

By 11am my wife and son were ready to go, bored with another day of no fish. I hit the marina for gas and returned to camp to mull over what had went wrong. I was tired and wanted to nap again but the boat wouldn't sit where I wanted it to in the shifting winds. After re-anchoring a few times, the winds let up enough for a nap around 4pm. I woke up in a bit of a funk over spending this much time on the water and still no fish. On the other hand, I have a beautiful view, I'm dry when it rains, my hammock is super comfortable, and I'm out doing something...not working or hanging around the house. That evening I didn't even go back out to fish. I just enjoyed the enjoyable part of my trip and forgot the frustrating part.

The next morning I was packed and heading out by 8am. Just before I got to the ramp, it started to rain again so I decided to scan a little cove I've eyed a few times and wait out the rain. All the way in the back, there was bait, and trees, and fish! So what the heck, I might as well try to pick up a few crappie to take home while I'm here. Maybe then it wouldn't feel like such a wasted trip. Then I caught two bass and put the rods away for good. I can't catch striper and end up catching bass trying to catch crappie! Good thing I don't fish for a living, I'd be hungry and broke!

I ended up scanning some areas for another couple of hours, still not finding anything that looked worth fishing. There was a guide boat and another boat pulling the banks of the main lake but I never saw what had caught their interest in the area and finally loaded up and headed home.

While I had some of the best sleep I've had in a while, the fishing was downright frustrating! It seems like it's a two step forward, one step back process that leaves me aggravated by the end of the weekend, yet ready to give it another go by Friday.

And by the following Friday evening I'm headed out again, this time with my son as he now believes his only chance of catching one is to fish under the light the way we have caught all the short fish so far. Spoiler...we just had an awesome fish fry tonight with crappie AND striper!

To be continued...