ulrichdebrus
09-30-2005, 10:58 AM
A few days ago I fished a day of rather lame fishing. I stuck to it. I don't get a lot of time to fish these days so I take advantage of the time that I do get. I must have caught about a hundred bluegill under six inches and about a dozen perch, two of which were rather nice, and about six largemouth under ten inches (one keeper hit a perch I was reeling in and let go a soon as he saw the net).
After about nine hours, the wind died down and the cove I was fishing in turned to glass. This area was littered with submerged wood, stumps, and what not but the particular spot I anchored in was pretty clear for a good fifty feet around. As always, the fishing began to pick up but the panfish were still generally too small. I gave up panfishing and got out my Mepps #4, the one with a red and white blade on silver and a bucktail. My very first cast yielded a really large rock bass and I had the pleasure of watching it dart out from behind the only stump nearby (teen feet from the boat) and gobble it up. Ten or so more casts yielded two strikes. I still don't know how a fish can hit a moving spinner and not get hooked but anyway...
To keep my spinner from dragging too many weeds, I often stand up in the boat, keep my rod pretty high, and begin a slow retrieve as soon as it strikes the water. This gives me a really good look at the surrounding weeds and any potential timber and because the water had gone completely placid, my visibility was even more increased.
That's when I got the thrill of a lifetime. I saw the spinner come into view at about eighteen feet and at about twelve feet I witnessed what seemed a scene right out of Wild Kingdom (the television show). Quite out of nowhere, the largest bucketmouth I had ever seen seemed to suddenly materialize (he was buried in a weed thick hiding for who knows how long) and he shot at my spinner like a bullet and was instantly hooked. He pulled so hard so fast that no effort of mine to set the hook could have nabbed him any better than he nabbed himself. As it flipped directions from left to right I saw the full size of him, his side showing in great detail as it caught the evening sun and I knew instantly that this was the biggest bass I had ever hooked.
Right away he made a run away from the boat and THAT is when I realized that my drag was set perfectly and I felt a subtle thrill. I was going to land this one. His run was short lived and he turned around and, pike-style, made a dash for underneath the boat. I was counting on my drag because I was only using twelve pound test line. Anything heavier hinders my ability to place lighter lures where I want them.
He ran for the boat near the front end and I carefully moved into the center of the fourteen foot boat to attempt to attempt to bring him more around the front and keep the angle of my pole good. I didn't want him to test my thirty dollar pole with a run directly underneath me.
So far so good, until...
It seems that I didn't get toward the front end of the boat fast enough and he took my lure just inside the anchor rope and, my friends, I am sure you know the rest of the story. This lure, which had yielded four strikes in twenty minutes, a large rock bass, and one huge largemouth, was gone. It was turning out to be the best lure I had ever used and though I know that other conditions may have played a part, I still believe there is something special about this particular color combination. It comes as part of one of the three Mepps piker kits.
Never had I seen such a dramatic moment of predation, on land or in the water and though I am sure that some of the pike I have hooked in the past may have done so dramatically, the high visibility through the water on this day made it visible.
This was my last trip to Fletcher's Floodwaters this year and the pond has made absolutely sure that I will return with a hunger in the spring.
I can't recommend the Aglia #4 RW/S-BR enough.
My picks for lure of the year:
Mepps Aglia #4 RW/S-BR
Rebel Crickethopper (the small version)
Red Eye Wiggler (red and white Daredevl colors - 2.5" length)
any thick, Daredevl shapped spoon 1.5" in length and of plain silver
For what it's worth...
*
After about nine hours, the wind died down and the cove I was fishing in turned to glass. This area was littered with submerged wood, stumps, and what not but the particular spot I anchored in was pretty clear for a good fifty feet around. As always, the fishing began to pick up but the panfish were still generally too small. I gave up panfishing and got out my Mepps #4, the one with a red and white blade on silver and a bucktail. My very first cast yielded a really large rock bass and I had the pleasure of watching it dart out from behind the only stump nearby (teen feet from the boat) and gobble it up. Ten or so more casts yielded two strikes. I still don't know how a fish can hit a moving spinner and not get hooked but anyway...
To keep my spinner from dragging too many weeds, I often stand up in the boat, keep my rod pretty high, and begin a slow retrieve as soon as it strikes the water. This gives me a really good look at the surrounding weeds and any potential timber and because the water had gone completely placid, my visibility was even more increased.
That's when I got the thrill of a lifetime. I saw the spinner come into view at about eighteen feet and at about twelve feet I witnessed what seemed a scene right out of Wild Kingdom (the television show). Quite out of nowhere, the largest bucketmouth I had ever seen seemed to suddenly materialize (he was buried in a weed thick hiding for who knows how long) and he shot at my spinner like a bullet and was instantly hooked. He pulled so hard so fast that no effort of mine to set the hook could have nabbed him any better than he nabbed himself. As it flipped directions from left to right I saw the full size of him, his side showing in great detail as it caught the evening sun and I knew instantly that this was the biggest bass I had ever hooked.
Right away he made a run away from the boat and THAT is when I realized that my drag was set perfectly and I felt a subtle thrill. I was going to land this one. His run was short lived and he turned around and, pike-style, made a dash for underneath the boat. I was counting on my drag because I was only using twelve pound test line. Anything heavier hinders my ability to place lighter lures where I want them.
He ran for the boat near the front end and I carefully moved into the center of the fourteen foot boat to attempt to attempt to bring him more around the front and keep the angle of my pole good. I didn't want him to test my thirty dollar pole with a run directly underneath me.
So far so good, until...
It seems that I didn't get toward the front end of the boat fast enough and he took my lure just inside the anchor rope and, my friends, I am sure you know the rest of the story. This lure, which had yielded four strikes in twenty minutes, a large rock bass, and one huge largemouth, was gone. It was turning out to be the best lure I had ever used and though I know that other conditions may have played a part, I still believe there is something special about this particular color combination. It comes as part of one of the three Mepps piker kits.
Never had I seen such a dramatic moment of predation, on land or in the water and though I am sure that some of the pike I have hooked in the past may have done so dramatically, the high visibility through the water on this day made it visible.
This was my last trip to Fletcher's Floodwaters this year and the pond has made absolutely sure that I will return with a hunger in the spring.
I can't recommend the Aglia #4 RW/S-BR enough.
My picks for lure of the year:
Mepps Aglia #4 RW/S-BR
Rebel Crickethopper (the small version)
Red Eye Wiggler (red and white Daredevl colors - 2.5" length)
any thick, Daredevl shapped spoon 1.5" in length and of plain silver
For what it's worth...
*