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Date: June 17, 2018 Body of Water: East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay Boat: Numenon With: Alone Target: Smallmouth Bass Time: 7:45 AM - 2:30 PM Conditions: Hot! Air temperatures from 75 to 95 degrees; cloudy but clearing. Fairly strong wind from the south at 10 - 15 mph, but calming in very late morning. Water temperatures 64 degrees F and very clear; some bass still spawning, but many empty nests. Up at 4 AM; at the ramp at 7:30 AM; and looking for my first bass of the day by 7:45 AM. Conditions featured flat lighting and too much wind; but I could see that there had been additional bedding activity during the week. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to be home, and in the first hour of fishing I saw only a single bass, missed my bite, and decided to look elsewhere. If only to minimize my exposure to the wind, I headed to the very southern end of the bay. I've heard the stories, and I've seen the crowds searching for bedding bass here. Personally, I've never had much luck. I scouted a large area, located some more (empty) beds and burned up some more time. Most boats seemed to be working depths greater than 10 feet; but I've no experience out there in this area, and could not see well enough to warrant the time exploring. I hit another spawning pocket on the west side of the bay, but still found no fish present. Based on the lack of visible fish and predominantly empty nests, I decided to switch to targeting post-spawn fish. I spent the next hour jerking water from 10 to 22 feet deep; I devoted this time to an area where I've pulled bass up from the depths on jerks before, and which features some scruffy weeds. I located a school of perch; but that was it; no bass showed themselves. By now, it was past 11 AM. I convinced myself that it was less windy and a bit brighter. In fact, it was; and when I returned to the marina/channel area on the east side of the bay, I noted much better sight-fishing conditions. I marked a couple of potential beds with my trusty buoys, and soon the first bass of the day (15 inches) was in the net! It had eaten a Ned Rig (Real Deal) in about 7 feet of water. I quickly caught a 16-incher with the same pattern/presentation. I was hitting my stride! But that was it for this area; I couldn't locate any more bass, despite cruising 5 to 9-foot depths over a widening expanse. At about Noon, I relocated to the sand flats outside my "pet" rocky reef area. I worked over eight or more nests in about 7 feet of water before I connected with 16- and 18-inch bass on consecutive casts. Unable to find more bass, I expanded my search area. I caught a couple of short bass while blind-casting to the rock edge of the reef. These were not the bass I was looking for! Unfortunately, the next group of bass that I found on beds further outside (8 or 9 feet of water) were short, too! I finished my day to the north, fishing transition edges and boulder fields. When the wind came up, I went Big with a spinnerbait, but nothing ever chased or bit. The opportunity cost of this was that I ran out of time to act on The Sure Thing; I never found the last, nest-guarding bass that would have completed my virtual limit for the day. What do I have to say about this? This trip was a bit of a gamble, because I knew it was going to be windy. But I also knew that this might be my last chance at sight-fishing for shallow bass. I also thought the previous week's heat might have flooded the shallows with new bass. Not wanting to miss out on that, or have to wait another 11 months or so to sight-fish smallies again, I decided to throw the dice and go! All in all, I am glad I did so. My catching wasn't great; but, facing a skunk, I worked hard for the bass I did catch. Moreover, I didn't have to think about what I might be missing out on! Sight fishing with Ned Rigs can be super productive, but it does make pursuing other options difficult. In a way, I welcome the change in seasons. The bass will move deeper and I will have to use my imagination a bit more to find them. I welcome the challenge! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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