Big Bass Bananza

Well Norm was back from his Florida trip and after hearing about some of the days on the water lately, wanting a taste of his own. We took a little road trip and hit another lake to see if he could tangle with some of the quality smallies that I had been getting into lately. Let’s just say that today would not be a disappointment for anybody! It was a beautiful, crisp morning with sunshine and a light breeze from the north. Air temps began in the low 60’s but ended in the upper 70’s and the water ranged from 65 to 67 degrees. It had gone down slightly with the cold overnight low of barely 60 degrees and I knew we would have to wait for it to rise before the fish would become active. Although we were seeing a few fish swimming in the area we began in, they were really not interested in our offerings and barely even paid any attention. There was one 4 pounder caught and a couple of smaller ones as well but the action was too slow for my liking and we relocated. The next area didn’t prove to be much better as we saw all kinds of bass in the 4 to 5 pound range that never even looked at the offerings we had, even though we threw everything except the kitchen sink at them. At one point I couldn’t take it any longer and I made a drastic adjustment to the other side of the lake hoping for warmer water and more active fish. I stopped on a current break at the tip of an island and tried a jerk-bait to see if I could get a reaction strike. Apparently it worked because on about my third cast, a big smallie just hammered the lure. Shortly after releasing the almost 4 pounder, another 3 pounder slammed the bait and a pattern was developing. I immediately switched Norm up to another jerk-bait and he too was soon tight lined with a 3 pound fish as well. Unfortunately, there was only one other smaller bass landed after that and we relocated once again to an almost exact spot not too far away. Norm locked up on another bass close to 3 pounds on the second cast and nothing after. We slid below the current line and casted the slower water with senko’s and had many a follow but no takers. Both of us lost big fish after slamming into them and losing them seconds later. They just weren’t eating the baits and that was driving me crazy! After catching a few smaller ones and seeing many a big follow or cruiser, I slid out of this area and hit a rocky flat, offshore. It was here that Norm locked up on one, on the fly. He decided to try the fly rod for a while and managed to get into a nice fish of around 2.5 pounds pretty quickly. It had a buddy beside it and I immediately nailed the fish when I casted right to her. Doubles are always nice to see when the fishing is slow! After releasing both fish, Norm wasted no time in hooking another. What we thought was a small fish turned out to be a 4.5 pound smallie that gave him a battle he’ll never forget. This fish fought like a champ with aerials and long runs, all the while trying to get off by burying itself in the weed beds. Eventually I was able to slide the net under the fish and after a few pics, release her back to where she had come. This was definitely going to be the highlight of the day as catching a big fish like that on the fly is always spectacular. Norm almost had another huge bass with the fly rod, but somehow this big blackie managed to come unpinned when she took the air rendering him speechless. This one was equally the same size if not better and quite disappointing. It was afternoon now and I thought we would give it a try on one of the areas that we had seen so many fish cruising around, earlier in the day. Norm threw a tube and I a jerk-bait to see if they were still in the area, and immediately we had the answer. I had many follows and Norm had one on briefly before it too came unpinned. We both locked up frequently on the baits and several fish were landed up to almost 4 pounds. At one point, we had a double and they were in the high fours apiece. When all this became too frustrating once again, I relocated to a similar area a distance away. The rest of the day was spent throwing jerk-baits and tubes to these big bass with many huge ones coming aboard. Schools of 4 to 5 pound smallies were chasing the lures and most were actually eating. If it weren’t for the damn midge, we might have remained on the water even longer. They were relentless and with the slight breeze from the north, seemed to hover in our faces just trying to get into every opening they could find. Shortly after five, we decided to call it quits and head on in for the day. The run back was great, blowing all of these “Dog Pecker Knats” out of our hair and finally away from our face. I would have to say that this was the best day so far this season for size. There were more fish over four pounds landed than any other outing and even though we never broke the five pound mark, it was still a fantastic day. The fly rod smallie was just icing on the cake!!!