I waited SO LONG to make my 1st hard water trip of the year – bout 5 hours 
Well worth the wait! While crappie hunting a weed line in a little over 5 fow I pulled a pretty big mark. Before my eyes could go from the Lowrance to my spring bobber the pole was headed DOWN! Folks, a 5′ Pulsator rod with an in-line locked reel spooled with 2lb Vanish just isn’t the set up to go off teasing Pike with. When she hit and made the first run thoughts of loosing my purple glitter Cecil to a fricken Grass Carp raced through my mind! When she made her second run – I knew I wasn’t dealing with no Grass Carp! I was on my knees not once but twice (PRAYING) giving her all the line I had out – which was about 7 feet. On both occassions I had nearly 10″ of pole down the hole. My right arm was serving well as the drag device. After a solid 15 minute battle I had her tuckered out to the point I could get her nose up in the hole. I yelled to a fellow bucketeer for some assistance. The gentleman hooked the back of her gill and pulled her up through like he’d done it 100 times. A BIG THANKS to the individual!
As for the panfish…the bite was slow – go figure. There were undoubtly more gator mouths roaming the water column. Smaller gills were just hugging the bottom with a few suspended crappie making their rounds.
