July 27, 2016
Fishing Time: 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Rating: 5
Weather Conditions: Overcast skies
Bait: 1/2 ounce Green Pumpkin Spider Jig and Keitech Swing Impact Green Pumpkin Swimbait with 3/8 Poor Boy’s Baits Darter Jighead
Rod: G-Loomis GX2 Jig and Worm
Reel: Quantum Catalyst PT
Line: 8-pound Sunline Super Sniper FC
Total Bass Caught: 5
Final Weigh in Weight: 6.11 pounds
With 2 bass over 2 pounds, my outing yesterday proved to be pretty successful so I decided to head back out onto the lake and see if I could get into some more big bass. I wanted to mix things up today, so I started fishing on the second point on the left instead. I began by working my spider jig along the drop offs and on my seventh cast, I was able to get something to bite. I fought with it for a while, but unfortunately it jumped and spit the hook out. I was devastated and immediately cast back to the same spot. Lucky for me, the bass came back and this time I was able to get it into the boat. When I put it on the scale it came out to be a 1 pound bass. I continued working the drop offs and a few docks down I was able to get into another bass. This one was a lot smaller and only came out to be a dink 0.5 pounder. I worked the left side of the lake for a few more minutes before motoring back over to a protected cove on the right side. When I got over there, I decided to switch over to a swimbait to see if I could attract some bigger fish. I worked the docks and drop offs on the left hand side of the cove without any success, but the right hand side was a whole another story. I came across a buoy with a large metal chain anchoring it down, so I cast my swimbait past it and ran it by the metal chain. As soon as it passed the chain, I felt something strike my swimbait. I set the hook, but missed it. However, I stayed calm and slowly continued my retrieve and sure enough the bass came back to grab it. I set the hook once more and this time was able to get him into the boat. This one was definitely bigger than my last and came out to be 1.25 pounds. I then moved down a little bit and cast parallel to the drop off. I felt something nibbling at my swimbait, so I set the hook and was able to land a 0.5 pound smallmouth. After that the bite began to slow down, so I motored up to the point of the cove. It was really weedy up there, so I cast my swimbait and slowly worked it over the weeds. On my third cast, I felt my swimbait get caught up in the weeds, so I quickly popped my rod and continued my retrieve. As soon as my swimbait popped out of the weeds, I felt something come up and hammer my swimbait. I was surprised by how hard the bass struck, but was still able to get a good hookset in. I had a fantastic battle with the bass and after a while managed to bring it into the boat. I put it on the scale and it came out to be a solid 2.86 pound smallmouth. I finished the day by fishing the v-dock and a few more docks around there, but didn’t have any success so I headed in.
Observations: The water temperature ranged from 75-76 degrees, which is a whole degree warmer than yesterday. The bass adjusted accordingly and were all really deep today and I caught mine in 25+ feet of water. These were actually some of my first fish on jigs and swimbaits, which made catching these fish that much more enjoyable. It was nice to see the bass chasing a moving lure and feeling how hard they were striking it. They all seem to be hanging around drop offs and deeper structure during this time of year, which makes them a little harder to find. However, they are all very hungry and eager to bite, as all of the bass I caught swallowed my bait. I’ve heard a lot about people catching 4+ pounders on Sammamish, so I will definitely need to try and find some of those in the near future.