NumenOn the Water
Date: 7-16-16
Date: 7-16-16
Body of Water: Reeds Lake
Boat: Numenon
With: Alone
Target: Largemouth Bass
Time: 9:30 AM to 1:15 PM
Conditions: Bright and clear; a bit of WNW wind at the tail end of another cold front; water temperatures were 76 to 79 degrees F
Once again I launched on Reeds Lake with tempered expectations (late start, cold front, mid-summer, etc.), but armed with a plan. I was going to continue working on new(er) spots and techniques. Perhaps I'd be forfeiting the opportunity to catch some average bass with familiar techniques, but perhaps I'd learn something truly useful, while having some fun in the meantime.
Quality mid-summer bassing can come down to crankbaits, jigs and topwaters. This is a notoriously difficult lake for topwater success (IMHO), and I prefer the horizontal searching power of cranks to the tedium of jigs (unless I know I'm over fish.) So I started with cranks; specifically with the green crawdad Rapala DT10 that had gotten bit a couple of times during my last outing.
I started on the northern, wind-blown edge of a prominent offshore hump. It is fringed by weeds that taper off at about 8 or 10 feet deep, and plunges into depths over 25 feet. I figured the DT10 would be right at the transition from weeds to abyss, at least when I could get the cast lined up correctly.
A fat 2-plus pounder ate the bait on my second cast, and this turned out to be a harbinger of pleasant things to come. While I got no other bites on this feature, when I relocated to a smaller, more isolated and lesser known hump (one that is often good for the best fish of the day, if anybody's home), I got three more quality bites from fish between about 2.5 and almost five pounds (OK, 4.84 pounds on the scale.) All came on this same bait, searching the edge from about 8 to 12 feet of water. But the real excitement came from the huge largemouth (the largest I've ever seen on this lake) that followed my second fish in during the fight. This location was duly recorded and revisited, but she did not show herself again, this day.
Once again I launched on Reeds Lake with tempered expectations (late start, cold front, mid-summer, etc.), but armed with a plan. I was going to continue working on new(er) spots and techniques. Perhaps I'd be forfeiting the opportunity to catch some average bass with familiar techniques, but perhaps I'd learn something truly useful, while having some fun in the meantime.
Quality mid-summer bassing can come down to crankbaits, jigs and topwaters. This is a notoriously difficult lake for topwater success (IMHO), and I prefer the horizontal searching power of cranks to the tedium of jigs (unless I know I'm over fish.) So I started with cranks; specifically with the green crawdad Rapala DT10 that had gotten bit a couple of times during my last outing.
I started on the northern, wind-blown edge of a prominent offshore hump. It is fringed by weeds that taper off at about 8 or 10 feet deep, and plunges into depths over 25 feet. I figured the DT10 would be right at the transition from weeds to abyss, at least when I could get the cast lined up correctly.
A fat 2-plus pounder ate the bait on my second cast, and this turned out to be a harbinger of pleasant things to come. While I got no other bites on this feature, when I relocated to a smaller, more isolated and lesser known hump (one that is often good for the best fish of the day, if anybody's home), I got three more quality bites from fish between about 2.5 and almost five pounds (OK, 4.84 pounds on the scale.) All came on this same bait, searching the edge from about 8 to 12 feet of water. But the real excitement came from the huge largemouth (the largest I've ever seen on this lake) that followed my second fish in during the fight. This location was duly recorded and revisited, but she did not show herself again, this day.
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| This Rapala DT10 crankbait did most of the day's damage. |
Having worn this spot out, and with no other prominent humps to explore, I searched the tips of a couple of long, submerged points. I concentrated once again on the deep weed edges dropping off into deeper water. It took a bit to find the bass, but when I did (on an inside turn near where the point joined the main lake weed edge), there were quite a few there. These fish weren't big, but they did let me fill out my temporary Michigan Limit, and allowed for a single cull worth a few ounces.
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| Not much of a bass, but it did cull an even smaller (although legal-sized) bass. |
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| Here's a nice fatty. |
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| Another twin... |
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| Just over three pounds... |
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| Just shy of five pounds and the anchor of a 14.3-pound limit. |
At this point, I was 7 for 9 or perhaps 8 for 10; my five fish limit weighed 14.3 pounds, with the biggest weighing in at 4.84 pounds. Not bad for about 2-1/2 hours of late morning fishing with a single lure. I figured it was now time to stretch my experience and look for something else to work.
I made a minor adjustment and switched from the DT10 to a DT20. I relocated to a series of subtle hard-bottom mini-humps. These top out gradually at about 13 feet and are surrounded by 17 to 19 feet of water. With long casts I was able to easily bang bottom, and it didn't take long to get a bite. I swung and missed, but a few casts later a nice, mid-summer deep-water pike provided a fun, welcome tussle.
What do I have to say about this?
One never knows when good things might happen. It wasn't the greatest fishing of all time, but it was a quality bite, and I was tuned in and performed well. It definitely increased my interest and confidence in cranking, a technique I've largely allowed to get away from me over the years.
Fish and live; live and learn; fish and learn.
One never knows when good things might happen. It wasn't the greatest fishing of all time, but it was a quality bite, and I was tuned in and performed well. It definitely increased my interest and confidence in cranking, a technique I've largely allowed to get away from me over the years.
Fish and live; live and learn; fish and learn.
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| Additional cranking in even deeper water with a Rapala DT20 provided almost instant action. |
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| A deep water, crankin' pike... not today's target, but always welcome! |
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