Hagg Lake Winter Bassin'

[bass]

I hit Hagg lake on Sunday the 18th with Michael Jarvis (https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelJarvisFishing). I have to say Mike is an awesome guy to go fishing with. He is knowledgeable and just a really nice guy. I had a blast. We both got to the lake around 8am and my thermometer said it was 28F in the parking lot. The frost on the road and ramp walkway assured me that my truck thermometer was pretty spot on.

We fished a first spot near the ramp without any luck and decided to head across the lake to see if that we could scare up a bass there. We split apart to try and divide and conquer. Mike went shallower and I went deeper. Turns out I made the lucky choice and on my first cast to the spot I went to I caught my first Hagg bass of the year. Just a little 1 pound 6oz largemouth but getting the skunk off always feels great!

A bit later I found an isolated log near a bend in the creek channel. Just a classic winter time spot. I missed a fish and caught my second fish of the day, a nice little 1lb 10oz largemouth. I called Mike over to try to get him on the spot with me since he had not hooked up yet. We went back to the spot and I quickly caught a small largemouth and a 1lb 2oz smallmouth.

After those 2 quick bites the action died at that spot and Mike took me back across the lake to show my a spot he likes to fish in the winter. I have to really thank him for that one because I caught my biggest of the day off that spot. Just a 2lb 6oz largemouth - no monster - but it put up a good tussle on the drop shot rod.

After that we tried a variety of spots up the lake and each missed a bite off one of them. Eventually we made our way back to where I had my initial success. I picked up 2 bass pretty quickly off that spot and Mike and I fished it together for a bit but eventually he decided to try to find something new.

I stayed on that spot and caught another small one and hooked and last one. During that time Mike picked up a couple of 14+" bass further along the creek channel and that is how the day ended.

I had 8 bass on the day (7 largemouth and 1 smallmouth). The fishing was not on fire but I caught enough to keep it interesting. While the catching was not on fire getting to fish with Mike definitely made it one of my favorite days on the water.

Here are a few pics of the day and some video from my new gopro 13 camera (old gopro 8 died 1/2 way through my last trip).

 

[troutdude]

Very nice buddy!

 

[bass]

Thanks @troutdude ! It was a really gorgeous day on the water. No wind most of the day made it easy to fish. Looked like there were 10 or so boats trolling for trout. Not sure how they did.

 

[troutdude]

Thanks @troutdude ! It was a really gorgeous day on the water. No wind most of the day made it easy to fish. Looked like there were 10 or so boats trolling for trout. Not sure how they did.

Indeed. A gorgeous day...and you said NO to the skunk! LOL

There have been a LOT of big boy trout taken, over the last few weeks. And, it was just stocked again yesterday (saw a pic of the tanker dumping them in). Some look nice and bright. Others are brooders that looked horrible; and I doubt gave much of a fight. I would C & R any dark or beat up ones myself. But, to each his own I guess.

 

[GungasUncle]

Excellent - the spot that smallie came from was one I fished often, especially like it in the spring when the water is still high and clear but warming during the pre-spawn.

 

[troutdude]

Excellent - the spot that smallie came from was one I fished often, especially like it in the spring when the water is still high and clear but warming during the pre-spawn.

Long time; no see. Glad that you're still around.

 

[River pirate]

I enjoyed your story and the pictures. I have to say that it was really COOL! I always enjoy hearing from another dedicated bass fisherman!

 

[troutdude]

Mr. Bass is always out there gettin' it done!

Welcome to OFF @River pirate

 

[Chromatose]

 

[GungasUncle]

Long time; no see. Glad that you're still around.

I still haunt the place when I have time. I'm on vacation this week trying to destress, get some stuff accomplished, and hopefully go fishing. Just got a new Shimano SLX swimbait rod that needs properly broken in. I took it out for an hour yesterday and managed to lose two glide baits on the same snag - a Trick Shad and an ODS shad. Not a happy way to start off with that setup!

I also got a Shimano Cardiff 301 - either for this rod, or my other swimbait rod - and it has to go back right out the gate - drag is messed up and the spool either binds or doesn't turn properly. Having owned other Cardiff samples and other Shimano reels - this isn't up to snuff and I hope its a on OFF.

So far I've only landed one bass this year - a 4.27lb'er that ate my now-lost Trick Shad (will be replacing it today if Bass Pro or Academy has them in stock!)

This is the neighborhood "lake" (big pond) that is a 60 second drive from my house. The lake record here is only 2 lbs shy of the lake record for the big lake (Conroe) nearest us - that being a 13'er that came out of this pond. My best out of it was 8lbs so far. We've got 3 other smaller ponds in the hood - two of which are nothing but dinkers, but the next largest has a few 4-7lb fish in it, and its my favorite place to throw a topwater frog come summer time.

I've really upped my bassin' game since moving down here, and some day I will get back up that way and have to bring my swimbait collection to Hagg to see if Ican't tangle with some of the monsters that hide in there.

 

[troutdude]

I still haunt the place when I have time. I'm on vacation this week trying to destress, get some stuff accomplished, and hopefully go fishing. Just got a new Shimano SLX swimbait rod that needs properly broken in. I took it out for an hour yesterday and managed to lose two glide baits on the same snag - a Trick Shad and an ODS shad. Not a happy way to start off with that setup!

I also got a Shimano Cardiff 301 - either for this rod, or my other swimbait rod - and it has to go back right out the gate - drag is messed up and the spool either binds or doesn't turn properly. Having owned other Cardiff samples and other Shimano reels - this isn't up to snuff and I hope its a on OFF.

So far I've only landed one bass this year - a 4.27lb'er that ate my now-lost Trick Shad (will be replacing it today if Bass Pro or Academy has them in stock!)

View attachment 641313

This is the neighborhood "lake" (big pond) that is a 60 second drive from my house. The lake record here is only 2 lbs shy of the lake record for the big lake (Conroe) nearest us - that being a 13'er that came out of this pond. My best out of it was 8lbs so far. We've got 3 other smaller ponds in the hood - two of which are nothing but dinkers, but the next largest has a few 4-7lb fish in it, and its my favorite place to throw a topwater frog come summer time.

I've really upped my bassin' game since moving down here, and some day I will get back up that way and have to bring my swimbait collection to Hagg to see if Ican't tangle with some of the monsters that hide in there.

Most excellent buddy! Way to go.

 

[GungasUncle]

I'm up to 5 bass for the year - snuck out last week with the family to some public water, managed to get a couple dinkers on a 4" soft swimbait crawled on the bottom.

Then yesterday I got out for a couple hours on the neighborhood pond again - picked up a 2lb'er on a new el-cheapo Amazon glide bait - unpainted, just threw hooks on it to see how they swim before I go through the trouble of paint. Verdict? Very impressive swim for what amounts to a $10 bait (two pack was $16 + tax, but they come without hooks and I added Spro split rings and Gamakatsu short shank wide gap trebles so about $3 in hooks and rings on a $7 bait)

Its got a nice wide glide, but will also chop. And bonus - its light enough to throw on "standard" bassin' gear, I don't need to use my dedicated (heavy) swimbait stuff. Rod I was using was my Loomis E6X Mag Bass worm / jig rod (medium heavy fast action 7'3") with 15lb copolymer. Don't get me wrong - I love hucking the big stuff and fishing with my big boomer rods, but its nice to step down and fish with physically lighter tackle too. Anymore I'm fishing big swimbaits about 90% of the time, hunting for big fish (bass big enough to eat the one pictured and still be hungry) - the rest of the time I'm using my BFS stuff and the "standard" bassin' gear sits collecting dust. Kinda nice to dust it off and fish with it again time to time.

 

[GungasUncle]

Also, forgot to put this in my prior post - bass #4 was this guy:

I got the replacement for my Cardiff 301 in and had to get it dialed in. This guy ate a Bass Pro XPS Comeback Shad. It really wanted that bait - choked it!

This was the first fish landed on the new Shimano SLX swimbait rod. Like how it fishes so far!