Air Temperature: 79-90
Water Temperature: 82-85
Water Clarity: Mostly clear in the shallows with a bit of a greenish tinge over the deeper water
Skies: Partly Cloudy
Wind: 0-7 MPH SSW
Barometric Pressure: 29.92-29.94
I had a small window to fish in the morning, so I decided to capitalize on the opportunity and head to my favorite lake. The last couple of times that I visited this particular body of water, I struggled to find any consistency. The large schools of alewife that the bass usually chase offshore, had seemingly disappeared, and the bass seemed to be scattered throughout the lake. My goal for today was to develop a pattern early, and run with it for as long as I could, until I needed to make adjustments.
As I paddled out into the lake, with the tepid, glass smooth water, and the sun still tucked behind the trees, I wanted to make the best of the conditions and throw some topwater. My last visit here, I managed to find a frog bite around the lily pads that sit atop the points that extend out towards deeper water. I had a black Booyah! Pad crasher tied on and began methodically walking it through the pads. On my 5th cast I was rewarded with a long and skinny largemouth that absolutely inhaled the frog. A few casts later, I got another, this time a little bigger. Then another, and another, and... Well you get the idea. Aside from getting a little jumpy on the hook set on a few occasions, and the few fish that came unbuttoned in the thick vegetation, I managed to execute fairly well. However, once the sun got a little higher, the bass seemed a little disinterested in chasing the frog, and more focused on the dragonflies that were buzzing around the pads. I moved a little further up the lake to an area that still had a bit of shade cover, I had a few swirls and a couple blow ups but I couldn't hook up. I picked up the flippin' stick equipped with 20lb Test Seaguar Abrazx, and a Texas Rigged Berkley Powerbait Rib Snake, and started pitching into the pads. I managed one decent bass pretty quickly. But the dragon flies soon made there presence known here as well, and I decided to change tactics.
As I was drifting, I noticed several fish suspended off the up current sides of the points I had been fishing, in 10-12 FOW. I was running short on time so I wanted to cover as much water as possible. I picked up my Abu Garcia Veritas cranking rod and went to work. With the water temperature climbing rapidly, and the notoriously lethargic behavior of suspended fish, I quickly determined that these fish were not in the mood to chase anything down.
I moved offshore to scan two humps that always seem to hold fish. I marked a single fish in 17 FOW and picked up my drop shot rod, rigged with an Alewife colored Lunker city Ribster. I quickly picked off the single fish, and scanned the area again to see if there were more in the area, but I didn't see any activity. I moved to another isolated hump a little further down, but there didn't appear to be anything there either. I was just about out of time, so I began my journey back towards the launch stopping at a couple of key areas on the way, tossing the Ribster past the points the fish were holding on and letting the wind drift me backwards as I dragged the drop shot. I quickly started hooking up, and I ran with the pattern all the way back to the launch.
As I was waiting for the launch to clear up, I threw a frog into the pads and managed one more fish. I was cutting it close time wise, so I packed up and headed out. If I had another couple of hours, I could have smashed them today, I still had a good day for the limited amount of time that I had, and I was pleased with the final result. Although I didn't get many big fish, (only caught two that were around 3lbs, the rest were right around 2) I feel like I took a big step forward today. Instead of trying to force patterns that are unproductive, I took a more disciplined approach, and did what the fish wanted me to do, rather than what I wanted to do.
Total for the day: 15 Bass
Pad Crasher: 9
Rib Snake: 1
Ribster: 5
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