Hit the bait shop at 7am this morning for a couple of small Gizzard Shad, 2 dozen medium Shiners and 1 dozen Blueback Herring. Also picked up a Sebile 125 in White and a Mcstick 110.

We launched at Aqualand and headed back into Flowery Branch towards the 2nd set of power lines. We continued further just to see what was past the McEver bridge. We marked several nice fish so we turned around and put out our spread of Planer Boards, Downlines and Flatlines. Water temperature was 59.9°. As we moved back towards the main lake pulling our baits we passed another boat doing the same thing and caught our first Spotted Bass on a Planer Board with one of the Gizzard Shad baits right in front of them. Just after passing them we marked more fish in a pocket to the right then the trolling motor konked out on us. It seemed like the day was over before it started. I called Minnkota technical support and waited a while. Then it was finally my turn. They provided a reset code which worked and we were back to fishing in no time. After catching another Spot we decided to move in the hopes of finding Stripers instead of Spots. We went to Mud Creek 4 and managed to see several Loons diving just passed the point. Water temperature here rose to 61°. We put out our same spread but added a long range Gizzie on a balloon and started getting bit but with more Spots and a couple of nice ones too. They were hitting the medium Shiners on the channel side of the boat. We picked up another 6 here. Decided to go to DBs honey hole in OC4. Caught a few more Spots and finally a small Striper allowing me to tell today’s story. We ended up with 12 fish caught on the day. Sun came out of the clouds and we were shedding our heavy layers of clothes to feel the warmth of the sun with just a cool breeze. No pictures today. Went Striper fishing and caught 11 Spots and an aquarium sized Striper. After a great day of searching for Stripers and great conversations with Gerry W. it was time to head in. We still had to manually stow the trolling motor as this was still an issue which partner would have to deal with when he got home. Thanks Gerry for a fine outing on a weekday just before Thanksgiving and have a happy one to you and the Mrs.