After going to church for Easter Sunday, we headed out to Milton to visit with our family and to feast on a delicious Easter Dinner. Being just a minutes walk away from Arrowhead Mountain Lake, I couldn’t resist bringing a couple poles and my tackle bag, recently updated with baits from the March edition of the Bass MTB. The contents of this box are listed below:
1. Lucky Craft Flashminnow 95 Tr.
2. Z-Man Project Z ShroomZ Micro Finesse Jig
3. Daiichi Bleeding Bait Hooks
4. Z-Man CrusteaZ Jig Trailers
5. Catch Co. Swimmin’ Grub
The first bait that I tried was the Lucky Craft Jerkbait in a black/chartreuse pattern. Although this stickbait doesn’t have much of a swimming action on the retrieve, it has a killer action when jerked. I paired this bait up with my ML 6’ 9” Fenwick and went to work. I made several casts over a shallow rocky point that borders deeper water. With the sun shining and the water a bit murky, this seemed like the perfect spot for a predatory fish to comfortably warm up. I first tried fan casting from where the point ran into the shoreline, but I quickly found it difficult to keep my bait from dragging bottom and picking up debris. I offset myself from the point and around ten casts later, my decision paid off, big time. My technique was to move the bait painstakingly slow, allowing it’s slow drifting suspension in the water to do most of the work. I had to force myself to slow down and not just rapidly jerk the bait in. While this style of fishing works well in the later spring months and summer, when the water temps are struggling to reach 40 degrees, patience is your best weapon.
JERK, Jerk, PAUSE....... JERK, Jerk, PAUSE...... As I watched a flock of Goldeneyes zip across the lake, wingtips coming within inches of it’s waveless surface, I felt a soft thud in my rod tip. Without thinking twice I set the hook. As with my 30 inch laker a month and a half earlier, my drag was way too loose. My rod loaded up and my line tightened. At first I was unsure if I had a fish or not. It just felt like dead weight. All of my doubts were blown away when the Smallmouth exploded out of the water, desperately trying to throw the treble from it’s gaping jaw. As it neared the shore, I could tell that it was a good one. With an extra fast action rod, I found it difficult to get the powerful fish within reach. Only one treble was pinned on the edge of the fish’s mouth, so I let her use up a little more energy before I made a second attempt to land big bertha. Once I got a thumb in her mouth I clamped down on her jaw with a death grip and swung her up onto shore. “YES! Thank you God!” I remarked as I walked back to my tackle bag to measure the fish. I didn’t notice it until the fish was in my custody, but I was shaking with adrenaline from the exciting catch. I rummaged through my tackle bag looking for a tape measure, when I remembered that I left my tape and scale in the cooler that we used for salmon fishing the weekend before! I had a gut feeling that this fish was my third master angler fish of the year, so I called my Dad and asked him to get down to the camp ASAP with a camera and a tape measure. While I waited for him to arrive I had time to wade out a little bit and revive and admire the fish. Smallmouths are truly beautiful creatures.
The bass ended up measuring in at 19.25 inches and was my third MA fish of the year! The fish disappeared slowly back into the depths, it’s tail waving goodbye. At this point I had decided to try another lure that I had recieved in my MTB and the Z-Man jig and trailer combo was up to bat. I worked my way up and down the shoreline, stopping to make a half dozen casts every 15 yards or so. It wasn’t until I was standing in the exact same spot that I was when I caught the SMB earlier that I felt a bite. I swept my rod tip up and was hooked into a 14 inch smallie, and an acrobatic one at that! Fish number two was in the books. To try and finish off the slam I texas rigged a Catch Co. Swimmin’ Grub with a Daiichi offset shank worm hook and a pegged bullet weight. It was kind of a bulky plastic for early spring conditions, so I ended up cutting down the head to make it a little bit more compact. After a good 45 minutes of fishing this bait I gave up on the slam and switched to something that I knew would catch fish if they were in the area, a Shallow Shad Rap in Bluegill. Next thing you know I was pulling in a pipe cleaner pickerel.
The trip was cut short by a grumbling stomach and ensuing storm. It was an excellent first day of Bass fishing in 2017!
Crayfish2 and I will be spending the weekend in search of Salmon, I'll be sure to let you guys know how we do! Tight Lines to All, PB.
