May 7, 2020
Fishing Time: 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Rating: 8
Weather Conditions: Sunny with clear skies
Bait: Gary Yamamoto 5″ Green Pumpkin/Watermelon Senko with 1/0 Gamakatsu Wacky Worm Hook; 1/4 ounce Strike King Tour Grade Bluegill Swim Jig with 3.8″ Keitech Pro Blue Red Pearl FAT Swing Impact Swimbait;
Rod: G-Loomis GX2 Jig and Worm Rod; Abu Garcia Veritas Winch Crankbait Rod
Reel: Quantum Catalyst PT; Shimano Curado Casting Reel
Line: 8-pound Seaguar InvizX Fluorocarbon; 12-pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid Fishing Line
Total Bass Caught: 2
Final Weigh in Weight: 4.29 pounds
After a successful first outing on Tuesday, I decided to hit the water again to see if I could locate some bigger bass. I got to the water around 6:30 pm and, given that I caught my bass in heavy vegetation last time, started the day by fishing the lilies just right of the boat launch. I wanted to cover water quickly, so instead of fishing the area with a wacky worm, I worked the edge of the lilies with a swim jig. When this failed to produce bites, I moved on to the the stretch of docks next to the lilies. While these typically have a few bass on them, they, too, proved to be unsuccessful.
Seeing as I wasn’t able to get anything going in the weedy areas, I decided to head over to the east side of the I-90 bridge to fish the huge, rocky flat over there. However, as soon as I arrived, I knew that there probably weren’t going to be bass there today. Not only was the water temperature a good three degrees lower than the rest of the lake, but it was also extremely windy, which made it hard to maneuver. After a few quick casts there, I decided to get out of the wind and head over to a protected cove just north of the bridge. At the cove, I spotted a rocky flat located right next to a patch heavy vegetation, an area that sets up perfectly for bass looking to ambush unsuspecting baitfish. My first two casts didn’t peak the interest of any bass, but on my third cast, I cast over to the rocky flat and slowly worked my swim jig back to the boat. Literally seconds after my bait crossed the barrier from rocks to weeds, I saw a dark shadow explode out of the vegetation and grab my lure. Shocked, I set the hook as quickly as I possible and began rapidly reeling my line in to keep the bass from diving back down into the dense vegetation it had come from. After a great fight, I was able to swing the bass into the boat and get it onto the scale, where it weighed in as a 1.43 pound smallmouth.
With my second bass of the season weighing almost twice as much as my first, I continued working my way around the protected cove until I came upon a nice rocky point. While at this point, I spotted a nearby dock where there was a clear transition between a rocky and weedy bottom. I quickly motored over to it and noticed that the dock had an old wooden swim ladder attached to the side of it. Knowing that bass have a certain affinity for swim ladders, I picked up my wacky worm and cast over to it. Almost instantly, I saw my line jump and begin to move in the opposite direction. I quickly picked up the slack in my line, gave a big hook set, and was met with the resounding weight of a monster bass on the other end. The bass immediately began taking drag and it took everything in my power to keep it from jumping. After multiple runs and dives, I was eventually able to tire the bass out and get the smallmouth into the boat. This one tipped the scales at 2.86 pounds. Thrilled to catch such a quality bass, I fished a few more docks and then decided to head in.
Observations: The water temperature ranged from 54-60 degrees today, which was colder than what it was two days ago. The two bass that I caught came in 10 feet of water and 5 feet of water and were both hanging out near rocky areas that had easy access to heavy vegetation. The 1.43 pound bass that I caught was extremely fat, while the 2.86 pound one had a skinnier profile. This leads me to believe that we are right in the middle of the spawn and post-spawn right now, where the bigger bass have already spawned and the smaller ones are just making their way to beds. I am ecstatic to have caught such a great bass so early on in the season and hope that I will be able to hook into some more hawgs soon.