10-15-2011, 06:16 AM
I was curious to see how the bass fishing would be after the week of cold, wet, nastiness, so I decided to go to my favorite largemouth pond. The water was down about 12 degrees to 57. It wasn't super fast action, but I managed 11 bass. Six were dinks, a couple were around 13", and the other 3 were in the 16-17" range. Despite the colder water, they still fought hard. The wind was raging, so tube control was difficult. I never really managed to find a pattern. Of the large ones, one took a deep diving crank in about 12 feet of water off of a point, [inline "bass small.JPG"]the next took a shallow diving jerkbait further up that point in a few feet of water, [inline "bass 2 small.JPG"]and the last good fish took a dropshot worm in about 13' of water off my old standby dropshotting point.[inline "bass 3 small.JPG"]
I hadn't been out for smallies in a long time, so the next day I went to see how they were fairing with the cooler water. The temp was only 54 here. Action wasn't fast and furious, but I managed 11 bass and I snagged a mirror carp in the side. That was a pretty good fight, it made my hand cramp. No pic of that guy as I had already slimed up the tube enough getting the trebles out of his side. Other than the small bass of the day, (10-11"), which I caught on a perch colored shad rap, I caught everything on Jackall Squirrel jerkbaits. I started with a regular suspending model, and scored a few on that (for some reason the camera just didn't want to focus on this one bass).[inline "blurry bass small.JPG"][inline "smallie small.JPG"]
I decided to try a deep diving version, and that was all I caught them on after that.[inline "smallie 4 small.JPG"][inline "smallie 3 small.JPG"][inline "smallie 2 small.JPG"]
The best fish of the day hit it on the pause, and I was able to watch the line jump about a foot. I love jerkbaits. She jumped several times and peeled drag at least ten times before I got her in the net. At 17 1/2", it ended up being my best smallmouth ever by a 1/2". [inline "big smallie small.JPG"] Someday I'll have to make it up to The Snake where fish that size are common, but for this system, I was pretty happy.
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I hadn't been out for smallies in a long time, so the next day I went to see how they were fairing with the cooler water. The temp was only 54 here. Action wasn't fast and furious, but I managed 11 bass and I snagged a mirror carp in the side. That was a pretty good fight, it made my hand cramp. No pic of that guy as I had already slimed up the tube enough getting the trebles out of his side. Other than the small bass of the day, (10-11"), which I caught on a perch colored shad rap, I caught everything on Jackall Squirrel jerkbaits. I started with a regular suspending model, and scored a few on that (for some reason the camera just didn't want to focus on this one bass).[inline "blurry bass small.JPG"][inline "smallie small.JPG"]
I decided to try a deep diving version, and that was all I caught them on after that.[inline "smallie 4 small.JPG"][inline "smallie 3 small.JPG"][inline "smallie 2 small.JPG"]
The best fish of the day hit it on the pause, and I was able to watch the line jump about a foot. I love jerkbaits. She jumped several times and peeled drag at least ten times before I got her in the net. At 17 1/2", it ended up being my best smallmouth ever by a 1/2". [inline "big smallie small.JPG"] Someday I'll have to make it up to The Snake where fish that size are common, but for this system, I was pretty happy.
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