Date: April 16, 2017
Body of Water: Reeds Lake
Boat: Numenon
With: Alone (It's Easter Sunday, after all)
Target: CIR Largemouth Bass
Time: 8:30 AM - 4 PM
Conditions: Windy all day; 15-20 mph from the west. Conditions started 55 degrees F and gray, then heavy mist, and then clearing skies with temps climbing to about 70 degrees F. Super windy yesterday, water was very stained (2 feet of visibility, a little better on the south side of lake) and water temperatures ranged from 51.5 F to 55 F in very shallow, protected water.
This was a tough, but ultimately satisfying, day of fishing. I was fortunate to have all day in front of me; I was able to stay for as long as I chose, and I was engaged in the chase all day. Water temperatures are starting to climb more quickly (it was 80 degrees the day prior), but wind and runoff have stained the water. This day, the water was both the warmest and the most stained I'd encountered so far this year.
I expected a strong rattle-bait bite, and because of the poor water clarity, discounted the jerk-bait. When the rattle-bait didn't produce, I relied heavily on the chatter-bait, especially next to shallow cover, to no good result. I also threw a variety of cranks over weeds and along walls. I may have ridden the shallow water/sea wall horse too hard and for too long, because in the first four hours or so, I only caught a single bass. I may have had a couple of swipes at square-billed cranks run over weeds and through the shallows (or the sensations could have been from weeds and other obstructions), but my only hookup was this long and lean fellow that I plucked out of two feet of water, along a wall, while rooting bottom with the Parrot Rapala DT-6.
After a hot, on-board lunch featuring tinned spaghetti (i.e., Spaghettios) in my trusty Thermos, I decided to try the jerk-bait in the slightly clearer waters of the lake's south side. I was quickly treated to the following bass:
This bait also produced a small pike and another pike bite. With three bites in less than an hour, I thought I might be onto something. I returned to my favored area, but when the bait produced nothing here, I continued the process of rotating spots and lures. Most deep-water presentations were out-of-bounds, because the wind was a serious challenge to boat control, but I did switch from shallower cranks to the previously productive KVD crank. Soon I got bass number three:
This girl showed the presence of some quality bass in my area of highest confidence, and also revealed that the bass were still using the same weeds that have been so productive for me this season. She also put the idea of a successful virtual limit for the day in my focus and within reach. By this time, the bass in this area had seen my Shadow Rap, and they'd also been exposed to my KVD crank. I reviewed my options and came up with a white and green Berkley Fire-Stik jerk-bait. It was more garish than the Shadow Rap; it might be more visible in the stained waters of this northern flat. It also runs a foot or more deeper than the Shadow Rap; I was often (literally) in the weeds on a retrieve.
At about 2:45 PM, I netted this fat girl:
Re-locating to a nearby edge, I caught my limit fish on the next cast:
I fished for another hour, or so, trying to cull up. I don't think I had a bite that entire time. I alternated between this jerk bait and the KVD crank, scouring my highest confidence areas. Boat control was getting increasingly difficult, and a number of bass boats were now rotating through any spots of interest. When the wind caught my line, blew it over a dock post, and I lost my day's hot bait, I decided to call it a day.
I expected a strong rattle-bait bite, and because of the poor water clarity, discounted the jerk-bait. When the rattle-bait didn't produce, I relied heavily on the chatter-bait, especially next to shallow cover, to no good result. I also threw a variety of cranks over weeds and along walls. I may have ridden the shallow water/sea wall horse too hard and for too long, because in the first four hours or so, I only caught a single bass. I may have had a couple of swipes at square-billed cranks run over weeds and through the shallows (or the sensations could have been from weeds and other obstructions), but my only hookup was this long and lean fellow that I plucked out of two feet of water, along a wall, while rooting bottom with the Parrot Rapala DT-6.
 |
| 18 inches; long and lean; 2.75 pounds (?); Parrot Rapala DT-6 crank bait along seawall; 2 feet of water |
After a hot, on-board lunch featuring tinned spaghetti (i.e., Spaghettios) in my trusty Thermos, I decided to try the jerk-bait in the slightly clearer waters of the lake's south side. I was quickly treated to the following bass:
 |
| 16 inches; solid 2 pounds; 4 or 5 feet of water; chartreuse and white shallow Shadow Rap jerk bait; My kind of photography! I'm naturally obscured by heavy mist on the GoPro. |
This bait also produced a small pike and another pike bite. With three bites in less than an hour, I thought I might be onto something. I returned to my favored area, but when the bait produced nothing here, I continued the process of rotating spots and lures. Most deep-water presentations were out-of-bounds, because the wind was a serious challenge to boat control, but I did switch from shallower cranks to the previously productive KVD crank. Soon I got bass number three:
 |
| 17.5 inches, 3 pounds; 5 or 6 feet of water; KVD crank in the right kind of weeds |
This girl showed the presence of some quality bass in my area of highest confidence, and also revealed that the bass were still using the same weeds that have been so productive for me this season. She also put the idea of a successful virtual limit for the day in my focus and within reach. By this time, the bass in this area had seen my Shadow Rap, and they'd also been exposed to my KVD crank. I reviewed my options and came up with a white and green Berkley Fire-Stik jerk-bait. It was more garish than the Shadow Rap; it might be more visible in the stained waters of this northern flat. It also runs a foot or more deeper than the Shadow Rap; I was often (literally) in the weeds on a retrieve.
At about 2:45 PM, I netted this fat girl:
 |
| 20.5 inches; 5.5 pounds; Berkley FireStik jerk bait over 4 or 5 feet of water |
Re-locating to a nearby edge, I caught my limit fish on the next cast:
 |
| 14.5 inches and at least 1.25 pounds; same as above. You can see the bait in the lower left corner of the picture; that's as garish a jerk bait as I've ever (successfully) used for largemouths. |
I fished for another hour, or so, trying to cull up. I don't think I had a bite that entire time. I alternated between this jerk bait and the KVD crank, scouring my highest confidence areas. Boat control was getting increasingly difficult, and a number of bass boats were now rotating through any spots of interest. When the wind caught my line, blew it over a dock post, and I lost my day's hot bait, I decided to call it a day.
What do I have to say about this?
Every time I go bass fishing, I want to catch a big bass (let's say three pounds or more), and I want to catch a "limit" of bass (i.e., five bass over 14 inches.) With a virtual limit weighing in at an estimated 14.5 pounds (minimum; and a pike), it would have been nice to cull the smallest. Virtually any bass I've encountered this season would have been bigger; it just didn't happen this day. But this is all for fun, so that doesn't matter; these goals are just a tool for me to stay fully engaged in the efforts of the day.
But on a day like this, this represents Work! But that's okay, too, because it's the work I've chosen for the day.
And here's what didn't work; square-bill cranks, chatter-baits, rattle-baits, anything deeper than 6 feet, and anything finesse-related that required a stable platform. The wind (which makes these efforts seem more like work, indeed) was relentless! But I think I've adjusted my attitude about wind and fishing, and can now take advantage of more of the benefits that wind can offer (biology, location, presentation, etc.) to a fisherman.
I'd be remiss to not gratefully acknowledge the other gifts of the day:
Frogs! - there was an uninterrupted chorus in all corners of the lake. They like high water and warmer temperatures!
Cranes! - Several flights of noisy sandhill cranes flew overhead!
Waterfowl! - I could identify the loons, mallards, buffleheads and geese, but the lake was full of swans and hundreds of other puddle ducks! I'm in the middle of a metropolitan area, but the birds and bass don't care about that!
Every time I go bass fishing, I want to catch a big bass (let's say three pounds or more), and I want to catch a "limit" of bass (i.e., five bass over 14 inches.) With a virtual limit weighing in at an estimated 14.5 pounds (minimum; and a pike), it would have been nice to cull the smallest. Virtually any bass I've encountered this season would have been bigger; it just didn't happen this day. But this is all for fun, so that doesn't matter; these goals are just a tool for me to stay fully engaged in the efforts of the day.
But on a day like this, this represents Work! But that's okay, too, because it's the work I've chosen for the day.
And here's what didn't work; square-bill cranks, chatter-baits, rattle-baits, anything deeper than 6 feet, and anything finesse-related that required a stable platform. The wind (which makes these efforts seem more like work, indeed) was relentless! But I think I've adjusted my attitude about wind and fishing, and can now take advantage of more of the benefits that wind can offer (biology, location, presentation, etc.) to a fisherman.
I'd be remiss to not gratefully acknowledge the other gifts of the day:
Frogs! - there was an uninterrupted chorus in all corners of the lake. They like high water and warmer temperatures!
Cranes! - Several flights of noisy sandhill cranes flew overhead!
Waterfowl! - I could identify the loons, mallards, buffleheads and geese, but the lake was full of swans and hundreds of other puddle ducks! I'm in the middle of a metropolitan area, but the birds and bass don't care about that!
 |
| Lund, Thermos and Hot Lunch! |
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