SurfCowboyXX
Member
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2011
- Messages
- 501
A couple things, since Team Tweed wants to talk trash:
Team Tweed would only fish this one stretch of water, period. I offered up numerous stretches on different rivers that probably would have fished better (this stretch wasn't exactly loaded with fish over 15", as you can see in the scoring). Poor Dave only found 4 the whole day, and it's not as if he doesn't know what he's doing.
Of course, I had never fished this stretch before. It was OK, though, because the river is only a mile or more wide there, so it wasn't as if I had a lot of potential water to figure out in order to find fish (most of which was totally barren after the cold front passed). As it turns out, this section was selected because Team Tweed had "fished this stretch since the 80's", and had "a couple of good spots I want to hit, so I'm just going to row the first mile or so". If I'd had any sense, I'd have shadowed Team Tweed and low-holed them a few times. Instead, I thought it most sporting to row off and find my own way.
As it turned out, I spent 80% of my day rowing, because unless you know exactly what the Hell you're doing on that stretch in a hard boat, you aren't going to like what happens to your boat. In other words, there's no damn water there. We hit twice and dragged a half-dozen more times, and I was handling the boat well. It is water best suited to a kayak or canoe, which is why we mostly saw kayaks and canoes and the occasional jet boat stranded on a ledge.
Fred up and broke his popper rod about 2 hours in and was basically clusterf$%&d until about 3 pm, when he finally caught a fish >15". He fished effectively for maybe 2-2.5 hours total. So, for about 5 of the 7 hours we fished, I was rowing a boat with practically no partner. Before that, he had leader problems, fly problems, and just about every other handicap imaginable (including mental). Fred is not a fan of driftboat fishing, as it turns out. He probably could have been more effective from a kayak, as crazy as that might sound.
The two times we got to water deep enough for Fred to take the oars for a while, however, I caught a 17.75" and a 16.5". I probably was able to cast for a little over 90 minutes total. I felt like I had a Hell of a day, considering how little I actually got to fish relative to Tweed. Had I been able to cast as much as Tweed, I'm pretty sure this score would have looked somewhat different even accounting for the norovirus attack suffered by Team Tweed (Kray had to row as much as me--his boat drafts another couple inches more than does mine--he could only do so much with a fly rod in hand).
So, Team Tweed is really just bragging that they were able to outfish pretty much one guy having rowing a boat constantly on a stretch of water they've fished for 30+ years by 4 points, all of which amounted to 4 extra fish too small to use for striper bait. Congrats on a resounding victory.
But Team Tweed won on points, and that's really the only way you win. That said, I'd still rather have my day, with two fish over 16.5" than to have traded those two in on a half-dozen dinks to score points. I actually caught a few fish that were worth photographing. There is a reason I insisted upon a scoring system that gave extra points for bigger fish.
And I haven't welched on anything, so you can take your meme and chum with it on a stretch of water you have fished hundreds of times. Once you tell me the beer you'd like, I will place it in a location that I have known for 30 years and that you have yet to visit, and I will see how long it takes you to find it. Or I will bring it to you at the Tweed Shop, whichever you think is most fair to you.
There may be enough time left in the summer for a rematch. If not, we can take this beef to the Upper Delaware River in the Fall, where, although I may not have fished it nearly as much as Kray, I have at least been there before and floated a few of the stretches I know he likes. I like our chances better already.
Team Tweed would only fish this one stretch of water, period. I offered up numerous stretches on different rivers that probably would have fished better (this stretch wasn't exactly loaded with fish over 15", as you can see in the scoring). Poor Dave only found 4 the whole day, and it's not as if he doesn't know what he's doing.
Of course, I had never fished this stretch before. It was OK, though, because the river is only a mile or more wide there, so it wasn't as if I had a lot of potential water to figure out in order to find fish (most of which was totally barren after the cold front passed). As it turns out, this section was selected because Team Tweed had "fished this stretch since the 80's", and had "a couple of good spots I want to hit, so I'm just going to row the first mile or so". If I'd had any sense, I'd have shadowed Team Tweed and low-holed them a few times. Instead, I thought it most sporting to row off and find my own way.
As it turned out, I spent 80% of my day rowing, because unless you know exactly what the Hell you're doing on that stretch in a hard boat, you aren't going to like what happens to your boat. In other words, there's no damn water there. We hit twice and dragged a half-dozen more times, and I was handling the boat well. It is water best suited to a kayak or canoe, which is why we mostly saw kayaks and canoes and the occasional jet boat stranded on a ledge.
Fred up and broke his popper rod about 2 hours in and was basically clusterf$%&d until about 3 pm, when he finally caught a fish >15". He fished effectively for maybe 2-2.5 hours total. So, for about 5 of the 7 hours we fished, I was rowing a boat with practically no partner. Before that, he had leader problems, fly problems, and just about every other handicap imaginable (including mental). Fred is not a fan of driftboat fishing, as it turns out. He probably could have been more effective from a kayak, as crazy as that might sound.
The two times we got to water deep enough for Fred to take the oars for a while, however, I caught a 17.75" and a 16.5". I probably was able to cast for a little over 90 minutes total. I felt like I had a Hell of a day, considering how little I actually got to fish relative to Tweed. Had I been able to cast as much as Tweed, I'm pretty sure this score would have looked somewhat different even accounting for the norovirus attack suffered by Team Tweed (Kray had to row as much as me--his boat drafts another couple inches more than does mine--he could only do so much with a fly rod in hand).
So, Team Tweed is really just bragging that they were able to outfish pretty much one guy having rowing a boat constantly on a stretch of water they've fished for 30+ years by 4 points, all of which amounted to 4 extra fish too small to use for striper bait. Congrats on a resounding victory.
But Team Tweed won on points, and that's really the only way you win. That said, I'd still rather have my day, with two fish over 16.5" than to have traded those two in on a half-dozen dinks to score points. I actually caught a few fish that were worth photographing. There is a reason I insisted upon a scoring system that gave extra points for bigger fish.
And I haven't welched on anything, so you can take your meme and chum with it on a stretch of water you have fished hundreds of times. Once you tell me the beer you'd like, I will place it in a location that I have known for 30 years and that you have yet to visit, and I will see how long it takes you to find it. Or I will bring it to you at the Tweed Shop, whichever you think is most fair to you.
There may be enough time left in the summer for a rematch. If not, we can take this beef to the Upper Delaware River in the Fall, where, although I may not have fished it nearly as much as Kray, I have at least been there before and floated a few of the stretches I know he likes. I like our chances better already.
