The last time???

I hit the water with friends; Dave Jordan and Don Henry on Sunday.  Bass was once again my main target.  The weather was beautiful, temperatures in high 40's and low 50's all afternoon.  I assumed the water temps would be around the upper forties, however I was way off.  Temperatures varied from 50-56 degrees.  I was hoping for cooler water, and "bunched up" bass for this outing. 

We ended up catching bass all throughout the water column.  Some were as shallow as 2 feet, and others in 15 feet of water.  The bass were scattered to say the least.  I employed a three-rod arsenal for the day, my Quantum KVD cranking combo, Exo rod/reel for a spinnerbait, and the trusty EnergyPT and Accurist Texas rig pole.  All three got worked over pretty good this day!  Most fish did come on the KVD cranking rod, as the bass were wanting a slow crankbait retrieve. 



The Hot Rod Baits "Big Daddy" fooled a few bass aboard on this late fall trip.

 A great day in the outdoors for me and two friends, and perhaps my last day in the boat this year, but i am hoping that Mother Nature will allow me one more time before my gears shift into ice fishing.

A trip to Pool 4

I headed north this past weekend with friends, Dave Jordan, Rick Fisher, Brian Bowles, and Ken Lunsford.  Our goal was to catch as many bass as we could in the two days we had to fish. 


Brian Bowles with a 3# 10oz SMALLIE!



Saturday was a beautiful day, light wind, sunny and the temps hung around 60 degrees most of the day, after sub freezing weather in the morning.  We caught a lot of bass that day, capped off by Brian's big smallie.  It weighed in at 3# and 10oz, a true beauty!  We caught bass, mostly smallmouth this day, on tubes, jerkbaits, crankbaits, and finesse tactics.  At one point that day, all three of us in the boat had out spinning gear with finesse tactics around a harbor that was receiving high pressure form anglers.  We caught about 10 largemouth doing this in a short amount of time too, it was great.

Sunday was almost a day to forget, the wind blew terribly and forced us to areas of the river that were not productive.  We manage to squeeze out a few bass Sunday, including a nice largemouth on a spinnerbait.  A spinnerbait was  the key on Sunday, as the wind told me to start throwing it.  We also discovered a few new fishing areas on pool 4, that might come in handy on a return trip.  It is always fun to explore new water and catch a few fish.

All in all, a very nice trip with some good buddies, that included some great breakfast items and some awesome pizza in Pepin, Wisconsin.

Looking for the weekend

Playing with worms

The season has officially changed for me.  It's fall, and the tournament season is over, well, it's been over for me for a couple weeks.  However, I still find myself on Monday's during lunch time wondering when I will be fishing next.  It is always about looking at that next adventure, and those fish that I might catch.
 


The past two weekends I have made it out each Sunday.  Two weeks ago, with my two kids.  They did awesome as we spent about 3 hours fishing a farm pond.  They caught dozens of bluegills and crappies, and one bass, which made my son the "Bassmaster" of the day.  That made my day!

I also had the chance to fish with long-time friend Dave Jordan for bass on another body of water that afternoon.  We really found the bass lined up on the weedlines and willing to bite any bait that was presented slow, even swimjigs.

This past Sunday I met up with my buddy Ken Lunsford.  Ken and I have always been in contact with each other, because we have had ties with the same bass club.  We have never fished against one another but have shared the boat a few times this year.  We hit a lake and found a couple dozen bass willing to bite this weekend.  The bite was much tougher than the previous weekend, but we both knew that was coming, due to the HUGE cold front that passed through on Friday.  We did the most damage this day on crankbaits and again slow moving plastic baits and jigs.  It is always fun to catch a few bass for fun, and the past two weekends is just what the "fishing doctor" prescribed.

I hope to get out once every weekend until...well it's almost time to get out the ice fishing gear.  I had the boat out several time sin November last year, and hope to do the same this year.  I guess that decision will come on Mondays' during my lunch time.