10-13-2014, 04:56 AM
Every fall I'm grateful for the fact that everybody is out hunting, leaving me with the lakes to myself and some of the hottest fishing of the year.
Last week I finally got away from work and home improvements and decided to do a little fishing. With the Indian Summer we've been having, I thought it might be a good idea to try one of my favorite largemouth lakes. It was a good call.
I arrived at about 1130 and went down to the water to check out the water clarity. It was pretty good, and I could see pods of bluegill swimming about everywhere. Then I noticed some trout and bass cruising by. I had just bought a new rod for dropshotting (a Powell Inferno light spinning rod with an extra fast action), and was really anxious to give it a try. Instead of a dropshot, I tied on a wacky hook and a 4" Dinger. First cast the trout kept grabbing it and swimming off with it, but they weren't hooking up with their small mouths. Then I saw a wolf pack of bass cruise by and tossed it in front of them. A chunky little 14" chomped it immediately. I really liked the way the rod handled the fish, and it felt so amazingly light in my hand at 3oz. I fought the bass for a minute, his friends chasing him around the whole time. I knew this was going to be a good day. I released the bass and then went back to getting my tube blown up and packed with gear.
After launching my tube, I made a few casts with a lipless crank, but quickly decided to make a b line for my favorite spot on the lake. Shortly after reaching that spot, I was throwing a Vision 110 jerkbait in a bluegill color, and my line jumped forward on the pause. I swept my rod into the fish, and it immediately began ripping off drag. After battling the fish for several minutes, I netted a rotund 20".
[inline "20 inch small.jpg"]
That right there made my day.
I threw the jerkbait awhile longer, but received no rewards for my effort. I decided to toss a bluegill colored crank that runs 6ft deep along the drop off and caught a chunky 18" bass on my first cast.
[inline "bass small.jpg"]
Followed by another.
[inline "bass 2 small.jpg"]
Then a few more 16-17", followed by a fat 19".
[inline "19 inch small.jpg"]
I fished the spot awhile longer but things seemed to peter out. I decided to move up onto a shallow flat where the water was warmer. I caught a few smaller ones on a suspending Sebile Flatt Shad lipless crank, but wasn't too impressed. I was just about to move back to deeper water when I caught a decent 15". A moment later I hooked a better fish at 18".
[inline "bass 3 small.jpg"]
I worked the area a bit longer and caught another 18".
[inline "skinny 18 small.jpg"]
This one was much skinnier than what I'm used to at this lake but was fun nonetheless. The next cast brought me this guy who apparently swallowed a softball.
[inline "piggy small.jpg"]
Now I know why that other guy was so skinny, this little bugger ate all his food [laugh]
I had a few trout follow my lure, but the action had died again. I went back to my drop off and threw the crank some more, and caught this nice 19".
[inline "19 inch 2 small.jpg"]
I decided to try a really noisy lipless crank in a bluegill pattern and burned it back as fast as I could on a high speed reel. A large fish immediately loaded up but came undone after about 20 seconds. Next cast it felt like my lure hit a brick wall. This one was only on for about 10 seconds and then pulled free. They must have just been skin hooked and I was feeling frustrated. Well, three's the charm. I loaded into another big fish. She was pulling the line off the spool in violent bursts. I fought her for several minutes before finally netting my prize. A new best at 21".
[inline "21 inch small.jpg"]
I managed another 18", but things really quieted down after that.
[inline "bass 4 small.jpg"]
I worked the area with jerkbaits, cranks, lipless cranks, swimbaits, spybaits and even a dropshot, but the fish seemed done.
I decided to go back to tossing wacky worms against the bank and had a ball catching 10-15" on the light spinning rod with 6lb fluoro. It was getting towards dark when I tossed the bait close to shore by some bluegill dimples. My line moved off and I reeled into another fish. The line immediately shot off laterally about ten feet before a beast leaped from the water. My new rod was going to get a work out. I fought my quarry for a good five minutes. She would peel off ten feet of line and I would gain a few before she did it again. The bass began diving straight down into the dense weed bed below me. For a moment I thought I'd lost her when suddenly she gave up and came to the surface, salad and all. I scooped her up and was excited to have caught another 20".
[inline "20 inch light line small.jpg"]
And on light tackle no less. I'm really liking this new rod. I also was using Seaguar Invizx fluorocarbon for the first time, and was very impressed. The fish had taken the Dinger all the way in and was hooked towards the back of the mouth. There was no abrasion at all. It's also much thinner and more supple than my old brand. I'll be getting more of it for sure [
]
It was almost dark at this point, so I decided that was a nice point to call it a night. I don't know if I'll make it back again before next spring, but I'm crossing my fingers for more warm weather.
[signature]
Last week I finally got away from work and home improvements and decided to do a little fishing. With the Indian Summer we've been having, I thought it might be a good idea to try one of my favorite largemouth lakes. It was a good call.
I arrived at about 1130 and went down to the water to check out the water clarity. It was pretty good, and I could see pods of bluegill swimming about everywhere. Then I noticed some trout and bass cruising by. I had just bought a new rod for dropshotting (a Powell Inferno light spinning rod with an extra fast action), and was really anxious to give it a try. Instead of a dropshot, I tied on a wacky hook and a 4" Dinger. First cast the trout kept grabbing it and swimming off with it, but they weren't hooking up with their small mouths. Then I saw a wolf pack of bass cruise by and tossed it in front of them. A chunky little 14" chomped it immediately. I really liked the way the rod handled the fish, and it felt so amazingly light in my hand at 3oz. I fought the bass for a minute, his friends chasing him around the whole time. I knew this was going to be a good day. I released the bass and then went back to getting my tube blown up and packed with gear.
After launching my tube, I made a few casts with a lipless crank, but quickly decided to make a b line for my favorite spot on the lake. Shortly after reaching that spot, I was throwing a Vision 110 jerkbait in a bluegill color, and my line jumped forward on the pause. I swept my rod into the fish, and it immediately began ripping off drag. After battling the fish for several minutes, I netted a rotund 20".
[inline "20 inch small.jpg"]
That right there made my day.
I threw the jerkbait awhile longer, but received no rewards for my effort. I decided to toss a bluegill colored crank that runs 6ft deep along the drop off and caught a chunky 18" bass on my first cast.
[inline "bass small.jpg"]
Followed by another.
[inline "bass 2 small.jpg"]
Then a few more 16-17", followed by a fat 19".
[inline "19 inch small.jpg"]
I fished the spot awhile longer but things seemed to peter out. I decided to move up onto a shallow flat where the water was warmer. I caught a few smaller ones on a suspending Sebile Flatt Shad lipless crank, but wasn't too impressed. I was just about to move back to deeper water when I caught a decent 15". A moment later I hooked a better fish at 18".
[inline "bass 3 small.jpg"]
I worked the area a bit longer and caught another 18".
[inline "skinny 18 small.jpg"]
This one was much skinnier than what I'm used to at this lake but was fun nonetheless. The next cast brought me this guy who apparently swallowed a softball.
[inline "piggy small.jpg"]
Now I know why that other guy was so skinny, this little bugger ate all his food [laugh]
I had a few trout follow my lure, but the action had died again. I went back to my drop off and threw the crank some more, and caught this nice 19".
[inline "19 inch 2 small.jpg"]
I decided to try a really noisy lipless crank in a bluegill pattern and burned it back as fast as I could on a high speed reel. A large fish immediately loaded up but came undone after about 20 seconds. Next cast it felt like my lure hit a brick wall. This one was only on for about 10 seconds and then pulled free. They must have just been skin hooked and I was feeling frustrated. Well, three's the charm. I loaded into another big fish. She was pulling the line off the spool in violent bursts. I fought her for several minutes before finally netting my prize. A new best at 21".
[inline "21 inch small.jpg"]
I managed another 18", but things really quieted down after that.
[inline "bass 4 small.jpg"]
I worked the area with jerkbaits, cranks, lipless cranks, swimbaits, spybaits and even a dropshot, but the fish seemed done.
I decided to go back to tossing wacky worms against the bank and had a ball catching 10-15" on the light spinning rod with 6lb fluoro. It was getting towards dark when I tossed the bait close to shore by some bluegill dimples. My line moved off and I reeled into another fish. The line immediately shot off laterally about ten feet before a beast leaped from the water. My new rod was going to get a work out. I fought my quarry for a good five minutes. She would peel off ten feet of line and I would gain a few before she did it again. The bass began diving straight down into the dense weed bed below me. For a moment I thought I'd lost her when suddenly she gave up and came to the surface, salad and all. I scooped her up and was excited to have caught another 20".
[inline "20 inch light line small.jpg"]
And on light tackle no less. I'm really liking this new rod. I also was using Seaguar Invizx fluorocarbon for the first time, and was very impressed. The fish had taken the Dinger all the way in and was hooked towards the back of the mouth. There was no abrasion at all. It's also much thinner and more supple than my old brand. I'll be getting more of it for sure [
] It was almost dark at this point, so I decided that was a nice point to call it a night. I don't know if I'll make it back again before next spring, but I'm crossing my fingers for more warm weather.
[signature]
