

Today I started out at 2pm and fished for about an hour where I missed that big bass the other day. I only got one fish to bite, a small bass, and some bluegill nibbles, as Roy puts it, “those rat-tat-tats”. I was hoping that the bass I missed had stayed in the area as it is known that big bass will claim a territory of their own and stay there. And, I was hoping that she would be hungry again. That particular place is full of tree roots and brush that I have planted there in the past. It’s full of snags, the perfect place where a big bass would make it’s home. Well, apparently, she wasn’t in the mood or just wasn’t there.
I was using the same lures that I fished the day before thinking that would be what they wanted on this day too. Well, I was wrong. About 5 years ago I used to have good luck on the black/red, (black on one side and red on the other side) Gary Yamamoto stick worm. Still nothing there so I moved on.
I remembered that a few days ago I had to place the lure right on the edge of shore, six inches to a foot to get results. I began to fish the shore line doing just that and started to get some results using the black/red stick worm. The bass in the net was the first of six bass. Then there was a long dry spell of about two hours. I switched to the fly rod hoping to catch a few bluegill or maybe a bass using a popper in the frog color. I managed to catch only three bluegill and one small bass.
5:30pm. Time to get started back. To fish the shore properly, you must move very slowly and thoroughly test every piece of brush along the way. I was having no luck and was just about half way back to where I keep my boat when I got the cat. As usual she gave up a great struggle before I could get her into the boat. She flopped around in the net and out of it onto the floor. So, I quickly got the picture and let her go. She looked like she had eggs from the look of her belly; I hope she recovers and spawns ok.
A little further on I hooked into the nice bass shown and what a fight! The bass was towing the boat toward the shore where I hooked onto it trying to get back to all the snags. Who says bass aren’t smart. I turned on my electric motor to get the fish away from the snags and into open water the same way as when I lost the big bass the other day. This time it worked. The fish jumped several times but I managed to keep a tight line so that she didn’t throw the hook. Finally, I got her into the net. I quickly set up my camera while I kept the fish in the net in the water so as not to hurt the fish. I took the picture and let her go as fast as I could. The bass was not hooked hard, in fact, the hook was in the bony part of the lower jaw and had not penetrated past the barb in the jaw bone. The hook fell out when I got it into the boat. Glad I had my new net. And, by the way, I recently purchased the Frabill rubber net. I had read that the nylon nets may hurt the fish by scraping off the fishes slime cover. And it is snag free as it is advertised i.e. the hooks don’t get fouled in the net. I’d say the fish was close to seven lbs but, I think that the bass I missed the other day was even bigger. Of course, “the big ones always get away.”Well, the slow day turned out to be a good one after all. But, any day on the lake is a good one.
The day was cloudy, temperature in the mid 80’s, the lake level is full. Ideal conditions. Tackle: Abu Garcia Veritas rod and the Cardinal Soron reel, with 12 lb test Trilene XL line, and a wide gap Gammatsu #4 hook, black/red stick worm.
A piece of advice to all you old timers, like me.. “Instead of staying home and melting into your easy chair, get some exercise and some fresh air..”Go fishing!” Bring some binoculars with you too; for you birdwatchers there’s a multitude of beautiful singing birds and water birds around the water. If you can’t get around well, see if you can get some youngster to take you, (to do all the work)! Have some fun outdoors.
P.S. Thanks again Theresa, I caught the fish on the new rod and reel you bought me for my birthday last year.
Tight Lines
Jim