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MACY IN CHARGE
By: Ron Wilson
I spent last Saturday
with Al Autry, his son Bear and Macy, Al’s spoiled rotten beagle. We went
to Lake Don
Pedro to do a little fishing.
As I got into Al’s
truck, Macy came over, took a couple Sniff’s and then curled up next to
me. I guess she figured that I was ok after smelling the scent of my three
dogs on me.
Al had recently
purchased a new Lowe fishing boat. He had it set up for trolling and I was
along to give him a few pointers.
I wasn't sure he
needed many pointers from the stories he was telling me from his recent
trips to the lake. He had been catching easy limits of trout and salmon,
in fact he had limited out every trip without any problem!
We stopped for fuel
and a little food in Waterford; Macy came alive with the smell of food and
soon let out a small yip. Al purposely didn't respond and soon Macy let
out a bigger bark to get his attention, which he responded to by giving
her a bite of food to eat!
We arrived at the lake
at first light and headed off to Six-Bit where Al had been catching trout
and Salmon.
I quickly got my two
rods down, one at 50 and the other at 60 feet. The fish have been holding
at that depth for much of the summer.
It didn’t take long to
confirm they were still there as our first strike came in short order.
Bear enjoyed the honors of fighting the first fish of the day.
The fish go that deep
and deeper according to the water temperature. They are trying to find
their comfort zone. The temperature is normally anywhere from 60 degrees
at 50 feet to about 55 degrees at 65 feet.
Al wasn't having much
luck on his side of the boat. So he brought his rod up to ad a second pole
to the downrigger. Here was a chance to give him a quick tip as I put a
very small ball troll on.
When the fish are
shallow and you’re fishing behind the boat ball trolls are useless, but
when the fish are deep I like the vibration of flashers and ball trolls to
attract the fish to the baits.
I showed Al how to
attach the small blades to the downrigger weight instead of his line. Then
I showed him how to put his bait or lure, (in this case a night crawler),
behind a dodger. You want it just a foot or so behind the small ball
troll. The fish will react to the ball troll and then slam the worm.
I lowered the
downrigger weight to 10 feet deep and attached another line release to the
wire and then lowered both lines at the same time down to the 65-foot
mark. There he had a worm at 65 feet on one rod and an Ex-Cel pop sickle
lure at 55 feet on the other rod!
I used an old trick to
help us catch more fish during the day. I had taken along a jar of Crave
trout bait and would rub a dab into the silver flakes on the bottom of the
blue/silver Ex-Cel lures I was dragging on my side of the boat. I believe
that scent on the line and lures help to make a non-aggressive fish more
aggressive!
Bear and Al were soon
reeling in fish after fish. If the fish weren’t hooked badly, I would
shake them off the hook to fight another day, otherwise they went in the
box.
 Al
and Bear really enjoyed fishing with my ultra light rods. Even the little
fish give you a run for the money on light tackle.
About 9 a.m. the
bigger fish started biting. We quickly put four nice salmon and trout in
the boat. They were all in the 2-pound class. But just as quickly as it
started it was over!
Macy had the run of
the boat as she pretty much went where she wanted when she wanted. Soon
she curled up and went sound asleep in the captain’s chair. “I bet your
dad doesn't treat you that well, huh Bear”, I said jokingly!
The bite had died so
we trolled almost into the mouth of Six-Bite. There we found a huge school
of shad along with the fish we were after. However, they were right near
the trees in the bottom of the creek channel. Not wanting to lose
equipment we decided to leave the area.
Macy needed a stretch
so Al beached the boat and let Macy off to stretch her legs. I kidded Bear
again. “Hey Bear, I bet your dad wouldn't let you out on the bank for a
break”! “Your right” said Bear, “Pop just spoils that dog to peaces”, he
said jealously.
I thought to myself
how soon we forget! It seemed like only yesterday that I would see Al up
at the lake with his two sons. One time I watched him get soaking wet as
he took off his own coat and put it around the boys to protect them from
the rain!
Al always had plenty
of food for them to eat and they generally had their favorite beverages
and junk food to enjoy while fishing.
The boys are pretty
much grown and do their own thing now, so Macy gets the lion’s share of
Al’s attention. If he doesn’t give it to her she lets him know about it in
a hurry!
She sure is a cute
little thing and daddy Al makes sure she is protected at all times just
like when his own boys were small and needed watching over!
We had a great day on
the water with about 30 fish brought to the boat. Bear, Al and Macy had a
ball.
When Al and I can
arrange the time from our busy schedules we will go after the fish again.
Al can use some more pointers and I can always use more fishing time! |
