This past week was my official start of the spring guide season on LBC. The weather is finally cooperating and it has warmed up into the 70's.

I had my good buddy and favorite real estate broker, Rick Coffin out with me this past Wed. for a day at LBC. His friend Jerry joined us and we hit it after a meal at the Apple Peddler that morning. We actually got out a little later than I had planned, but no one seemed to mind much.

I had some success at the island run on Mon. with the Moore brothers, so we pulled up and set up to run Lyman's down the shallows first thing. I would guess it was around 8:30 when we got started. First bull honors went to Rick and he boated a nice 9.5 LB. bull to get us on the board. Jerry then followed up with a 7.5 LB. bull.

What happened next was something I have been hoping for but didn't expect that morning. When the rod went over hard, I asked Rick what he thought. Jerry and I had both seen the fish come up immediately after the strike and I remember that I saw this big tail up in the air and thought this could be a toad.

Rick said that this fish did have some weight. The big bull just kind of swam right on by the boat like she wasn't even hooked. Rick put some pressure on her and she ran right beside the boat and back behind it again. I my mind, the scene was reminiscent of the part in Jaws when the shark comes up and goes by the boat and Richard Dryfeuss said " I think we need a bigger boat." I had my Polaroid glasses on and could make out the length in the flat waters that were clearer than normal. This fish looked like it was three feet long. I wasn't off by much.

After a tussle behind the boat for a couple of minutes, I coached Rick into working her over to me as I waited with the net in hand. He did a good job of keeping her on top and then towed in my direction. In one swoop, I had her were we wanted her, right in the bottom of the net. It was at this point that I could make out just how big she really was. As I lifted her aboard, I know this fish was way over 15 LB. The big hen was bouncing around the 18.5 LB. mark on the Rapala Gripper scale. I was hooting and high fiving with Rick as we celebrated one of the biggest bulls I had ever scene. It was a no-brainer about mounting her as this fish was a "fish of a lifetime" for most people. The boys down in Cal. would be pleased to have a mold of a bull this size. The fish taped out at a hair under 35 in. A real hog!

Since there was definitely a good bite going on, we got started up again and were soon into another nice bull. Jerry broke through with a beautiful 10 LB. hen that would make most anglers thrilled. All in all, we hooked and released 5 bulls going 7.5, 7.5, 8, 9.5 and 10 LB. The 18 LB.+ hen was the only casualty and I will have photos of the mount up here on the site before the end of the year. What a day!

The next day, I had a friend from Salem, Percy Hadley, who I had gotten acquainted with last summer while fishing and camping at one of my favorite lakes. We hit it early but the fish were not where we found them the previous day. We had a strike and finally Percy hooked up on a long, lean 3.5 LB. hen. After working a lot of spots with a mix of different set-ups, we finally ended up at the original run we hit first thing in the morning. Some kokes were showing up on top after the sun was getting lower and they were working a little tighter to shore. After several good hook-ups that didn't stick, finally Percy was fast into a nice bull. This fish wasn't real big but had the heart of a 10 LBer. When he finally wore her down and got her close enough for me to remove the hook, I popped her off to fight another day. We estimated she was a solid 6.5 Lb.bull.

Look for a steady stream of reports as I am booked up through the end of April.......

Tight lines, Rick