Losing The Wall Hanger

We were back on the water again today and got a slightly earlier start than yesterday. The weather called for showers and thunderstorms moving in sometime in the afternoon and we wanted to get in as much fishing as we could before we got hit. Our first area didn’t produce a single fish so I relocated quickly to some offshore areas and we were into bass almost immediately. I believe the first fish was a 4.25-pound smallie taken on a senko! This was a good sign and things were beginning to look up as we got into more fish not too long after as well. Most of these fish were 3 pounds or better with the largest one weighing 4 pounds 12 ounces. We were getting closer to that 5 pounder! The only thing working was the senko with all the calm water and overcast skies. Spinnerbaits, jerk-baits and tubes all scored a big zero until after lunch! Lee finally hooked into a nice smallie on a spinnerbait, but the fish broke the lure when it went airborne leaving him with an empty line. After trying a couple of other nearby areas without any success, I thought we would hit an isolated rock flat in the middle of nowhere that I hadn’t fished in over 2 weeks. Hopefully, we would get them there! Without a GPS mapping system, this place is virtually impossible to get to and I like it that way too. It only took a few casts to see that this was the right place to be as a big fish swirled on the senko and left a boil on the surface. Lee locked up on another 4 pounder and had a hard time convincing it that the net was the place to be. Shortly after, we saw a real big fish that had wall hanger written all over her and we both thought she was about to take his senko when a three pound fish came out of nowhere and inhaled the bait. Lee set into this fish and we were both a little upset with the end results. We tried to get into the other fish for a while, but with no luck. Lee did manage to land another fish over 4 pounds a little while afterwards, but not the beast we were after. Just before we were about to hit another spot, Lee threw a spinnerbait across the rocks and as luck would have it, locked up on her. This battle lasted all of about 10 seconds as she went airborne and threw the lure on the jump. We both got a good look at her actual size and realized that she was at least 5.5 pounds or more. That was the fish we were looking for! Disappointed, we relocated to another area not too far away when the winds finally began to blow about 5 to 10 knots and the sun made an appearance with them. They were blowing from the wrong direction, but at least they were blowing! I stayed on the senko and Lee remained on the spinnerbait casting to weeds and rocks in the wind. He had some action almost immediately when a 4 pounder crashed into his lure almost ripping the rod away from his grip. With the winds and sunshine I knew it would light the fish up and wanted to take advantage of this while it lasted. We covered the area rather quickly and got several hits and hookups before the skied darkened and the sun went away. The winds also died almost completely and we were left with similar conditions once again. Unfortunately, there was also a storm brewing and we were down to the wire. Thunder was happening in the distance and I knew it wouldn’t be too long before we got hit. A few more fish were landed up to 4 pounds once again and we had to leave. Lee didn’t get his wall hanger, but he did get to see her. I told him I would let him know just how much she weighs when I get her next week! There were definitely closer to 25 bass caught today with the average being 3.5 pounds or better. It was a good day with the conditions we were dealt!!