Crappie and whites were no where to be found on Saturday for us on Somerville. Front had moved in and chilled things a little. Decided to switch gears to run some lines on Sunday. Did a little bow fishing Saturday night and shot a couple Buffalo for bait. Slept in Sunday morning and hit the water after lunch. Jugs baited with shad and cut Buffalo chunks. Wind had changed out of the South and was blowing steady, made a good chop on the lake. Temps were a bit warmer then Saturday as well. First set of lines in the water by 1:45 or so and the 2nd set of lines in the water by 3:30. Started picking up fish within the 1st hour soak. Pickup started about 5pm.

Saw a float more towards the middle of the cove away from where we had set them, float was upright obviously with a fish on. Approached the float and it disappeared. Waited and waited for the float to come up. It pops up about 20yrds away, started towards it and it goes down again. Called my buddy to assist me in rounding up this fish. Finally get hands on the jug and then the fight started. Took both of us to get this biggun in the boat without damaging her. Picked up the rest of our get and rushed over to Somerville Marina at Overlook Park to get a weight on it.

Fish weighed in at 57.8lbs on the certified scale. Though she was far from a lake record, it was the largest cat we had ever caught. After several pics were taken we spent about an hour nursing her back to life. She was released and swam away on her own. Finished the day with a box of nice cats for the table and the a trophy Blue for the books. Great day of fishing with good friends, even better when our wives will come out and fish with us.

Quick side note, jugs were the typical tip-up noodle style rigs, 8-O circle hooks, single hook per float, no weight, line lenghts from 3-6'. Set upwind and drifted into a cove.

Kept these for the grease.


Just after weight in.


Better profile shot just after getting her out of the water.

Nice! I've not been slim in years.

apparently my E sticks lol