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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
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