NumenOn the Water
Date: 5-21-16
Date: 5-21-16
Body of Water: Reeds Lake
Boat: Numenon
With: Mostly alone, but A and M visited for a bit
Target: LMB
Time: 6:15 AM - Noon
Conditions: Day of full moon; calm to slight NE wind; 55 - 70 degrees F; water very clear and 63 F +/-
What a difference a few weeks makes! The lake was now crystal clear, warmer than I've encountered yet this year and the milfoil (as well as filamentous algae) was in full bloom. Because of the warming water and the full moon conditions, I expected some bass to be selecting sites and mates, and at least a share of the bass were doing just that. Conditions had clearly evolved from pre-spawn to the verge of spawning.
I started along the weed edges, but when the War Pig produced only a small pike, I hit the shallows in the vicinity of my best pre-spawn bites in search of visible fish. I found some right away, too. The bass weren't exactly bedding yet, but they were preparing and patrolling their chosen clearings within the weeds. A few were stuck on objects, and a few pair were even spawning in the very shallows near the shoreline (these pairings seemed to be smaller fish, in general.) Crappies were everywhere in the shallows, and I saw plenty of perch and 'gills, too.
I was repeatedly rejected with tubes and a drop-shot by visible, territorial bass. I got my first good bite of the day on a blind-casted senko (wacky rigged; and it wasn't exactly blind-casted; I was searching the same depth and color changes where I was seeing multiple bass), and as I fought her to the boat, she was followed by her potential mate. She was close to three pounds, and I thought I might be on to something; but for the most part, I continued to get rejected by visible bass, while the blind search for other biters was slow.
My next bite on the senko was a similar-sized fish, perhaps 45 minutes later. This fish, too, was followed by a mate; perhaps I needed to focus on paired or grouped fish. The big singles were impossible to ignore, though, and ate away at my time.
A and M came out for a bit. We shared some coffee, breakfast and the aquarium-like conditions. I switched over to pan-fishing just to make sure it would work for the girls and caught a nice, 10-inch crappie on a suspended, homemade pink hair jig. But even this bite was slow (some wax worms would have made a difference, I suspect.) I did catch a small, buck bass on the senko before they called it quits, though.
I dropped the girls off at the dock and went to the sunken hump in the middle of the lake. I thought it might be too early for this structure to produce (the bass spawn here later than along shore), and I covered a lot of water with swim jigs, War Pigs and jerk baits. I saw just a few fish, but they were all nice quality. Ultimately I went back to the senko, but I lost the one bite I had here. Too bad, too, because it seemed like a very heavy fish.
At this point I was pretty much committed to the senko (although I did catch another small pike on a crappie-sized swim bait; this was a nice tussle on the ultra-light tackle.) The wind was picking up a bit and the visibility wasn't as good; seeing fewer fish, I spent more time making educated but blind casts. My last bite of the day was a four pound bass from a washout hole at the end of a private dock; once again, this bass was paired with another. I ended my day with three keepers weighing about 9.5 pounds. I was well on my way to another nice limit, but the pace of bites was just too slow to keep me out there any longer.
What a difference a few weeks makes! The lake was now crystal clear, warmer than I've encountered yet this year and the milfoil (as well as filamentous algae) was in full bloom. Because of the warming water and the full moon conditions, I expected some bass to be selecting sites and mates, and at least a share of the bass were doing just that. Conditions had clearly evolved from pre-spawn to the verge of spawning.
I started along the weed edges, but when the War Pig produced only a small pike, I hit the shallows in the vicinity of my best pre-spawn bites in search of visible fish. I found some right away, too. The bass weren't exactly bedding yet, but they were preparing and patrolling their chosen clearings within the weeds. A few were stuck on objects, and a few pair were even spawning in the very shallows near the shoreline (these pairings seemed to be smaller fish, in general.) Crappies were everywhere in the shallows, and I saw plenty of perch and 'gills, too.
I was repeatedly rejected with tubes and a drop-shot by visible, territorial bass. I got my first good bite of the day on a blind-casted senko (wacky rigged; and it wasn't exactly blind-casted; I was searching the same depth and color changes where I was seeing multiple bass), and as I fought her to the boat, she was followed by her potential mate. She was close to three pounds, and I thought I might be on to something; but for the most part, I continued to get rejected by visible bass, while the blind search for other biters was slow.
My next bite on the senko was a similar-sized fish, perhaps 45 minutes later. This fish, too, was followed by a mate; perhaps I needed to focus on paired or grouped fish. The big singles were impossible to ignore, though, and ate away at my time.
A and M came out for a bit. We shared some coffee, breakfast and the aquarium-like conditions. I switched over to pan-fishing just to make sure it would work for the girls and caught a nice, 10-inch crappie on a suspended, homemade pink hair jig. But even this bite was slow (some wax worms would have made a difference, I suspect.) I did catch a small, buck bass on the senko before they called it quits, though.
I dropped the girls off at the dock and went to the sunken hump in the middle of the lake. I thought it might be too early for this structure to produce (the bass spawn here later than along shore), and I covered a lot of water with swim jigs, War Pigs and jerk baits. I saw just a few fish, but they were all nice quality. Ultimately I went back to the senko, but I lost the one bite I had here. Too bad, too, because it seemed like a very heavy fish.
At this point I was pretty much committed to the senko (although I did catch another small pike on a crappie-sized swim bait; this was a nice tussle on the ultra-light tackle.) The wind was picking up a bit and the visibility wasn't as good; seeing fewer fish, I spent more time making educated but blind casts. My last bite of the day was a four pound bass from a washout hole at the end of a private dock; once again, this bass was paired with another. I ended my day with three keepers weighing about 9.5 pounds. I was well on my way to another nice limit, but the pace of bites was just too slow to keep me out there any longer.
What do I have to say about this?
I'm neither good nor experienced at fishing for largemouth bass on the verge of spawning. But the day stayed warm, and the moon is full; I plan to hit it again tomorrow morning. I think there will be more bass shallow, these bass could be more committed to each other, and perhaps they'll be more aggressive in defending their turf. I've tied on a couple of different swim baits and grubs, and maybe I can get some more bites tomorrow. I've got several groups of nice fish located; let's see if I can convince more of them to eat!
I'm neither good nor experienced at fishing for largemouth bass on the verge of spawning. But the day stayed warm, and the moon is full; I plan to hit it again tomorrow morning. I think there will be more bass shallow, these bass could be more committed to each other, and perhaps they'll be more aggressive in defending their turf. I've tied on a couple of different swim baits and grubs, and maybe I can get some more bites tomorrow. I've got several groups of nice fish located; let's see if I can convince more of them to eat!
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