Last Friday, May 2nd, I wanted to relax after a
long week of work and hit a local pond that one of my co-workers owns. This
pond is one that I have been eying for literally 15 years as I have driven by
it hundreds of times, but never knew who owned it. This year I was lucky enough
to stumble across the owners of the pond accidentally during a casual
conversation at work about fishing cued me into their ownership of the pond and
creating opening I've been waiting for for over a decade. I should have
probably gone down to Deer Creek as I was participating in the OGF Crappie
tournament Saturday in my kayak with Sean, Neil and Amanda. I’m glad I decided to stay home and target
some largemouth bass.
The afternoon started off rough. The pond owners live on a slope and told me to just park in the yard alongside the driveway today while we were talking at work. Friday, as I backed into their yard, I felt my tires slide. I eased onto the gas, and boom- too late, I was buried and stuck. I tried once to get out, only managing to throw mud all over my truck, tires, and dig a nice deep and long hole in their pristine yard. How embarrassing- and I hadn't even gotten out of the car yet. Now, I had to walk up let them know this, then have them pull me out. Well insurmountable embarrassment and a good dose of humiliation later, I was finally on the water. The water was very, very dirty for a pond. It was muddy and only had 3-6 inches of visibility. This surprised me, and tells me there has to be some sort of feeder stream coming into this pond because we have had a lot of rain lately.
Due to this fact, I began throwing a buzz bait. This proved to be the right choice. My specific buzzbait was a warrior buzzbait in black. I love the warrior buzz baits due to their planar head that gets them up on the surface quickly and can swim at extremely slow speeds. Add that to the clacker and you have a winning buzzbait. Plus, I've spent all winter holding that thing out my car window in the freezing cold getting it nice and squeaky.
For the first hour, I worked my way around the pond. I went about 5 for 10 on 13'' bass. Many short strikes and some came unbuttoned at the boat. It was entertaining for sure and the bass were extremely easy to pattern once I figured it out, I caught one almost every cast that I placed accurately. As a background note, I spent most of my evening yesterday in my back yard flipping, pitching, and winging long casts at my trees. Basically, just practicing precision casting with my baitcasters. One of my neighbors was gawking at me, but I didn't care- they don't get it, and it was great practice for today, and i'm glad I got that practice in. The only time I would get bites was when I threw the bait exactly where I wanted it to go, whether it was between trees, under an overhung log, or right beside a dock. Bottom line, lure placement was key today. Cranking that clacking buzzbait over logs, structure, grass, and docks and watching bass annihilate it topside, splashing about was very entertaining and rewarding.
It was getting a touch later after working my way around 3/4ths of the lake and I was hungry, and also knew I had to convert my kayak into a crappie fishing machine for the tournament. Well, that had to wait just a touch longer. There was a flat on the pond that went from 8ft up to 2 ft in a matter of yards and there was some nice cover in this area. It formed a type of cove. In my mind I figured there would be just some little 13'' bass swimming around in this area for sure, and that I would catch a couple more, have my spirits high and go home on a high note. I also assumed there was only this stunted size of bass in the entire pond, and was very close to checking it off of my list of places to go after I packed up my kayak after the next dozen or so casts.
First cast in the area- a little wide and off target of where I wanted to go. Nothing. Next cast, a short strike from a smaller bass about 3 feet off shore and 6 inches from the weedline. Then something caught my eye. There was a floating piece of seaweed that was about 1ft by 1ft. As I had this pattern down on the water, I realized that everything that was free-floating or standing in the pond had held a fish so far. I didn't doubt this one held a fish as well. Third cast in this area, I began the retrieve about 6 feet past the seaweed. The warrior buzzbait got on plane very quickly, and the little propeller was methodically moving past the seaweed when- WHAM! I saw a huge bass demolish the buzzbait and the fight was immediately on. I am equipped with a G. Loomis Heavy Casting Rod with 65lb braid and my drag set very tightly on my Chronarch reel. Well, I'm glad I invested in a good setup, or this bass would not have been landed.
I kept constant tension on this bass, yet it was ripping out drag with powerful tail thrusts propelling it through the water. I got it within distance to see it and...Oh my gosh...it was a pig! Its that feeling when you realize exactly what you have on the end of your line and its a paradoxical moment of exhilaration coupled with the feeling like you are stepping on eggshells. It's a tough rope to walk, but its a feeling that we seek, and a feeling that drives fisherman to continue to pursue their passion.
The afternoon started off rough. The pond owners live on a slope and told me to just park in the yard alongside the driveway today while we were talking at work. Friday, as I backed into their yard, I felt my tires slide. I eased onto the gas, and boom- too late, I was buried and stuck. I tried once to get out, only managing to throw mud all over my truck, tires, and dig a nice deep and long hole in their pristine yard. How embarrassing- and I hadn't even gotten out of the car yet. Now, I had to walk up let them know this, then have them pull me out. Well insurmountable embarrassment and a good dose of humiliation later, I was finally on the water. The water was very, very dirty for a pond. It was muddy and only had 3-6 inches of visibility. This surprised me, and tells me there has to be some sort of feeder stream coming into this pond because we have had a lot of rain lately.
Due to this fact, I began throwing a buzz bait. This proved to be the right choice. My specific buzzbait was a warrior buzzbait in black. I love the warrior buzz baits due to their planar head that gets them up on the surface quickly and can swim at extremely slow speeds. Add that to the clacker and you have a winning buzzbait. Plus, I've spent all winter holding that thing out my car window in the freezing cold getting it nice and squeaky.
For the first hour, I worked my way around the pond. I went about 5 for 10 on 13'' bass. Many short strikes and some came unbuttoned at the boat. It was entertaining for sure and the bass were extremely easy to pattern once I figured it out, I caught one almost every cast that I placed accurately. As a background note, I spent most of my evening yesterday in my back yard flipping, pitching, and winging long casts at my trees. Basically, just practicing precision casting with my baitcasters. One of my neighbors was gawking at me, but I didn't care- they don't get it, and it was great practice for today, and i'm glad I got that practice in. The only time I would get bites was when I threw the bait exactly where I wanted it to go, whether it was between trees, under an overhung log, or right beside a dock. Bottom line, lure placement was key today. Cranking that clacking buzzbait over logs, structure, grass, and docks and watching bass annihilate it topside, splashing about was very entertaining and rewarding.
It was getting a touch later after working my way around 3/4ths of the lake and I was hungry, and also knew I had to convert my kayak into a crappie fishing machine for the tournament. Well, that had to wait just a touch longer. There was a flat on the pond that went from 8ft up to 2 ft in a matter of yards and there was some nice cover in this area. It formed a type of cove. In my mind I figured there would be just some little 13'' bass swimming around in this area for sure, and that I would catch a couple more, have my spirits high and go home on a high note. I also assumed there was only this stunted size of bass in the entire pond, and was very close to checking it off of my list of places to go after I packed up my kayak after the next dozen or so casts.
First cast in the area- a little wide and off target of where I wanted to go. Nothing. Next cast, a short strike from a smaller bass about 3 feet off shore and 6 inches from the weedline. Then something caught my eye. There was a floating piece of seaweed that was about 1ft by 1ft. As I had this pattern down on the water, I realized that everything that was free-floating or standing in the pond had held a fish so far. I didn't doubt this one held a fish as well. Third cast in this area, I began the retrieve about 6 feet past the seaweed. The warrior buzzbait got on plane very quickly, and the little propeller was methodically moving past the seaweed when- WHAM! I saw a huge bass demolish the buzzbait and the fight was immediately on. I am equipped with a G. Loomis Heavy Casting Rod with 65lb braid and my drag set very tightly on my Chronarch reel. Well, I'm glad I invested in a good setup, or this bass would not have been landed.
I kept constant tension on this bass, yet it was ripping out drag with powerful tail thrusts propelling it through the water. I got it within distance to see it and...Oh my gosh...it was a pig! Its that feeling when you realize exactly what you have on the end of your line and its a paradoxical moment of exhilaration coupled with the feeling like you are stepping on eggshells. It's a tough rope to walk, but its a feeling that we seek, and a feeling that drives fisherman to continue to pursue their passion.
I got that pig of a bass withing netting distance on my kayak. Whipped the net around, and she had different plans. She bent my Heavy rod straight in half as she darted under the boat and to the opposite side of the kayak. Wow, what power this fish had. This fight had been intense and I did not know how well this bass was still hooked. I had to make a move, or possibly lose the fish. Knowing the bass was now under my kayak, I took my Frabill trout-sized net and made a sweep under the kayak.....Success! I felt the fish, and pulled up, the fish was in the net! My hands were shaking, I let out a nice Whooo! and was amazed at the size of this fish. Its belly looked like it had 10 bluegill in it, and I looked in its mouth and there in its gullet was a 9'' crappie halfway down!
This thing was in full food mode and I was just lucky enough to catch her
in mid meal! I soon realized I didn't have my scale and nobody was around to
take a decent picture. I called my tolerant and understanding wife who brought
my scale and tape measure. She was 22.25'', 6.4lbs, and 16'' around.
We took
some nice photos that will capture this trip which will certainly stick in my
memory as a unique, successful and memorable adventure to a local pond that I
was fortunate enough to tangle with a big hungry bass, get some photos with
her, then let her swim back healthy and happy into her home.
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