First trip of 2024 to bullfrog

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Dworwood said:
@greyhackle and I headed up lake around daylight this morning, Kurtley had told Greyhackle to head to the horn for good fishing and not to slow down until we got there! So that’s what we did except we found @KYKevin in GH and stopped to BS for a minute and get a report. As usual he is catching a bunch of fish and camping on shore, I’m going to start calling him Ironman KY! We left him and continued up lake to the horn and started fishing, we saw KY and one other boat all day. The trip up lake in my boat was not bad but it was cool outside the cabin and as we found out later it was cold enough to make ice on the lake. We were catching fish trolling and we went around the horn talking about how lucky we are and we heard a strange sound, we soon figured out it was ice that we were breaking through and it was thick enough to hang our lures up and cut the line. We gathered up our lures and headed back down lake. The water temp around the ice was 34 and it was 46 where we had been fishing. The fish were fat and healthy and as usual I can’t tell you exactly how many we caught today, somewhere around 25 to 30 and we weighed several, all were between 2 1/2 to 5 pounds. We picked up a couple of nice walleye in the mix too. As we were trolling I thought I saw the other boat put a BIG fish in the boat so we went over to them and they had boated a big striper (picture below), they asked if we would go to shore and take some pictures and of course we agreed to that! They didn’t have a scale and I had a certified scale on board so we weighed the fish, it looked bigger but the scale said 28 pounds, it is a darn nice fish and they caught it casting and reeling close to shore. They didn’t have a net big enough to put it in so they lifted it in the boat by hand, the fish measured 40” long.
It was an perfect winter trip for us, the lake is not crowded, the fishing is pretty darn good, not great but as good as we expected for January. This partner in crime of mine has once again got me out of work and I get to spend some quality lake time during work hours! I truly am blessed to have good friends with great spur of the moment ideas. The weather was nice with temps close to 60 and no wind until late afternoon, what a way to spend a winter day!View attachment 26015View attachment 26016View attachment 26017View attachment 26018View attachment 26020
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thats a whopper did they release it
 
We had our day cut a little short, we stopped and talked to @KYKevin on the way up and he was catching fish, we didn’t want to horn in on his small honey hole so we went back to the horn and started catching fish pretty consistently but not as fast as Ky was. A little after noon the only other boat we had seen all trip other than KYKevin and he had already left, was waving at us so we went down to see what was wrong. This is the boat that caught the big fish the day before and they were haveing motor problems! So we decided we had better get towing or we would be in the dark. We loaded them in the boat and started down lake with their boat trailing behind, we made it to forgotten and decided we better leave their boat tied up and get to the ramp for two reasons, one it was getting DARK, and two I was getting low on gas towing them. The reason I was low is another story that I’m not telling tonight!😂 just one more of our senile old age moments. We made the ramp in the dark and we will fill up in the morning and go get them back to the marina. Great guys and we have known the one for many years, he used to mount fish and he did that for many years. There were a lot of stories on the ride down lake, or as some would call it BS, We did catch some nice fish today including walleye, crappie, and some healthy stripers that are full of Shad as the picture below shows.
Word of caution, there is no one on the lake during the week, the only three boats we saw in three days were us, Ky, and these guys and we knew Ky had already left. If we had not seen them they would have spent at least one night up there and maybe more depending if anyone made it up there and saw them in the next few days. They did not have a radio, InReach or phone service so it is up to the fellowship of fishermen to find whoever gets stranded this time of year because no one else is on the water. We were glad to see flat water on the trip down lake, one picture shows how calm it was. Good luck to you all and stay safe! Follow up to come when we get home.
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We had a great trip considering the time of year. Daves boat with the cover and curtains is sure a lot more comfortable than mine. I have a full windshield, but it’s great to be totally out of the wind when traveling.
Here’s a couple more photos and a visitor at camp
 

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We all made it to the ramp and loaded on our trailers this morning! Headed out after getting fuel this morning a little before 8 and made the round trip to forgotten and back at 11 this morning. I feel very lucky every time I get to meet new fishermen on the lake, I don’t think I have ever met one that I wouldn’t want to spend time on the water with. We lost a day of fishing but we caught plenty of fish and had a great time, good company, weather was great, water was mostly calm and we had the pleasure of meeting a couple of highly dedicated fishermen, one of them being 75 years old. Powell is always an adventure but you never know what kind it will be, some good and some not so good but always an adventure which is why many of us can’t get enough. Because of work, this was the first time I have been there in the middle of the week in the winter and I have to say I have never seen the lake so uninhabited, as I said previously I only saw three boats in 4 days and it was the same three! No one at check in, at the inspection station, parking lots, or anywhere else for that matter! It was wonderful but be prepared for it if you go. It is special to be able to fish any spot you want to fish and know it hasn’t been fished yet, well almost @KYKevin may have been there but he is only one boat and even he can’t cover all the good spots,😂 I shouldn’t be reporting this because it may persuade more people to go but what the heck, isn’t that what this site is about? Good luck and tight lines to all!
P.S. take warm clothes, it’s cold in the morning!
P.P.S. Thanks @greyhackle for getting me there!IMG_1003.jpeg
 
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Dworwood said:
We all made it to the ramp and loaded on our trailers this morning! Headed out after getting fuel this morning a little before 8 and made the round trip to forgotten and back at 11 this morning. I feel very lucky every time I get to meet new fishermen on the lake, I don’t think I have ever met one that I wouldn’t want to spend time on the water with. We lost a day of fishing but we caught plenty of fish and had a great time, good company, weather was great, water was mostly calm and we had the pleasure of meeting a couple of highly dedicated fishermen, one of them being 75 years old. Powell is always an adventure but you never know what kind it will be, some good and some not so good but always an adventure which is why many of us can’t get enough. Because of work, this was the first time I have been there in the middle of the week in the winter and I have to say I have never seen the lake so uninhabited, as I said previously I only saw three boats in 4 days and it was the same three! No one at check in, at the inspection station, parking lots, or anywhere else for that matter! It was wonderful but be prepared for it if you go. It is special to be able to fish any spot you want to fish and know it hasn’t been fished yet, well almost @KYKevin may have been there but he is only one boat and even he can’t cover all the good spots,😂 I shouldn’t be reporting this because it may persuade more people to go but what the heck, isn’t that what this site is about? Good luck and tight lines to all!
P.S. take warm clothes, it’s cold in the morning!
P.P.S. Thanks @greyhackle for getting me there!
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Dave, I'm pretty sure we passed up thousands of good spots getting to where we were 😁
You guys were great to help them, I would have had to of had that 28 lb Striper, if they wanted to get back🤣
 
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Dave,awhile back I was organizing safety/emergency gear on the boat and was wondering best setup if you had totow someone or get towed. I see you were just tied off to one eye. Did it cause issues,? would it be worthwhile to hav a shorter hank to vee off from both eyes? It sounds like it was a good trip for you guys. You always have something happening that seems to make your trips down extraordinary. welcome to the weekday club.
 
It probably would have towed better hooked to both sides and centered, but we had no problem pulling them the way we did. We could only go about 8 or 9 mph. Mainly because we weren’t sure we had enough gas to tow them all the way. You can’t get a boat up on plane towing either. We ended up leaving their boat tied up at the rest room in Forgotten over night. Running back to the marina for the night. Pulling the boat out, running up to the gas station for the ethanol free gas and finishing the rescue that next morning. It wasn’t fishing, but another adventure in our portfolio 😂
Like Dave said, we ended up with some new friends to trade fishing stories with in the bargain.
 
Littlesaltwash said:
Dave,awhile back I was organizing safety/emergency gear on the boat and was wondering best setup if you had totow someone or get towed. I see you were just tied off to one eye. Did it cause issues,? would it be worthwhile to hav a shorter hank to vee off from both eyes? It sounds like it was a good trip for you guys. You always have something happening that seems to make your trips down extraordinary. welcome to the weekday club.
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Dave I’m not a member of the weekday club yet, just a visitor! As long as you have a long enough rope most boats have an eye where you tie them down or pull skiers with. I wouldn’t add any more weight in the boat if I could avoid it. A long rope is the most important. No issues other than it is slow going, I have had my fair share of towing for some reason with no issues yet, actually we’re getting pretty good at it!😁
 
What a great week of fishing/towing Dworwood! You definitely have some good karma coming your way. Brad, the guy who caught the giant striper is one of my best friends. He's a heck of a fisher and I only wish I was there to witness his trophy catch. I hope to run into you one day at the lake and thank you for giving them a tow. The lake in the winter is one of my favorite times to be there. As you stated, be prepared, there is no one to help you, other than fishermen. Good on you guys! Tight lines and best wishes...fstop
 
That's service. I had a boat that was stranded there a few years ago and didn't want to tow them all the way back so I towed them to the shore and pulled my kicker motor off and a spare fuel tank, mounted it on their boat and sent them on their way. It took them almost 10 hours to troll back, but I selfishly fished then next couple of days. I was relieved to find my motor back at Bullfrog when I got there;)
 
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