Had plans to take my buddy from HS but he called at 10pm and cancelled. Launched solo for first trip of 2019. I had tied up a skitterV in hopes of a January topwater trout. I was inspired by Dave J, a kayak fishermen who caught a 25" trout on top last week(!)
Water was 57F and sure enough, went 2 for 5 on topwater trout. First fish of the year was a nice 18.5" trout on topwater in January. How awesome is that?
Returned to the spot where I caught those big trout from my last report and chunked my plug in and walked it back. It got slammed by a heavy trout. I had to horse it away from some trouble and of course my net was all the way in the back of the boat. High sticked the fish to the back and when I dipped the net in the plug went whooshing past my ear. In that moment when the fish is kinda stunned and hanging there (you know what I mean) I slashed at it with the net and it snaked over the side and away…Had to take a minute and collect myself and ponder life’s choices 
Not gonna lie I gave myself a little bit of a headache after that. All good though, that’s fishing. It looked all of 23".
Late morning the arty bite shut off completely for me. Had zero reds where in recent trips I have been emptying a string of tags. Took the opportunity to do some scouting, and found some really good looking areas to target in the future.
It was a beautiful day to be on the water, that’s for sure… Ended up with about a dozen trout (kept 2) and a largemouth that was hanging out in my redfish hole. Lot of freshwater in the Cooper right now.