Date: July 23, 2017
Body of Water: Reeds Lake
Boat: Numenon
With: Alone
Target: Largemouth Bass
Time: 6:45 AM - 12:45 PM
Conditions: Overcast to rain; and then clearing with developing clouds. Winds generally westerly < 10 mph and 72 -80 degrees F. Water was pretty clear with temp 80 degrees F.
I'd had a pretty decent day on Monday; why not go back to Reeds Lake for this weekend's fishing effort?
I expected another weed-edge/crank-bait bite, and it kind of materialized, but not like I'd expected. I started on the main lake hump, and pretty quickly caught a short bass and a 14-inch squeaker. With the darker sky conditions, I thought the bass might be bait shallower and/or weed-oriented, so instead of the DT10, I relied on a smaller, Deep Scatter Crank 05, and I also tossed a Neko-rigged Senko a little bit. (Each produced one of the original fish.)
Relocating to a prominent weed point on the lake's south side, I cranked another shortie; and then switched to a Cutter jerk-bait when it started to rain. My first cast called in a 14.5-inch bass, and soon thereafter this bait caught my only (small) pike for the day.
After a run of unproductive weed edge, I re-located to the hump's north side and cranked bass 2 and 3 at 16.5 and 14.0 inches. So by 9 AM, I had 4 legal bass and seemed to be on my way to another decent limit (they were biting okay and I had some room for realistic culling.) Then the Curse of 4 struck; and things got difficult for a while.
I probably went 2.5-hours without a strike. For the most part, I cranked. The Deep Scatter Crank saw a lot of water, but the DT10 and DT16 saw lots, too. I did manage to break off my blue craw DT10 on a fish in about 15 feet of water; it was unseen and heavy. Why was my drag so tight???
With skies now clear, the lake very calm and conditions empirically tough, I returned to the main lake hump and tried a spy bait. I caught another short bass, which at least revealed some life in the area. And, since this bass was adjacent to thick weeds, I rigged a Senko weedless-Texas-style (recall my efforts on Douglas Lake when the bite got tough in the weeds) and started saturating nooks and crannies along this weed line with short pitches. Pretty soon, my line tightened up, and I was very pleased to fight and land a fat, 18-plus incher.
I'd had a pretty decent day on Monday; why not go back to Reeds Lake for this weekend's fishing effort?
I expected another weed-edge/crank-bait bite, and it kind of materialized, but not like I'd expected. I started on the main lake hump, and pretty quickly caught a short bass and a 14-inch squeaker. With the darker sky conditions, I thought the bass might be bait shallower and/or weed-oriented, so instead of the DT10, I relied on a smaller, Deep Scatter Crank 05, and I also tossed a Neko-rigged Senko a little bit. (Each produced one of the original fish.)
Relocating to a prominent weed point on the lake's south side, I cranked another shortie; and then switched to a Cutter jerk-bait when it started to rain. My first cast called in a 14.5-inch bass, and soon thereafter this bait caught my only (small) pike for the day.
After a run of unproductive weed edge, I re-located to the hump's north side and cranked bass 2 and 3 at 16.5 and 14.0 inches. So by 9 AM, I had 4 legal bass and seemed to be on my way to another decent limit (they were biting okay and I had some room for realistic culling.) Then the Curse of 4 struck; and things got difficult for a while.
I probably went 2.5-hours without a strike. For the most part, I cranked. The Deep Scatter Crank saw a lot of water, but the DT10 and DT16 saw lots, too. I did manage to break off my blue craw DT10 on a fish in about 15 feet of water; it was unseen and heavy. Why was my drag so tight???
With skies now clear, the lake very calm and conditions empirically tough, I returned to the main lake hump and tried a spy bait. I caught another short bass, which at least revealed some life in the area. And, since this bass was adjacent to thick weeds, I rigged a Senko weedless-Texas-style (recall my efforts on Douglas Lake when the bite got tough in the weeds) and started saturating nooks and crannies along this weed line with short pitches. Pretty soon, my line tightened up, and I was very pleased to fight and land a fat, 18-plus incher.
 |
| Solid 18 and 16.5-inchers anchored my rather small limit for the day. Soon after I took this picture, my hat blew off. I was surprised to watch it sink like a stone as I approached it for retrieval. |
I missed another fish on the Senko in the weeds, but decided to use the last of my time slow-trolling harnesses and Gulp! along known hard-bottom areas. This produced nothing in the half-hour I gave it. By 12:30 PM, the lake was finally getting busy; it was time to return to my real, new home.
What do I have to say about this?
My limit approached only 10 pounds, but I ground it out. The 18-incher was the best fish of the last two trips, and fought super well on 8-pound spinning gear. I never got into a cranking groove, but with water temps at or near their highest for the season, expecting super-active fish might be too much. I still had more faith in that approach, however, than many other tactics. I'm glad I was smart enough to supplement the cranking with the Texas-rigged Senko; it's becoming more important to me than the wacky rig.
My limit approached only 10 pounds, but I ground it out. The 18-incher was the best fish of the last two trips, and fought super well on 8-pound spinning gear. I never got into a cranking groove, but with water temps at or near their highest for the season, expecting super-active fish might be too much. I still had more faith in that approach, however, than many other tactics. I'm glad I was smart enough to supplement the cranking with the Texas-rigged Senko; it's becoming more important to me than the wacky rig.
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