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Date: April 22, 2018 Body of Water: Reeds Lake Boat: Numenon With: DC Target: Largemouth Bass Time: 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM Conditions: Bright and clear; ESE winds to 10 mph; 45 to 60 degrees F. Water temps from 46 to almost 48 degrees F, 6+ feet of green clarity. Good friend, DC, and I hit the water with high expectations; conditions felt even better than two days previous. And, I had a known starting point! I deferred use of the jerk-bait to DC while I experimented with cranks, a spy-bait and a Berkley War Pig lipless crank. I wasn't too concerned about our slow start. It was a slightly chilly morning, and my action had occurred later on Friday. DC was buoyed by the appearance of a large bass behind his bait, but she did not bite. I was confident in both my recent and long-term history on this lake at this time of year. But when our slow start stretched into a very slow start, and multiple spots were all unproductive, we switched into search mode. Various jigs and blade baits were deployed; I switched to jerking with a variety of baits; and still, nothing moved for us. By 10:30 or so, with the sun higher, we returned to our starting point along a weed line. Suddenly, the bass were visible to us; they were where we'd expected (about 4 feet of water over dark bottom), there were lots of them, and they were not eating. We saw dozens, if not hundreds, of bass over the next couple of hours. Most ignored or actively rejected our offerings (now expanded into a variety of soft plastics and hair jigs), while just a few followed our baits. They weren't cruising; I'd speculate that they were staging in specific contact points as they emerged from the depths into the shallows. When it became obvious, even to me, that this was a seductive but unproductive approach to catching some bass this day, we again switched gears and targeted the bass that we couldn't see. I jerked and War-Pigged with determination, but it just never happened. We'd both had enough; we decided to salvage the rest of our day. But DC's wife was temporarily unavailable to pick him up, so we continued to fish. We relocated and picked up new baits. DC chose a Lucky Craft spy-bait, and on his second or third cast over shallow weeds, hung a really nice fish. Probably not quite four pounds, but still a fine bass! And we were no longer skunked! But that was it for the day; we had no more action in our remaining time. So here's what didn't work:
What do I have to say about this? Once again, I was rudely reminded that there's more to this sport that I don't know, than I actually do know. Reeds Lake served me her periodic dish of Humble Pie. It's bitter; but I have to admit, it's still Pie! And, I like Pie! I suspect that my previous notes will reveal mysterious skunks on trips that started with high expectations. I further suspect that many of these skunked trips involve critical transition periods, and especially this initial, pre-spawn staging. The fish are always responding to many environmental influences; my presence and lure presentations are just single factors in their world. Their collective minds and motivations were elsewhere on this day. That's okay; it's part of this fishing equation I have chosen to struggle with. When I solve this puzzle, I'll be pleased. But I also know that there are additional problems awaiting solution, too. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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Date: April 21, 2018 Body of Water: Kent Lake Boat: Numenon With: Alone Target: Largemouth Bass Time: 9:30 AM - 2 PM Conditions: Overcast; 45 - 55 degrees F; mild southerly wind; water temps 46 - 48 degrees F; clarity about 2.5 feet I chose Kent Lake for the day. It's new to me (this would be my second trip), and it's about 40% closer to home than Reeds Lake. Plus, I knew Reeds Lake would be busy, while Kent offers a 10 mph speed limit and an abundance of undeveloped shoreline. Finally, it's a reservoir with some interesting structure. Based on my previous trip, I expected to find weeds. Weed edge plus structure equals the potential for pre-spawn bass; why not give it a shot? I never did find the green, healthy weeds I had expected, and perhaps the water clarity was a little too murky for optimal jerking success. I ended up trying a variety of spots and presentations (cranks, chatter-baits, jerks and swim-baits, primarily), but I had almost given up when I accomplished my first goal of the day; I got a bite! It was on my original tactic, jerking. A deep-diving Rapala Shadow Rap on a long pause got eaten by a pretty, 23.9-inch pike in about 6 feet of water. Just moments thereafter,I accomplished my second goal; I caught a smallish bass on the same presentation! I didn't accomplish my goals of catching a big bass or catching a "limit" of legal-sized bass, but it was still a decent session, and I know I'll go back to this lake. I'm not convinced about the quality of the fish available, but the lake has so many nooks, crannies and targets that it would be easy to spend a day just junk fishing, selecting presentations based on what the lake presents at a given moment. We'll see! What do I have to say about this? This might be Michigan's most heavily pressured and utilized lake, but it still offers a peaceful setting. Even though there were plenty of other bass boats and kayaks out there, I had plenty of water to myself, and plenty of undeveloped shoreline to explore. I purchased my season pass to the Huron/Clinton Metroparks system, which provides access to several launches, including a launch of choice on Lake St. Clair. IT was a bargain last year, and I expect it to be a bargain for me this year, too. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: April 20, 2018 Body of Water: Reeds Lake Boat: Numenon With: Alone Target: Largemouth Bass Time: 10 AM - 2 PM Conditions: Beautiful! Bright and clear with mild northerly winds of less than 10 mph. 45 - 55 degrees F; water was clear and green with over 5 feet of visibility; water temperatures were 43-45 degrees F. I was pleased to arrive to a quiet lake with the docks in place. I was doubly pleased, when returning to the boat after parking nearby, I registered 43-degree water. I snapped on a Berkley Cutter jerk-bait and proceeded to my highest confidence spot. This area offers the most productive spawning flats on the lake, as well as access to the deepest water in the lake. Moreover, a majority of the truly large bass I've caught on this lake in the Spring have come from this 200-yard stretch of water. This was, simply, why I was here on this day. It took 25 minutes or so for the first fish to present itself. A beautiful 16.75-incher ate my bait over some shallow dark bottom (about 3.5 feet of water.) She was really too cold to fight too much, but I was glad just to see her. It took another half hour or so for the next, another solid 16-incher on the same bait. She hit a bit further from the shallow edge of the dark bottom, in perhaps 6 feet of water; right where I expected her. I was now on the Spot-on-the-Spot; and armed with a depth range and an acceptable cadence established (the bass were preferring a prolonged pause or two during the retrieve), I caught bass Nos. 3-5 in quick succession. Number 3 proved to be the Bass of the Trip, as she measured 20.5 inches and 5.5 pounds. Bass Nos. 4 and 5 were 16-inch twins. I had my "virtual limit" within 90 minutes and plenty of time in front of me. Instead of pounding these fish (I now knew they'd bite!), I chose to look for new patterns and larger fish. With this decision, the fate of my day quickly changed; I had only a single (23-inch pike) bite for the rest of the day. But I did get to fish spy-baits, blade-baits, glide-baits and cranks in a variety of spots; and I had a true giant tracking my River-to-Sea S-Wave glide-bait. She appeared in water that was very similar to the water that had yielded all my bites. Unfortunately, she ghosted away without committing to my bait. What do I have to say about this? What an enjoyable and satisfying day! After a lengthy hiatus from the water, I returned on this weekday to find prime conditions; and my journaling paid off, as I knew how to unlock a few of their secrets under these conditions. Plus, while it's just nice to be out on the water, it is, admittedly, even nicer to be out on the water and catching some really nice fish! In addition to being a beautiful, long-awaited spring day, the fishing was good; I certainly met all my basic bass fishing goals of a legal bass, a big bass, and a (virtual) limit of bass. Plus, that virtual limit would have totaled 15 pounds, which (for me), is a good catch! Perhaps I erred in seeking greener pastures, and perhaps I should teach myself to enjoy the fish I'm on at a given moment. But with a successful day in hand, I could only make it better; and I'm sure I learned something of interest during the last couple of hours of the session. Maybe I'll cash in on that knowledge at some point in the future. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: March 18, 2018 Body of Water: Reeds Lake Boat: Numenon With: DC Target: Largemouth Bass Time: 11:45 AM to 4:45 PM Conditions: Mostly sunny and 45 - 55 degrees F; generally westerly winds at 12 - 15 mph; water was stained brown, about 3 feet visibility, 38 - 40 degrees F Good fishing buddy, DC, and I got together for the first time in about a year, and once again, a decent bite fizzled out with his presence. We were totally skunked! I didn't have a single bite! DC proved there was some life in there lake by snagging a tiny perch and a sizable turtle from the bottom with his blade-bait. I'd returned to Reeds Lake, confident that I could build on the previous day's success. That didn't happen, and perhaps we spent to much time with blade-baits in 20 feet of water. But we did do enough cranking and jerking, in both deep and shallow water, to demonstrate to our satisfaction, that the bite was simply "off". What had changed? It was hard to say; in fact, based on slightly milder conditions, I might have expected more. The wind was stronger, and boat control slightly less efficient, but not to the degree that it ruined our presentations. DC might have been on to something when he mentioned the possibility of Spring Turnover; the temperature is correct, and the brown water and floating weeds and detritus are consistent with this idea. The day's wind might have kicked this event into gear; and it's usually considered to be a hindrance to fish catching. What do I have to say about this? The catching was poor, but the fishing was good. Part of the mystery of fishing is the unknown; and maybe some day I will learn the key to unlocking conditions such as these. That will be more satisfying than admiring the fish themselves. Meanwhile, the poor catching did not dissuade us from discussing the possibility of a joint Costa Rica 2019 Trip. It was good to have DC back in the boat again! Second, I should mention the utility and value of my humble drift sock. This tool, which I resurrected last year after a very long, inexplicable hiatus, really does aid boat control when it gets too windy. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways |
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