Hot summer day

So my wife and I headed to Claytor for a short mid-day trip Sunday.  Mind you my wife seldom fishes, so shes generally on the back casting deck sunning, or reading, etc - just enjoying the water.  We got there at about 1pm and IT WAS HOT!  Like 90+ hot!  Surface water temp of about 86!

So we headed out of the public ramp amongst a slew of other boaters and jet skiers, knowing it was going to be busy and rough waters.  I had no idea how busy...

This was like memorial day busy!  I wanted to fish a location with stumps north of DeHaven that I had never focused on before so we headed up... holy cow.  I only have a 16 foot Skeeter and we were taking it slow but dear lord it beat the tar out of us.  We finally get to where I want to fish and the wakes are aggravating but the heat is worse.

Quickly I shed out of my shirt and my wife begins to sun bathe ... then get nauseous... which is a first.  Surprisingly, in the middle of all this heat, noise and sun we did see a HUGE Deer.  I'm guessing about five year old and his rack is going to be MASSIVE!  He already had at least 8 or 10 clean tines, and it looked like maybe a paddle on the left.  I'm guessing the spread was 20+ inches easy.  And he looked healthy!

Anyway, it was so hot and so rough that after maybe an hour or so of fishing the bank line (and finding Bass, although I only landed a gill) we headed further up the lake to escape the crowd and cool off.  So up to lighthouse bridge we go.  We round the corner, and realize we're not the only ones hanging out under the bridge...there's like 6 or more other boats doing the same.  We stopped for a bit, but it was even hot under the bridge!

Now if you haven't been under the bridge, its a LOW pass bridge, so low I broke my rear marker light on it once... So generally it's very cool -- NOT TODAY!  IT was still HOT!  We were aggravated from the sheer number of people, and cooking from the heat - so we headed back home.  And even in that short time, managed to get a decent sun burn.  I can only imagine what people got who were out all day...Sheesh!

Anywho - this is exactly why I love fishing mid-week -- I love the peaceful quiet lake.  The mirror finished surface, a slight mist rising, hearing the sound of nature - not the man made sounds that a busseling summer day brings....