Weightlessness

Greetings!  It seems that things have changed on the current bite at the pond.   The low and slow is not getting as much interest as it has in the past.   High and slow have appeared to be the trick as of late.  So with that I've switched over to really light line, 2 and 4 lb test with soft baits and no weights. 

The winds have made using this technique both challenging and treacherous.  It is not so much the placement of the bait on target, it is the unpredictable towing of the trailing line to all parts of the lake.  Often to undesirable locations and positions.  An example was the instance where I was able to make a deliberate cast over a small pocket to a distant point.  The bait managed to land right where I wanted, the breeze carried the trailing line up and over into adjacent reeds.   Fortunately the weedless rigging worked reasonably well as long as I didn't get too aggressive in hauling it back through. 

The interesting trend for these LMBs is to take the bait without pulling away.  They either swim towards or just laterally in either direction.  So unless you are diligently monitoring the line behavior the take is not apparent.   Most of the time all that is detectable is an odd line movement counter to the breeze.  Then the challenge is to gently take up line for a decent hook set.  The other issue is that given the extra time the fish has the opportunity and motivation to get the bait deep into the mouth and sometimes beyond.  Fortunately the hook set has only involved the outer mouth and not beyond the sphincter.   As a precaution I've stopped using the worm hooks and am only using the wide gap hooks. 

So far the hook change has worked out really well.  In the past few days all the fish have been hooked right in the side of the mouth or in the lower lip.   This is wonderful to minimize the trauma and speed the release. 

Also in the past few days the overall size of the LMBs has dropped slightly.  Several of them are in the 13 ~ 15 inch range with most at the smaller size.   Interesting enough my baits have caught the attention of the next generation too.  There are several 1 year bass at the 7 ~ 8 inch range that are chasing down the bait but not committing enough to strike.   Sure is fun to watch. 

Using the plastics as sort of a shallow swim bait fashion has been really interesting too.  I had one follow right up to less that 2 meters and then engulf the bait just prior to lifting it out of the water.  What a hoot to see the strike and hook set too!  

Since going down to very small light lines it didn't occur to me that in the past few days I've been catching LMBs at or very near the specified 2 lb test.  The other interesting thing is that it seems even with the drag set modestly low I've not lost any fish that I've tensioned on.  However when I do haul back there is quite a bit of slippage.  

I did try something different today.  I set up one of the bait cast rigs to a 0.25 oz weighted wide gap hook and put on a Zoom fluke bait, sort of a fish looking lure.  I made really long casts with it and could see that it was swimming about 0.2 meter down in a slow oscillating fashion.  I was about to abandon it and go to something else when I got a little tap at the beginning of one long cast.  I hauled back on it and only felt a slight loading.  Since this was the fiberglass pole it has quite a bit of give and flex.  So I just started cranking it back as fast as I could.   Right about the halfway point in the retrieve I felt a slight attempt to resist and by the time I got about 0.75 hauled in the resistance came off.  So I never got to see what it was.  Must not have got that heavy gauge hook in well enough.  So it goes. 

Using the UL 2 lb test setup with the little golden shiner bait, I was able to get a 13 inch LMB to commit.   That was fun as the tussle on the light line is so fun.  Should be interesting if I tie into a larger one using that rig. 

Tonight in resetting all my equipment, I decided to make some other changes.   So I removed the fluke baits.  I've also setup a dark red spinner bait along with a modestly weighted T-rigged worm.  Again back to the basics to see those are working again.  May have some time to sneak out for some cast practice this weekend.  There are several weather disturbances moving about the area bringing even more wind.  Right now they are projected to be 20 ~ 25 mph.   Heck might have to try a few crank baits too given the wind!