1/29 GMR

With it closing in on the record high for todays date I had to hit the river after work. The Great Miami was up a bit, maybe around a foot and a tad off color. But I just told myself the best time to fish is always when the river is rising and but I had no idea if its was going to hold true in winter too. I had been lucky catching one fish two or three times this winter and avoiding a skunk but after a couple hours the streak was looking like it was coming to an end. But then about dark I felt a solid thump and was fast into the first fish of the night, a small saugeye. Then about a half hour later another small saug hit, again not very big but hey I was catching a few fish and was the warmest I'd been fishing in like two months. It felt very good to cast without gloves and coveralls.

Then about an hour after dark I got another solid strike and the rod bent double. I was sure I was hooked to the saugeye of a lifetime at first but it kept taking too much drag and I ended up with my second channelcat this week on a saugeye grub. This one was a bit less surprising than the other since there wasn't snow on the ground this time. It was about the fattest channel I've ever caught. The cold weather sure wasnt bothering it any as its belly looked like it had swallowed a grapefruit.