When I typed the Subject for this post, I mistyped it as Windcheater Lake, which was apropos, considering the conditions we endured today. By "we", I mean redneckangler (aka Brian), DCAJ (aka Dave), Greg, Bill, x182dan (aka Dan), Derek, NWDarkcloud (aka Bob) and mep21 (aka Mark). Ironically, we were all who showed up for the CTFishFinder Fall get together and we're all mostly CTFishTalk guys. 
SeaDog1 (aka Stephen) made a special appearance and saw us off at the ramp when we launched into the already windblown lake at 8:00 am:
We had a largemouth bass lunker pool and fished from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. The air temperature stayed in the low to mid 50s and we enjoyed mostly sunny skies all day. The water temperature ranged from 52 to 55 degrees and the water was crystal clear. During the rare moments of calm water, you could see the bottom of the lake very clearly more than six feet down. It would have been a really nice day for fishing, except for the wind.
The forecast I saw predicted winds up to 11 miles per hour. If only! 
By 9:00 am, the five to 10 mile per hour north-northwest wind rose up and began blowing at 15 to 20 miles per hour, with gusts over 20! 
Yeap, we all got chilled pretty quickly; I ended up putting on my rain gear just to keep warm. I threw a jig & pig, a wacky rigged five inch Senko, various spinnerbaits, a five inch slow sinking Sebile Magic Swimmer, a Texas rigged Zoom Baby Brush Hog and various Rapala crankbaits, and got only one bite all day. It was 1:00 pm and I had reached that moment when I thought, "I don't want to get skunked. Please let me catch just one fish." Now, something I learned today is that when you ask the fishing gods for a fish, you should be specific about the fish you want. If you don't ask for a BIG fish, this is what you get:
Thank goodness for the Perch Rapala Jointed Shad Rap JSR07!
As 2:00 pm approached, I let the wind push me down the lake to the ramp:
When I got close to the ramp, I saw Brian in his boat, Dan and Derek in theirs, Bob and Mark in theirs, and Greg and Bill in theirs. I looked around, but didn't see any sign of Dave. That's when Bob told me that JJay (aka Jason) had shown up with his girl for a short paddle in their kayaks in the middle of the day, just as Dave gave up his fight with the wind and headed off of the water. When the rest of us got our boats off of the water at 2:00 pm, I learned that we had caught only eight fish between us. Greg still had his in the livewell of his boat:
Brian had managed four, only one of which might have been a keeper. Bob had caught a 12 inch keeper, but was the only one of us who wasn't in the pool. However, the winner of the lunker pool was Dan, who had caught two fish, the largest of which was just over 15 inches long. Congratulations, Dan! After we had all strapped our boats onto their trailers and stowed our gear, we headed up to the parking lot, grilled up some burgers and dogs, and had something to eat and drink. Here are the other seven hard core open water fishermen:
It was really nice to meet some of you for the first time and to see everyone. Even you, Bob!
I'm already looking forward to doing this, again, in the Spring. Hopefully, it'll be warmer by then.
SeaDog1 (aka Stephen) made a special appearance and saw us off at the ramp when we launched into the already windblown lake at 8:00 am:
We had a largemouth bass lunker pool and fished from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. The air temperature stayed in the low to mid 50s and we enjoyed mostly sunny skies all day. The water temperature ranged from 52 to 55 degrees and the water was crystal clear. During the rare moments of calm water, you could see the bottom of the lake very clearly more than six feet down. It would have been a really nice day for fishing, except for the wind.
The forecast I saw predicted winds up to 11 miles per hour. If only! By 9:00 am, the five to 10 mile per hour north-northwest wind rose up and began blowing at 15 to 20 miles per hour, with gusts over 20! Yeap, we all got chilled pretty quickly; I ended up putting on my rain gear just to keep warm. I threw a jig & pig, a wacky rigged five inch Senko, various spinnerbaits, a five inch slow sinking Sebile Magic Swimmer, a Texas rigged Zoom Baby Brush Hog and various Rapala crankbaits, and got only one bite all day. It was 1:00 pm and I had reached that moment when I thought, "I don't want to get skunked. Please let me catch just one fish." Now, something I learned today is that when you ask the fishing gods for a fish, you should be specific about the fish you want. If you don't ask for a BIG fish, this is what you get:
Thank goodness for the Perch Rapala Jointed Shad Rap JSR07!
As 2:00 pm approached, I let the wind push me down the lake to the ramp:
When I got close to the ramp, I saw Brian in his boat, Dan and Derek in theirs, Bob and Mark in theirs, and Greg and Bill in theirs. I looked around, but didn't see any sign of Dave.
That's when Bob told me that JJay (aka Jason) had shown up with his girl for a short paddle in their kayaks in the middle of the day, just as Dave gave up his fight with the wind and headed off of the water. When the rest of us got our boats off of the water at 2:00 pm, I learned that we had caught only eight fish between us. Greg still had his in the livewell of his boat:
Brian had managed four, only one of which might have been a keeper. Bob had caught a 12 inch keeper, but was the only one of us who wasn't in the pool. However, the winner of the lunker pool was Dan, who had caught two fish, the largest of which was just over 15 inches long. Congratulations, Dan!
After we had all strapped our boats onto their trailers and stowed our gear, we headed up to the parking lot, grilled up some burgers and dogs, and had something to eat and drink. Here are the other seven hard core open water fishermen:
It was really nice to meet some of you for the first time and to see everyone. Even you, Bob!
I'm already looking forward to doing this, again, in the Spring. Hopefully, it'll be warmer by then.
Definatly a good time hooking up with the gang .......
Rough day of fishing.the only way we could work a lure was to tie up to a stump fish the area and move to the next one.
Mark (Mep21) and I finaly had to make the move south when we started dragging stumps with us as the gust picked up to over 20mph. The wind made boat control and safety a issue , in a boat like mine with 18inches of side board showing it was like sailing . The stump tops vanished in the chop made moveing around under power a little iffy, we even managed to high end ourself 1x on a stump for a minute (think RNA said he did also).
The man powered boats it was bordering dangerous when you factor in water temp , windchill and the hidden stump tops. Luckly the day passed without issue. I for one had a great time
The single thing that impressed me the most about you all that attended:
This is a safety minded group and all kept a eye on each other. Help was never more than a minute away if needed and not a single team docked before all members where accounted for. DCAJ who couldnt stick the wind and had to bail didnt just book out before he checked in with a group member to let us know he was safe.
Thanks to Mark for draggng his grill down to the lake and the rest who supplied the food and drinks. Hope to fish with you all again soon ..........
And for those who coundnt make it this time. I would keep a eye on the forum and really try to make the next gathering its a great time
Rough day of fishing.the only way we could work a lure was to tie up to a stump fish the area and move to the next one.
Mark (Mep21) and I finaly had to make the move south when we started dragging stumps with us as the gust picked up to over 20mph. The wind made boat control and safety a issue , in a boat like mine with 18inches of side board showing it was like sailing . The stump tops vanished in the chop made moveing around under power a little iffy, we even managed to high end ourself 1x on a stump for a minute (think RNA said he did also).
The man powered boats it was bordering dangerous when you factor in water temp , windchill and the hidden stump tops. Luckly the day passed without issue. I for one had a great time
The single thing that impressed me the most about you all that attended:
This is a safety minded group and all kept a eye on each other. Help was never more than a minute away if needed and not a single team docked before all members where accounted for. DCAJ who couldnt stick the wind and had to bail didnt just book out before he checked in with a group member to let us know he was safe.
Thanks to Mark for draggng his grill down to the lake and the rest who supplied the food and drinks. Hope to fish with you all again soon ..........
And for those who coundnt make it this time. I would keep a eye on the forum and really try to make the next gathering its a great time
