Easter Day Bass Fishing

NumenOn the Water

Date:  3-27-16

Body of Water:  Reeds Lake

Boat: Numenon

With:  Alone

Target:  Largemouth Bass

Time:  9:15 AM - 3:15 PM

Conditions:  Generally bright and clear, but developing clouds later; 36 to 65 degrees F; winds generally mild and ESE, but increasing to over 15 mph later; water clarity was several feet and water temps ranged from 42 F to 46 F (briefly), generally about 44 F.

After a couple of attempts in the cold and wind, Easter Sunday presented an opportunity to get on the water with unseasonably mild conditions.  It was a bit chilly at launch time, but temperatures climbed throughout the day, and wind presented no issues for boat control until near the very end.  Once again, I concentrated on known big-fish spots.  And while I utilized a variety of early season approaches (square billed cranks, flat-sided cranks, hair jigs, slowly dragged and yo-yo'd rattle baits and jerk baits), in the end, the pike and bass showed a clear preference for hard jerk baits.

After an hour or so of scouting the very shallows (visibility was much improved from my prior trip to this lake), I took a short break to scout some areas with side imaging sonar (successfully, I might add.)  That task done, I tied on a never-before-used Berkley Firestick jerk bait in perch color.  This bait just looked right to me; it has a smaller profile than most jerks and looked to be visible yet natural in the water.  On about my third cast with this bait over four or five feet of weedy water, I detected a tick on the line, and soon a short but fat pike came aboard.  The day's skunk was gone, but it still wasn't the desired species.

The next pike was in similar water and provided a super-cool, muskie-like strike.  She appeared from beneath the lure all lit up and with mouth gaping and turned.  I never felt a thing, but instinctively set the hook.  She was pretty nice, too, but still not the bass I wanted.  The water here was the warmest I found all day, but kind of murky and slimed with filamentous algae.  I decided to make a move to a favorite big-fish spot.

At this point I'd been fishing for quite awhile over the course of three trips without having touched a bass.  That could be discouraging, but it was so pleasant out, and I knew that any bass I encountered would likely be fat pre-spawn sows, so I kept at it.  Several casts in at my new spot (which just happened to be very close to where I caught my largest Reeds Lake ever a few falls ago), just as I watched my bait approach the boat I paused the bait at my feet, and a muskie-like bass swept up and ate it!  She wasn't a giant, but she was what I was hoping for, and my day was now made.  Fifteen minutes or less later, I set the hook into a heavy fish, and as I mentally crossed my fingers for it to a bass, she showed herself, and a close to five-pounder came aboard.

The first bass of 2016 hit a Berkley Firestick jerk bait in about 7 feet of water.

Good girth on Number 1; as well as all of today's bass.

First GoPro action of 2016; this one's worth it!

No. 2 was today's largest and pushed the 5-pound mark.  She was on a deep weed edge in about 8 feet and ate the same bait.

It took half an hour or so for No. 3, but the same bait in the same type of location worked again.  I figured I now had a pattern, and with an average size of well over three pounds per bass, I was on my way to a really nice virtual limit.   And then I snapped off my hot bait (of course the only one I own) on a cast where my bail unexpectedly snapped shut.  It's a suspending bait, and so of course although I saw where it landed, it was beneath the surface; and I never reclaimed this hot bait from Reeds.

No prob, I've got a lot of nice nice jerk baits!   But I tried several over the course of the next couple of hours, and none looked or felt quite right, and more importantly, none got hit.  Finally, a naturally shaded Rapala X-Rap got eaten for No. 4; and that was it.  It was definitely getting windier and more busy on the lake, and when I found my mind wandering to issues other than fishing; it was time to go. 

All the bass hits came from weed edges in about 7 or 8 feet of water.  All the bass were from the north side, where sun and wind were the most influential, and all came from distinct turns in the weed edge.  The bass seemed to prefer a faster cadence than I would have expected, but they definitely all hit on the pause.  I suspect I might have been fishing too fast near the end as I sought my last bass, covered water and fought the wind.  

No. 3 was average for today; about 3 pounds.  Same bait, same pattern and in a spot I knew I'd find her!

What do I have to say about this?

Nice weather, not much pressure, three pike to about 28 inches, four bass totaling 12 or 13 pounds and couple of very cool strikes.  What a nice day!  Finally, from now on, baits might get purchased in threes; one to use, one to lose, and the last as a daily backup.