Day 1, Kinkaid

Brrrrrr...

I'm not sure it ever got into the 30s, but no matter, we still got one about two hours after we started. Chad Cain is a superman for having guided us to a Muskie while it was snowing, 36 degree water, ambient temperature of about 27 or so degrees. We began casting in one of his favorite coves, but weren't seeing enough baitfish to make Chad happy. So we went of trolling in search of Shad. Not long after we started trolling, this one hit an Ernie. It went about 35 inches and had no problem swimming away quickly.

Of course, that raised our expectations for the rest of the day, to no good end. It stayed cold, the sun would peek out temporarily, then hide again. We tried casting once more, but ice forming quickly on the guides, then making the line too big in the spool pushed us back into trolling. We trolled the rest of the day, until ice started forming on the lake's surface letting us know that it was a good time to call it a day.

Went to the 17th Ave Bar & Grill in Murphysboro, which won a bunch of BBQ championships and Bon Appetit press. The hot link was good, the ribs were good, the pulled pork was below average. All of it was served barely lukewarm. Podnah's it weren't.

Tomorrow is supposed to be in the low 40s, which will be a 20 degree improvement. It's also supposed to rain, so that will make the day another fun one, I am sure.

Below is what it looked like when we left the ramp in the morning.