Fall Fishing Trip Day 1

Well first off welcome to the official "Gilman" website. There may be other sites out there with the same name. But this is the only "true" Gilman site. This has been a project long overdue. Thanks to some inspiration from long time friend Paul "The World Record Fish" Bentley.

Well first off let me say what a great time on the river this last week. Good times with old friends and family. Fishing the mighty Tensaw (or the brackish I should say for now.) Our trip started out a little shakey with Hurricane Ike staring down our sights threatening to over throw our plans. But as fate would have it, we got on the water ready for a biggun. On deck this trip we have our fearless leader and Captain Ed Gilman. An old buddy from back in the "growin up days" - Paul "The World Record" Bentley (more on that name later.) And back by popular demand, Mr. Zach "The New York" Levey. And of course yours truly.

So let me kick off day one. I was extra excited as this was the day I would finally put my grandpa Gilman's boat in the water for the first time in a few years. I had been working on it for the past year with a few interruptions along the way. The weather was a bit breezy and over cast at times as Ike had the clouds rolling in and out all day. After some brief mehanical issues with the motor on my boat starting we were off. It was gonna be a hot summer day, but we knew the fish were biting. We launched at Byrnes Lake located towards the "lower end" as we call it. Which is just the lower portion of Tensaw river/Mobile Delta. We would head out the mouth of Byrnes and fish the right hand side of the bank. With Paul and Ed in one boat, and Zach and I in the other. We started off the day right with a few taunts about who was going to fill the cooler first and catch the biggest fish. We hit the fish quick, and suprisingly they were catfish (which ended up being about the only thing biting the whole trip - not complaining, just saying.) After about an hour or so Zach noticed some water coming in the back "Hmm, thats never good" I thought. Well to make a long story short, the transom of my boat was rotted and the motor mount busted through. Luckily my bilge pump was up and running, and with an emergency run back to the landing we made it boat and all. I was a little frustrated as many hours were put into fixing this boat, and now it was pretty well ruined. Well with a little more than half a day left I put my frustrations aside and loaded up with Zach in the infamous green boat. Who says four people can't fish out of that boat!? From here we headed back out to the main river and hit the catfish hard some more before finally deciding to head over to our secret "Gilman Catfish Hole." With a sheep head in the cooler (saltwater fish - signs of the brackish water moving in from Mobile bay) we cut it up and rigged our heavy rods. I'll be the first to say that when you have one mullet to use for cut bait, don't trust it to anyone over the age of thirty. You may encounter some....accidents...anyways, back to the story. We were in for a wild ride! The cat hole was on fire today. With Paul and Zach a little skeptical about our past catches at this same spot, 15 minutes passed by before a single hit. No sooner had Zach suggested this spot was "no good" when my rod went diving! I yanked it up and BAM! the hook was set. Not a huge fish but a nice-un! A short battle ended with the first 10lb cat in the boat. Now my rule is anything over 10lbs goes back. This guy was going in the cooler. We had a fish fry to look forward too (as if we didn't have enough catfish already.) Not soon after my catch ended Paul's first big freshwater fish started. A 12lb Bluecat to be exact. Paul's biggest fish of his life - yet soon to be out done twice over. With luck running against Ed and Zach I had yet another hit! This one was a little better and more fired up. At which point the fish ran up river made a sharp left turn toward the bank and launched out of the water like a missle. An 11lb brute that went back in the water along with Paul's 12lb. I was on fire! Another hit, this time we had a monster! My rod bent over like a limp twizzler on the kittydid. I had (and still have yet) never felt such a strong fish. Whatever this beast was decided he/she was not moving an inch. I thought I was hung for a minute and lost the fish when all the sudden it would yank back twice really hard. My adrenaline was maxed and I was trying to gain some line on it slowly. After about five minutes I could feel it start to move upwards. I knew I was about to see the biggest fish of my life surface before my eyes, when the worst happened. In a fit of rage the fish jolted and like a sligshot my bait came flying out of the water! I LOST IT!! - Now anyone that can sympathize with me knows the feeling. I wanted to jump in the water and strangle the fish with my bare hands! - While sulking over my biggest loss ever Paul's rod goes for a jolt yet again. This time a decent one! Topping the day off with a 19lb Bluecat and Paul's biggest "so far." The action died down and it was time to call it a day.

My thoughts on day one:

The good: We caught a lot of fish, and some decent sized ones.

The Bad: Zach and I almost went for a swim, and I am out a boat (for now)

The Ugly: The moment I knew I lost that huge fish...

My tip to you - when a big fish strikes, be ready, stay calm, and realize you have all the time in the world to get him in the boat -AND- Never leave the dock without a working bilge pump. I surely would have lost out that day without mine.

Stay tuned for days two and three!