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Author Topic: My Favorite Lake and Me  (Read 7478 times)

Fat Boy

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My Favorite Lake and Me
« on: Apr 18, 2004, 04:03 PM »
I want to keep the name of this lake quiet.  Those that read this article that have fished with me will know exactly which lake it is (please don’t mention it), others may speculate.  In fact, had my day on it turned out like I had expected, I probably would post a fishing report on it and make it public.  This story is about me and this lake, our history, and my day on it yesterday.

Yesterday I went to a lake that I haven’t fish in almost 5 years (other than taking my daughter crappie fishing, but she fished, not me).  I grew up fishing this lake.  I started out fishing with my dad, dunking nightcrawler pieces under a bobber for finicky summertime bluegills with the occasional small largemouth or bullhead giving me a bit of a fight. 

After college and the end of my baseball career, I had a full time job making enough money to fund my next addiction, fishing.  I lived 15 minutes from this small lake, a lake so small that you could fish the entire shoreline in a full day of fishing if you were ambitious enough.  In fact, I fished almost every day until I was married and...ugh...became responsible.

Back then, before I discovered another of my addictions (ice fishing), the beginning of fishing season occurred at ice out with rainbow trout that held over through the winter from the fall stocking, and then later in March supplemented by the spring stocking.  I started out fishing light and ultralight tackle for the stocked trout in that lake.  I discovered that I could out fish other people on that lake by using spinners instead of the more common methods of the day, Velveeta cheese, marshmallows, and nightcrawlers.  Small Mepps and Roostertails were the ticket to walking away with quick limits of trout. 

As the temperatures warmed in April, spinners still worked well on the trout, but I noticed catching other species too, like largemouth bass, crappie, big bluegills, and even a bullhead or two.  The difference in my fishing success at the time from when I was a kid was that I could cover water quickly and efficiently using the spinners.  Some of the bass and bluegills were quite big as well.  After a year or so of that, I learned that fishing small jigs under a float would catch some real nice stringers of crappie.  And, eventually I learned to fish a plastic worm and a few other lures, like spinnerbaits and topwaters.

By now, I was reading every fishing magazine article that I could find.  I was a sponge seeking the moisture of fishing knowledge.  I hung out at tackle shops keeping an ear open for whatever the local experts had to say.  My tackle selection grew and grew as I learned how to use more and more tackle.  I was also, at the same time, a victim a common malady, lures that catch fishermen and not fish, wasting dollar after dollar trying to find the one lure that nobody had that would tear them up time after time.  What I discovered was that the lures that everybody had were actually the ones that worked the best, but the way to get them to work better than anyone else was to learn how to present them.  I learned that there was no magic color, no magic lure, no magic at all, just putting the lure in front of active fish at the right place, right time, and right speed.

My first fishing buddy was Howard Boltz, and together we learned to fish Maryland’s waterways and discovered pattern after pattern by patterning ourselves to those methods used by the likes of TV legends Jimmy Houston and Roland Martin, and comparing magazine fishing articles.  We talked of fishing tournaments when we would earn enough money to buy that first bass boat as we figured out each body of water and how to catch more and bigger bass.  Through him, I met a few other fishing buddies, including Genz Man on this site (and Iceshanty) who also learned right along with us.  I met three other friends there, two of which that today frequent this site and Iceshanty.  One those guys was John Bonchi, my former roommate.  If I had never met John while fishing this lake, I would never had met my wife and love of my life.  In fact, we were on the way home from a fishing trip when my wife’s sister yelled out of another vehicle in a successful attempt to hook her best friend up with him in a relationship.  Later, they got married and introduced my wife to me on a blind date.  I also met my friend Glenn at that lake, an extremely enthusiastic angler and environmentalist, a park naturalist, who eventually introduced me to the guy who lengthened my fishing season, Ratsotail on Iceshanty, by teaching me the ins and outs of ice fishing.  Ratsotail, Jeff Redinger, is one of the best icefishing panfish anglers that I've ever met.  I also met Jim C., an Iceshanty and MFF member who has moved to several locations and now resides in Maine, quickly establishing himself as he has everywhere else as one of it's regions finest anglers.  In a nutshell, this lake has shaped my life in one way or another.  I even had my best man fishing with me on that lake before he married and moved off.

There was a time about 15 years ago that we all had the best patterns on this lake figured out.  At any time of year we could find the bass, crappie or bluegills, what ever we chose to catch at the time.  Early on, we focused on the stocked trout, but later found that if we focused on bass fishing we could improve our numbers and still catch an occasional rainbow.  Bass were more challenging and they did get big.  We started to consider the stocked fish as a distraction to what we really loved, to figure out that pattern of the bass on any particular day that would bring many to our feet for catch and release.

In March, when the spring peepers and wood frogs sang their songs of courtship in the marshy woods at the upper end of the lake, we knew it was time for that bass feeding frenzy in the shallows.  4” plastic worms and spinnerbaits fooled largemouth bass as we set the hook and reeled them in hand over fist.  One day, the guys fishing for trout with Velveeta cheese and the new hot product of the day, Berkeley Power Bait, watched and ridiculed me for tossing a ½ ounce white tandem #7 willowleaf spinnerbait along the dropoff of the creek channel time and again.  This bait would hit the water with a huge splash each time provoking joke after joke about my lure choice.  They eventually even accused me of scaring their trout away and ruining their fishing success that day.  That came to a quick halt as a big ol’ fat 22” largemouth engulfed my spinnerbait 10 feet from me and gave me a great fight, nearly causing a wake from the big splashes near shore.  They sat there in awe as I hoisted that fish up, measure it, and released it. At that time, I didn’t carry a camera, nor did my fishing buddies, a decision that I regret to this day.  We only cared about catching them and the thrill.  We were young, memories were good, but not that important.  Only now do I see the importance of those pictures.

As the water warmed, we developed our favorite patterns for each time of year.  Summer meant flyfishing with small poppers over hydrilla beds for small bass, bluegills, and crappie with the occasional lunker largemouth.  We also spend many a summer evening fishing the shallows along the lake with Heddon Crazy Crawlers, Abrogast Jitterbugs, and buzzbaits.  We’d end up each summer evening at the same lake point to pitch small plastic worms, jig and pig combos, and those big spinnerbaits.  There was a deep hole and a saddle between that point and an island where all of that structure met the creek channel.  We all caught a big largemouth off that point every now and then, but numbers were the game as there were many aggressive 10 to 12 inch largemouth ready and willing to bite.  30 bass evenings were common. 

Fall was crankbait and spinnerbait time all over the lake.  Where ever you found wood, you found fish.  Then, as the water cooled before ice up, slowly and smartly hopped jigs at our summer time point caught a few bass here and there.  Our lakes upper end teamed with crappies feeding in a fall frenzy fattening up before winter.  An occasional big largemouth would wind up at our feet at the expense of our mangled spinnerbait.

Those were the days.  We put in the time there and found fish, had a great time.  Years eventually passed, we all got married, and some of us went our separate ways.  We fished our lake less and less each year.  As I said earlier, I’ve taken my daughter crappie fishing a few times but I haven’t fished it much.  The last time that I fished it was 5 years ago with another friend of mine where we caught a few fall largemouth and a surprise.  I was fishing for bass and hooked and landed a tiger muskie.  When I first saw it I thought that it was a big pickerel.   I didn’t know they were in that lake, but apparently a couple years before that they started stocking them.  It wasn’t huge, only 28 inches long and a bit skinny, but it was a muskie.  I had lost touch somewhat of the patterns, only my memory to go on.

Well, yesterday, my buddy Howard and I put his boat in on our old lake for old times sake with high expectations of large numbers of small bass and crappie to entertain us all day long.  The water was somewhat high and stained from recent rains, but not enough to deter us.  It was the first real nice day of the spring, sunny and about 80 degrees.  Other more popular lakes and bodies of water were packed with people.  This lake had very few boats on it all day long, but did have some shoreline pressure.  Our strategy was to pound our former favorite spots with familiar patterns with the same old expectations of big numbers of small bass.  We were out for fun.  If we caught a big bass, like we occasionally used to do, then so much the better.

We had a bit of a late start, not fishing until after noon, so we headed to the Western shoreline and started throwing against the bank.  I had a chartreuse tandem willowleaf spinnerbait with chartreuse blades tied on from a recent trip to the Lower Potomac and decided to go with it instead of the deadly 4” plastic worms, a perfect presentation for that stained water.  After a few casts to a wooded shoreline, I tossed my spinnerbait out past the end of a large deadfall over 14 feet of water and had a hit.  I saw the fish boil and run toward me as I set the hook, driving the spinnerbait home.  The bass was massive, well over 20” as it boiled just 5 feet from the boat.  I was devastated as the fish turned, dove, and came free.  I felt as if I saw one of the biggest largemouth of my life swim off.  What a way to start the day. 

We pounded the bank of our favorite lake with every productive pattern of the past.  Thoughts of that bass remained in my head and I refused to switch from the spinnerbait while Howard searched for a more productive presentation.  Big bass dominated my thoughts.  I tossed that spinnerbait about 90 percent of the time yesterday.  I caught one 14” bass later up the lake on that shoreline.  My buddy Howard had an equally tough day, landing a small bass on a plastic worm.  Where were the little bass that you couldn’t keep away from you lures years ago?  The only hits we had were right on the bank where the clearest water was, nothing out in the middle or on deep structure, nothing in the wood jams at the upper end of  the lake embedded in the sediment trapped at the creek mouth (a past hot spot).

Hits were far and few between.  As the sun was high overhead, we tried for crappie too without success.  Jeez, even my daughter could catch them this time of year.  Was the water clarity a problem?  Perhaps it was the increased sedimentation at the upper end of the lake that made former hot spots unattractive for the many species of fish that we used to catch there.  We tried further up the lake where the sediment problem seemed to wane thinking they held there instead, to no avail.  Perhaps the many cormorants hanging out at the lake, a bird that never appeared there until recently, gobbled up all of the dink bass?  Maybe the tiger muskie population had too much of an effect on the bass population too?  But, where were they?  We fished around an island without a bite until Howard tossed his spinnerbait under an overhanging tree.  The spinnerbait hung up on a low hanging branch dabbling into the water.  Howard shook his rod tip a couple times to drop the lure into the water but a huge largemouth burst onto the lure pulling it down and out to deep water.  The bass shot up to the surface and leapt, tossing the lure back at Howard.  Fishing was tough, but our lake had changed.  It was apparent that our dink lake, our fun lake, was now looking like a big bass lake.  Could it be? 

Afternoon passed and the sun was dropping as we continued to pound the banks unsuccessfully with a variety of presentations.  I again went back to the spinnerbait simply because it drew those two big strikes, and my only fish of the day.  We went back to the deadfall and fished it unsuccessfully, no bites. 

So, we decided to hit our island.  Cormorants perched in the trees above as we maneuvered around the island in search of big largemouth being careful not to let the boat drift under the nasty birds.  Droppings from them littered the island shoreline and splattered into the water many times and we were fearful about being doused in that mess.  But, fishing the island hard began to pay off.  On the shady side of the island, while Howard was on the phone (on speaker phone) with his girlfriend, a chunky 19 or 20 inch (estimated) bucketmouth hammered his spinnerbait while he only had about 3 inches of line right at the boat.  The fish rolled and thrashed as Howard desperately tried to control his fish, but it came free within seconds.  We howled and laughed at our misfortune, but inside we were both hurting.  We continued to pound the island bank, working all the way around it.  Finally, as the sun fell behind the Western tree line, I had a nice chunky largemouth slam my spinnerbait.  Again, I pitched it tight to the bank and slow rolled it down the bank, and after 3 cranks, the fish exploded on the spinnerbait taking it to deep water.  I carefully played the fish to the boat, reached over, and lipped an 18” three pound chunky largemouth.  Howard and I knew that this island was hot in the evening based on past experiences, but never did we think that this spot would give up multiple big bass.  As we worked the shady side again, I had a big largemouth blow up on my spinnerbait right as it hit the water.  I landed this one too, slightly bigger at 19 inches.  A few minutes later I had a hit, set the hook, and was pleased to see a dink on the end of the line but it came off at the boat.  The cormorants hadn’t eaten them all!

Then, the highlight of my evening came as I tossed a spinnerbait against the bank and had an immediate hit.  This was a bigger fish, not as big as that first missed fish of the day, but still a real good fish.  I plunged my rod tip into the water as the big mama bass made a run under the boat.  I turned her and played her within minutes to the side of the boat.  It seemed like an eternity for her to calm and me to get a firm grip on her large lower jaw.  I pulled her out of the water, all the while gawking at her massive belly and nice length, measured her against my rod (later measured at 22 inches), estimated her girth at about 21 inches, and posed for a picture.  After Howard snapped a couple quick photos, we quickly weighed her at 5 pounds 3 ounces, and then revived her for a clean release.  We exchanged high fives then quickly began casting again.  The sun was setting and daylight was soon disappearing.  We had to be off the lake one half hour after sunset, so it was time to go. 

We decided to hit the point and then the big deadfall on the way back to the ramp with a few quick casts.  Howard’s first cast on the point was a perfect one, landing within inches from a log jam near shore.  A few cranks later and the lure stopped as Howard set the hook.  The water boiled as the fish thrashed and leapt giving us both a good look at her.  This time, Howard fought her perfectly and landed her.  He and the fish posed for a few quick pictures.  Then, I carefully and quickly weighed her at 4 pounds 3 ounces.  Howard revived her and we marveled at how fat she was as she swam off.  That was our last fish but we high fived our way back to the ramp.  That is, until the battery went dead and we had to paddle our way back to the ramp. 

What a day.  Our little fun lake had turned into a big bass lake within a few years.  I don’t know if murky water conditions or any other factor kept the small bass from hitting or the panfish.  I don’t know if we will continue to find big largemouth like that on a regular basis.  I do know that had I landed that first bass, I would have landed 5 fish that would have measured 24, 22, 19, 18, and 14 inches.  Well, I lost the first, but only caught 4 bass all day long, at 22, 19, 18 and 14 inches, that ain’t too shabby for four fish.  Howard landed 4 bass as well, his biggest at 20” and another at a solid 18”, and lost two big fish as well.  Had we landed them all, the number of big bass would have been unthinkable 15 years ago on this lake.

Needless to say, our future strategy will change here.  No longer will we think in terms of numbers of bass, no longer will the size expectations of the bass be anything but big.  I will never again fish this lake except in search of that one big bite of a big fish.  One fish, like the one that I lost yesterday, would make my day.  I want a picture of that fish.  Pictures of the others are shot, but on a disposable camera that has yet to be used up.  I’ll put them on a disk and post for all to see in the near future.  My digital camera is on the blink, and sent away for repair.  I can’t wait for its return.

Thanks for listening to my story about my favorite lake, the lake I grew up fishing.  My lake, that still surprises me, doesn’t cease to amaze me.  I can’t wait to go back!

reubenpa

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Re: My Favorite Lake and Me
« Reply #1 on: Apr 18, 2004, 06:51 PM »
that is a good story!!!
Just wanna be fishing, not just wishin

sbfpa_Mike

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Re: My Favorite Lake and Me
« Reply #2 on: Apr 18, 2004, 07:13 PM »
     I would like to say that that was a remarkable story and truly inspiring.  When the idea of a Fishing Story Forum was brought up,  this is what I had envisioned.  I love to read about fishing and this was the type of story that I really like to read.  I say it is inspiring because I would like to put together a written story similar to this. Thank you for sharing with us Kevin.

TroutFishingBear

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Re: My Favorite Lake and Me
« Reply #3 on: Apr 18, 2004, 11:06 PM »
That was an excellent story.
I have a similar, much shorter story to post sometimee about a lake I fished almost every day of the summer for about 4 years, and many days after school. The lake is ruined with sediment and greedy people keeping all the big bass, but I will type this story tomorrow or on tuesday. The bass averaged 19" in this lake if you knew what to do.

Jim C.

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Re: My Favorite Lake and Me
« Reply #4 on: Apr 22, 2004, 01:27 PM »
Fat Boy, I recall like it was yesterday meeting you on this lake!  In fact, it was 1983!  Where has the time gone?  Glad we've been able to stay in touch over the years and get together at various fishing destinations.  And, WOW, thanks for the compliment.  I have to give you credit for refiring up my interest in fishing when I was living in Maryland.  When I graduated from high school in 1974, I didn't leave anything in the class will in my yearbook. Quite simply it said that I "left to go fishing."  Somehow, in the years that followed, other addictions replaced fishing.  The details at this point are not needed.  Suffice it to say, that meeting you at this lake set me back on the path of fishing and I haven't looked back.  Thanks for that and thanks for the memories that have rushed back when I read your post!

By the way, buddy, you'll be proud to hear that I've been giving the Maine bass heck, too!  How do largemouths of 20", 19", 19", and 18" grab ya for my outing last  night!!??  FISH ON, my friend!  ;D

Jim C.

Fat Boy

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Re: My Favorite Lake and Me
« Reply #5 on: Apr 22, 2004, 04:10 PM »
Nice fish Jim, excellent outing!  Gimme details, how did you get them?  Oh, I guess I could check the ME page for a report.  I'm lazy...tell me everything anyway!

Now you gotta get a digital camera and post some pics on here!

Jim C.

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Re: My Favorite Lake and Me
« Reply #6 on: Apr 23, 2004, 06:24 AM »
Nice fish Jim, excellent outing!  Gimme details, how did you get them?  Oh, I guess I could check the ME page for a report.  I'm lazy...tell me everything anyway!

Now you gotta get a digital camera and post some pics on here!

Actually, I didn't post on the ME page.  I got my big bass on a 4" pumpkinseed/chartreuse plastic worm with a 1/32 OZ. worm weight.  The ticket was location.  The ice just went off the main lake on 4/18, so the open water is about 45*.  There is a shallow, dark bottom tributary mouth that has a nice little cove off the main lake.  Here the water temp has been running 54*.  The fish are in that warmer water in the pre-spawn mode.  I went back last night, but it wasn't happening.  We had a number of weather fronts yesterday that may be to blame.  I lost 1 big fish and just had 3 other light pick-ups and drops in 2 hours.  I left and hit a small pond nearby to fend off the skunkmonster....but just barely.  I got 1 bass (13") and 1 pickerel (14") in the half hour there.  Nothing to write home about.......but it kept me out of the zero column ;)

Jim C.

icefishnfool

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Re: My Favorite Lake and Me
« Reply #7 on: Apr 23, 2004, 09:34 PM »
Kevin .....what about your fishing pal  MARK ..............oh I known you forgot about me  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

FishDeepCreek

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Re: My Favorite Lake and Me
« Reply #8 on: Apr 25, 2004, 08:51 PM »
That lake sounds familiar, might be the lake I grew up fishing in! The lake that started me fishing too! Along with another lake a stone throw away up the road!

Fat Boy

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Re: My Favorite Lake and Me
« Reply #9 on: Apr 29, 2004, 11:24 AM »
FDC, you did mention to me that you fished this lake before  ;) and the one up the road.



 



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