Haunted by those Appalachian Eyes...

Lake Blueridge is never an easy place to fish. My best luck fishing has come when most would stay at home. I've been fishing the lake since 1992 and from my experiences the wind blows when it isn't supposed to, the water is gin clear and the lake can make a competent fisherman look like a complete fool. Yesterday I left the house at 4:30am, met my buddy Sherill, fished all day and returned home at midnight. We went to Lake Blueridge fishing for smallmouth bass and walleye.The day started with a beautiful morning and a nice spotted bass soon after we launched. The spot was suspended at 20' off of a secondary point in 35'of water. As the day progressed so did the wind. We had gusts of 20-25mph causing at times 2' white caps. I was showing my buddy an island I'd camped on and as he made it to a rocky section he hooked up...a nice 20" walleye in the boat. Later Sherill hooked up and landed a nice 16" smallmouth. My highlight of the day happened off of a chunk rock bank in 12' of water. I was pulling my new favorite lure and something slammed it. It barely fought until I got it close to the side of my boat and then it went nuts. What I had on the end of my line was the biggest walleye I'd ever seen. It was big.I fought it and got it back to the side of my kayak, grabbed my net and "pop", my line broke. I assume my knot was worn by the rocks we were fishing and the fact walleye have teeth didn't help. My heart literally sank. That fish will definitely require a return trip very soon. After that we decided to take a long paddle to a bay that has a creek emptying into it. Sherril caught a huge white bass, I caught a nice largemouth and had a smaller walleye...yes, he got off of my hook. It wasn't meant for whatever reason for me to catch a walleye. The paddle back was brutal. Straight into the wind for about 2.5 miles allowed me to rethink, hash out and over think my brief meetings I'd had with one of our two target fish. From now on I'll have 12lb test fluorocarbon leader instead of 8 I'd been using and if the fish is smaller than a couple of pounds I'm foregoing the net and swinging the fish into the boat. He can try and get away then. Overall, the trip was a success because Blueridge is a tough lake to fish but we managed to catch enough for a fish fry for 3 people. Could've been enough for 3 more if mojo would've been on my side. Maybe next time and there will be a next time. Peace