Katy's First Striper...

...unfortunately, she had to go to Phoenix Arizona to catch it.

During the second week of May, Katy and I were fortunate enough to attend a combination vacation/business trip paid for by the company I work for.

They put us up at the Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix for 3 nights/4 days. For the "vacation" part of the trip, there were about a dozen different activities that you could sign up for. The most interesting one in my opinion was an afternoon of bass fishing on Lake Pleasant.

Katy, being the consummate fisherman's wife, agreed to join me on this little adventure whereas other couples opted to enjoy massages at the spa and or attend wine tasting and cooking classes.

We took a bus from the hotel at about 12:30 pm for the 45 minute ride out to the lake. There were about 30-40 people who signed up for this little excursion. When we got to the lake, there several boats (and guides) for us to choose from. The boats ranged from the usual "Nitro" style fresh water bass boats to pontoon boats that could take about 15 people. We settled on a "bay" boat and ended up with a total of 8 anglers including the two of us.

Tackle was medium weight spinning rods about 6 feet in length. Some were spooled with mono, others with braid. All were rigged for bottom fishing either as drop shot rigs or Carolina rigs. The bait we used were fresh water anchovies, cut up in 1 inch chunks.

We fished a couple of different spots, starting in about 150 feet of water (which proved fruitless) until we settled on a spot the guide referred to as "Jack Ass Cove", with water depths in the 20-30 foot range. 33°52'39.60"N 112°15'33.13"W

The name as he explained it was due to the fact that there were numerous feral donkeys that frequented that part of the shoreline. Left overs from the days when gold prospectors worked the area. Sure enough, after about 30 minutes we all heard that familiar bray. looked to the shore, and there was "donkey" coming down from the hills for a drink.

There were only 2 folks on our boat that actually landed fish. I was not one of them. Katy was. I think the smile on her face pretty much sums up the moment. An angler is born!