Andover Fishing Report

3 Fools On April 1st

The day started off with me getting to the fishing hole around 5:50 am. It was 28 degrees out, flat calm water. I am optimistic at this point we will have a good day. Ted/Volume arrived shortly after. The launch is about 50 yards away from available parking. After a few trips back and fourth we get all the gear, down to the launch. I noticed the transponder cable on the trolling Motor was severed in two. It was cut above the water line so I decided a quick splice was in order. We load up and launch.

50 yards offshore I turn on the Finder, only to be told transponder not connected. I am so pissed off it's not funny. I'm like F this, I pull the motor and lay it on my lap and undo the tape at the splice. I make sure everything is ok and nothing is touching bare wire, retape and try it again. Success, not sure if I lost any sensitivity but worst case I still have the depths. It seemed to work just fine throughout the day.

Now it's time to fish. It was slow going and the bass seemed to have serious lockjaw. We were throwing Husky jerks and Jigs with no success. Finally, Ted connects with the jerk and lands a solid 3.14 bass. It is still freezing at this point and the eyelets on our rods were icing up, but we have seen a fish.

Ted caught a few pickerel along the way. The fish were hitting the jerkbaits while they were sitting still suspended. The bait I was using had a problem, it was not suspending horizontal as it should. It was suspending Vertical, I was hoping to catch some bass with Vertigo but it did not happen. Ted got a massive strike and started reeling in the biggest Pickerel I have ever seen. It got off right at the boat as he was about to lift it in. I would say it was in the 6 to 7 pound range, it was massive. Usually when a pickerel falls off it's a blessing but it was kind of a bummer to see this one get away.

Ok, its 11:30 and Ted has an appointment to get to. The plan was for Roger to meet me at 12:30 and switch spots with Ted. I walk out to the parking lot to stretch my legs and see Ted off. As he is leaving these three guys pull up in a car and started to unload there gear. I can only describe these guys as three dirty Hillbillies. They were nice enough but dumb as bricks. They decided to fish right next to my docked boat. I watched them setup their gear with huge weights and steal leaders on fresh water rods. Umm ok, what are you guys fishing for? They said bass and perch, they told me via holding out their arms to a 3 foot length, that's how big the bass and Perch they catch. Well fantastic, God bless you guys. I could not take it any more and I went and grabbed another battery out of my car, switched them up and decided to head back out alone and wait for Roger.

After leaving the future Darwin award winners on the shore, I went out and fished a bit. Shortly before Ted left, we marked a hole close to the ramp, loaded with fish. It was 18 ft deep and had good promise.

I got a call from Roger and he was pulling in. I drove over and picked him up. Of course the hillbillies were casting right to the area I had marked the fish. I was not worried about them catching any, as it appeared they were using chunked Mackerel as bait.

Roger and I drove around all the usual good spots, At this point the wind picked up and the water was rough as hell. I wanted to use a working Husky Jerk, so I asked Roger if he had one. Roger bought a new tackle box in the off season, it can easily be mistaken as a 50 gallon cooler. Lol. Good thing is he also loaded it up with new tackle. He had some Husky jerks. We fished our asses off to no avail.

At the end of the day, after the hillbillies left, I finally I caught a 3.4 and 1.11 bass, right at the edge of the deep hole I earlier marked. If you read all this thinking there would be a spectacular ending, sorry to disappoint. Still a great way to spend a Sunday on the water.

• Added By: kman on 04/02/12 12:34 PM
• Also There: volume4130 pocketfisherman
• Location: Andover
• Report Date: 4/1/2012
• # of Photos: 3
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