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I hit the Columbia on Saturday the 11th. I was torn between going to Hagg and hitting the big C. The wind forecast was quite variable. Some looked good and some looked bad. In the end I decided to roll the dice and hit the big C and man am I ever glad that I did! I definitely set a personal record for total weight of bass caught in a day.
I ended up with 83 smallmouth and 3 pikieminnows. I would guess that my average size bass was between 1.5 and 1.75lbs and that my total weight for the day was between 120 and 140lbs of bass. I wish I could claim some skill was involved but it was pretty much impossible not to catch bass constantly all day long.
The first spot I hit I caught 4 bass on consecutive casts, lost one on the 5th cast, switched lures and caught one on the 6th cast. I had action like that all day long. The only confusing thing was the lack of big ones. My best 5 only went 15lb 6oz and my biggest bass were a pair of 3lb 5oz fish. Not terrible but I can't believe I could catch 83 bass (with only a couple that were below a pound) and not run into a 4 or 5 pounder. Well, I have to say I was hoping for a 4+lber all day long and I did get one but it was a giant 4lb 4oz slob of a pikieminnow.
Still by the end of the day my thumbs were a bloody mess and I could barely lift the fish up to the camera for my video. I get the feeling that if I had fallen overboard that the smallmouth would have stripped me to the bone in under a minute - like a school of piranha
Also it was not just the bass that were biting
A little clam actually was clamped down on the hook of my blade bait. It was just that kind of day.
The amazing thing was that I caught a lot of bass at every depth. I caught more fish shallow (under 10') than deep (over 20') but that because that's how I spent my time. I caught most of my shallow water bass, and the most bass, on my trusty Jack Hammer Stealth Blade with Zman MinnowZ trailer. I love the way they knock the snot out of that thing. That feeling when slack is knocked in your line is magical.
In deeper water I caught most of the fish on either a Ned rig with Smelt TRD or my trusty blade bait. Both produced fish after fish. I went back and forth between shallow water and deep water in search of a big one. Pretty much all my bass came off of main lake points. I would fish them shallow and then deep figuring the big bass had to be on there somewhere. However, they were better at hiding than I was a seeking so I just had to content myself with a zillion 2+lb fish.
The water temp is now up to 51F and the water color was much better than last week (about 3' instead of 6"). The other thing is that up until this week most of the bass I have been catching have been tight to the bottom or behind a current break. These bass were out in the current, set up like summer bass like to sit. In front of and to the side of the current breaks but nothing behind them. It was like a switch had flipped from my previous trip.
The bass just seemed so thick on just about every good point. I think what perfectly captures the day is that I was tossing a little swimbait at the end of the day across a churning current seam. I was getting bit on pretty much every cast. On one cast I hooked a bass and lost it about half way back. A couple turns of the reel handle and another one grabbed it. Just a crazy day, my hands are still tired as I type this two days later.
Definitely a day I won't forget!
Here are a couple of pics of the 3lb 5oz fish, the pikieminnow and my video.
What a blast catching fish on moving baits all day long! I have been looking forward to this all winter long and now its here.
I ended up with 83 smallmouth and 3 pikieminnows. I would guess that my average size bass was between 1.5 and 1.75lbs and that my total weight for the day was between 120 and 140lbs of bass. I wish I could claim some skill was involved but it was pretty much impossible not to catch bass constantly all day long.
The first spot I hit I caught 4 bass on consecutive casts, lost one on the 5th cast, switched lures and caught one on the 6th cast. I had action like that all day long. The only confusing thing was the lack of big ones. My best 5 only went 15lb 6oz and my biggest bass were a pair of 3lb 5oz fish. Not terrible but I can't believe I could catch 83 bass (with only a couple that were below a pound) and not run into a 4 or 5 pounder. Well, I have to say I was hoping for a 4+lber all day long and I did get one but it was a giant 4lb 4oz slob of a pikieminnow.
Still by the end of the day my thumbs were a bloody mess and I could barely lift the fish up to the camera for my video. I get the feeling that if I had fallen overboard that the smallmouth would have stripped me to the bone in under a minute - like a school of piranha
Also it was not just the bass that were biting A little clam actually was clamped down on the hook of my blade bait. It was just that kind of day.
The amazing thing was that I caught a lot of bass at every depth. I caught more fish shallow (under 10') than deep (over 20') but that because that's how I spent my time. I caught most of my shallow water bass, and the most bass, on my trusty Jack Hammer Stealth Blade with Zman MinnowZ trailer. I love the way they knock the snot out of that thing. That feeling when slack is knocked in your line is magical.
In deeper water I caught most of the fish on either a Ned rig with Smelt TRD or my trusty blade bait. Both produced fish after fish. I went back and forth between shallow water and deep water in search of a big one. Pretty much all my bass came off of main lake points. I would fish them shallow and then deep figuring the big bass had to be on there somewhere. However, they were better at hiding than I was a seeking so I just had to content myself with a zillion 2+lb fish.
The water temp is now up to 51F and the water color was much better than last week (about 3' instead of 6"). The other thing is that up until this week most of the bass I have been catching have been tight to the bottom or behind a current break. These bass were out in the current, set up like summer bass like to sit. In front of and to the side of the current breaks but nothing behind them. It was like a switch had flipped from my previous trip.
The bass just seemed so thick on just about every good point. I think what perfectly captures the day is that I was tossing a little swimbait at the end of the day across a churning current seam. I was getting bit on pretty much every cast. On one cast I hooked a bass and lost it about half way back. A couple turns of the reel handle and another one grabbed it. Just a crazy day, my hands are still tired as I type this two days later.
Definitely a day I won't forget!
Here are a couple of pics of the 3lb 5oz fish, the pikieminnow and my video.
What a blast catching fish on moving baits all day long! I have been looking forward to this all winter long and now its here.
@ Tired Hands................................................