Best 2 hours EVER on Dale Hollow

Sunday January 3, 2010

ON3 3Y3D WILLI3, Vaun, and myself launch out of Holly Creek. The previous night on the very last few cast of the night I caught one that went about 2 and then literally the last cast I could see my bobber I caught a 5-2 on the same spot that yielded the 4 fish from Friday. We hit the same spot that Sunday morning first and Vaun catches a 5-0 for his first 5 pounder ever. We hit spot number 2 and get nothing, spot number 3 and I catch a 5-4 that hit it like a train and took the jig all the way down into her throat. I just knew that was competition bite. I swing the boat around and Vaun catches a 5-7 within a few feet of where I casted to catch mine. The spot is now known as Big Vaun for I name spots by whoever catches the biggest fish off of it. Vaun took it from me so it changed from Big Woody #who kows to Big Vaun. We go back to spot number 1 and get nothing. Then spot number 2 and I hook a nice one, get her right next to the boat and can see the jig barely in her mouth and just as I say it, out pops the jig. She was a good 5 and a half pound fish. We trolling motor over to Big Vaun and he says that he is about to catch one to put it out of reach. I swing the boat around and we fish up to the point and I make a cast within a few yards of where the other 2 were caught and the bobber went under so hard and so fast. Vaun watched the strike, I set the hook and my All Pro usually gets back to about 10 or 11 oclock but never got to midnight. This fish was large and not happy. She never jumped at all early in the struggle of man against beast. I really did not know what I had because she stayed on the bottom and was digging so hard then she made one big fast burst under the boat and I knew then it was a BIG smallmouth. I swung the boat 3 times to keep her out of the trolling motor and big motor and finally see her about 7 feet down and said this was the biggest fish I ever caught out loud. Vaun was ok until I yelled that then he got nervous. Finally the struggle was over and the BEAST was in the net. We were high fiving and screaming like little school girls. She went 23 inches long and was just fat as a pig and scaled in at 6-11. If you add in the 5-2 on the last cast of Saturday night that made a 5-2, 5-0, 5-4, 5-7 and 6-11 physically in the boat and another 5 1/2 so close just out of net range before I LDR'd her. Heck of a 6 fish stringer if I do say so myself. Greatest 2 hours EVER fishing at Dale Hollow. Vaun has a 6 year old and his son will always know that his daddy caught his first 5 pounder out of my boat and I only hope we can take his 6 yr old and my 6 yr old to Dale Hollow together to watch them become Certifyable Floatnflyable just like us.