Early morning Largemouth Bass

A good morning to all.  It was a very nice morning to  be out and about well before first light.  The temperature was in the low 60s and calm darkness.  No moon.  Having loaded the equipment prior to going to bed made for a streamlined departure.  The drive out to the lake was a very nice with no traffic.   Other than a whitetail deer there were no surprises. 

Upon arriving I quickly set out the equipment and put out on the water.  I made a few casts along the boat dock and fishing pier with no interest.  By this point the lake was at safe light and I could see the sunfish cruising about the surface chasing bugs.  I made a few casts with no interest by the sunfish.  So it was time to head over to the rip-rap and work on a tried and true pattern. 

I started the day using the small 1/32 oz jig with a plastic grub.  The ultra light rig allowed me to put the bait right up against the rocks at the water's edge.  It seems that higher success is achieved when putting the bait right up at water's edge or within 10 cm.  Further than that and it seems that it doesn't work so well. 

My surprise was when I moved over to a small cove within the rip-rap.  My first cast was greeted by an unsuspecting lateral movement.   Apparently the LMB took the bait and swam off with it upon entry into the water.   So I didn't have to wait long to take up the tension.  Interesting point, upon tension there was not much loading on the line.  I'm guessing that it changed azimuth and vectored towards me minimizing the loading.   It wasn't till I got several winds of the reel in when it realized what I intended to do.  That is when the tussle amplified up to an impressive level.   The drag on the spinning reel sang out in a high pitch during the several spirited runs.  This put the 2 lb test line right up to capacity.  Fortunate for me it held.  I was able to quickly release it and return it back.  The jig was seated right in the upper lip in the 12 o-clock position but it was seated about 2 cm into the mouth. 

Within a couple of follow on casts, came the the next LMB which was roughly the same size as the first, approximately 36 cm.   Very good fun with the pulling power of these early morning bass.  So my first hour on the water was full of activity with both ends of the size spectrum.  The LMBs are of really nice size while the green sunfish are really on the small end.

I'm most impressed with the tenacity of the green sunfish.  They typically put on the most tussle and they don't give up easily either.  The really small ones that I caught early on in the morning could barely get their lips to open much wider then the grub they inhaled.  Fortunate for me that they didn't get the hook beyond the jaw hinge.  So it was simply the case of where I had to arc the grub laterally to ease the hook out.  The larger one that took the weedless grub configuration was caught on the south side of the lake in the deep thick of it. 

The following two photos really don't show the intensity of which I had to wrangle this fish to the boat and then work the 1/0 hook out of its mouth. 

After the fun of hitting the rip-rap, I moved on to the south side and poked about the deep weeds and sent the baits down the various holes that I could manage to accurately toss to.  I figured that I would give the bait cast reel another go.  I didn't bring the graphite pole, I brought the fiberglass casting rig.  During my practice sessions I was able to get the bait tossed to within 20 cm of the intended landing.  I was not that successful today with the bait caster.  I believe that with the cooler temperatures the grease in the bearings were much more viscus than when I was practicing in the heat of the day.  So the casts were landing far from the intended spots.   That is why I reverted back to the medium, 6 lb test spinning rig with the weedless grub.  That is also when I found the green sunfish in the photos.

The sun was getting higher in the sky by now.  It was also mid-morning so I was planning my concluding fishing effort.  I figured I would cruise down the dam area to see what I could do there before calling it a day.   There were no visible boils that I could see or target on so my hopes for a mid-lake catch faded as I approached the dam.  The gentle breeze worked in my favor as it moved me along reasonably well as I explored the various areas between rock openings.  I managed to connect with several smaller green sunfish that were most enjoyable on the line.

Once past the dam area I cast to a prospective pocket where something quite large hammered the little grub and immediately broke off upon tension.   I found this initially odd and suspected that perhaps I was tricked by snagging of an underwater feature.  I retied another jig with a small grub and sent it right back to the same pocket.   The identical action ensued.  So whatever was down there now has two of my baits. 

Ok enough of that I'm switching over to the larger rig and sending that twin tailed trailer down to the depths and see what happens.   Nothing, not a thing.  Not interested in that big skirted jig.  It was already satisfied with my two little grubs.  It is really hot by now and I'm getting low on water.  So it was time to call this gig good and head on back. 

Of course along the way there are pockets of opportunity that were just too good to let go by without some investigation.  I did manage to find some more small green sunfish that were more than happy to pull hard for me.  None were larger than 16 cm but all were really fun on that light line. 

It was a very enjoyable time out there on the water.  I managed to have some good fish on the line and several that I would have liked to see too!  That is why it is called fishing and not catching!  I'm thinking that I'm going to shelve the 2 lb line for a time and work out the 4 lb line a bit.  The combination of the 4 & 6 seem to work well. 

I may investigate the new Nanofil options for the larger spinning reel or just keep using the bulk 10 lb line.  The Stren line appears more supple than the big game Berkley line.  Also I'm not sure if the heat has something to do with it, but I'm suspecting that my batch of line on the reels appears to be getting brittle.  < Might have something to do with sitting in the Subie for all those afternoons >   So it could be a good thing to spool up with some fresh mono.  Till the next time I get the line wet.  Chao!

Post-Cyclone Dora fishing

Our first really good soaker of the season and it took a Cyclone to make it happen.  It was really tough to make the decision to head out to the lake early this morning at 0430.  The rain had been fairly light but constant through the night.  It was still going as I checked the regional radar.  Since the truck was already to go as the equipment was still there from yesterday's fun.  All I had to do was to make sure that I was awake enough to make the journey.

By the time I got about half way to the lake my worries increased.  It wasn't the rain that falling that had me worried.  It was the less than 25 meters visibility due to all the fog.  The road there is already sort of challenging but adding the fog at pre-dawn and things were really bad.  I am so glad that I have the auxiliary lights to make things less dangerous.

I get out there and set out on the yak.  There are actually a few folks out there fishing on the pier.  I check out the rip-rap with only one small green sunfish taking the grub.  Meanwhile the rain is now getting stronger.  I'm really wondering if this was such a good idea.  At least there is no lightning, that is a good thing. 

So it is time to move to another strategy and try something different and a different place.  Across the lake I go and try the grass.  My last time in the grass was interesting but not that fun.  Today it was both interesting and fun! 

That was sure fun along with the five pounds of weeds that came with it.  It did take a while to pick through the clump to find this in the middle. 

Sure was fun to try out something new and have it work.  Unfortunately I didn't seem to find any more hiding in the grass.  Time for another change.  By this time the conditions had changed quite a bit too.  The sun was starting to peek out between the clouds.  So I thought I might go back to my typical pattern.  On the way to the rip-rap I intercepted a boil on the surface.  I built up enough momentum to make a cast while still gliding.  The cast barely entered the water and I was tied on to to something that made the drag peel out.  I was thinking it was one of the carry over trout.  What a surprise, another LMB.  Who would have thought a nice LMB in the middle of the lake.  Amazing!

Once back at the rip-rap I tied into another beast of a different kind.  This on is a green sunfish.

What a great battle this fish put on.  You can see the mouth is quite large on this one too. 

I can tell you that braid doesn't cast too well when fully saturated with water.  The light 2lb test still tosses reasonably but you can tell it is not up to that full potential.  Very different when the spool is not soaked. 

So it is possible to catch fish in a hurricane or a cyclone. 

Cheers!

A Week of Change

Well this has been a week of change, unfortunately not all for the better.  My beloved pond got a much needed infusion of water from the one of our monsoon deluges.  Unfortunately, when the water washed into the reservoir the toxins from the neighborhood produced a comprehensive fish kill. 

I visited the pond on Tuesday only to find a ring of dead fish carcases all about the shore of the pond.  It was so bad that even the scavengers didn't avail themselves of the fish.  Truly unfortunate.  I don't know how the pond will recover from this or will the caretakers allow for restocking of the pond.  Time will tell...

On a happier note fishing down at the river has been gratifying.  It is a different type of fishing as you basically hunt down the deeper pools in the small river / stream.  Today's jaunt down the shore produced about a dozen or so catfish on the line and to the shore.  I'm guessing that they are yellow bullheads all less than 12 inches but really fun on the line.  Since I'm using ultra-light tackle the tussle is quite good.  Surprising the little ice fishing rig worked so well.  The 26 inch pole with the larger diameter spool casts reasonably well.   You do have to make sure that your cast is smooth.  If you over drive the cast by loading the rod too much the line paying off the spool will slap the pole and on occasion fold over the shaft catching the first guide in a jam knot.  So easy does it. 

The first fish on that little rig was surprisingly fun.   The short little pole loaded smartly but was not overhelmed by the fish.  I was able to play it out much like a short fly rod as the little graphite shaft is fairly slow and has most of its loading down near the handle.  It was fun to connect with the fish one after another. 

A few observations.   The water level was a touch higher due to the recent rains.  Also the water clarity was slightly improved too.  The water was not the chocolate milk colored, a slight green hue to it.  I didn't see or connect with anything else but catfish today.  After about 10am the fishing all but stopped.  The early activity just halted. 

I did make my way up stream to see if there were other opportunities.  Didn't find anything else along the way.  So it seems that this is pretty much the spot.   I may try downstream near the Charleston Road crossing to see if there is deeper pools.  That will be another trip. 

I still keep hope that the rain will motivate the National Forest Supervisor to open the lands for public use again.  I'm quite sure that the sunfish in Parker Canyon will be quite ready for some attention. 

Happy Fourth of July! Happy Birthday America!

Whoopee!  Whaahoo!  Happy Fourth to All!  < It is fun to celebrate, this is a one of the better reasons to celebrate >

This morning started out with a nice early sunrise shower.  It came on suddenly and what woke me was the sound of the water dripping off the roof.  Hey, it's raining!  Since we are 'officially' into our Monsoon season, it is compelling evidence to confirm that fact.   Besides when it comes at the appropriate amounts and rate, it is all good.  Given our current drought conditions, this helps to keep things reasonable.  Hopefully, we will get a suitable amount for this season. 

Yesterday morning I also got an early start.  I decided to re-examine and re-assess a couple of my lesser quality reels.  I wanted to determine just why I had labeled them as such and also figure out the significance of the lower quality as it applied to my fishing experience.  Let me say up front that it was a fun time out at the river catching all those various species of fish.  Now that I've figured out the successful bait pattern and size.  So it was really the actual utility and experience that I was prepared to asses. 

There actually may be something to these larger diameter spools for the spinning reels.  I purchased one as part of a combination when I was seeking out an Ice fishing rig.  Yeah, ironic for down here in SE AZ. It has a larger diameter arbor that has a shallow width. 

It is claimed the larger diameter produces larger coils which lead to smoother casts and less twisting.  I found that the larger diameter was helpful with minimizing the twisting.  While I didn't have so many stored loops, I did find that the line was more than happy to come off the spool so it was important to keep tension on the line during the retrieve.  This is not much difference than other spinning reels.  The casting went reasonably well as long as you didn't try to drive it too hard.  If you tried to cast it too enthusiastically the line would slap on the pole and spoil the cast. 

So overall I'm not that convinced that the larger spool makes that much of a difference.  At this time I'm more than happy with the current configuration using the really light superlines. 

The small spincast reel was a walk down memory lane.  I started fishing using a spincast reel.  Caught many using them.  However, when you've experienced improved casting of other reels it is hard to go back.  Fortunately angling the river doesn't require long distance casting, it just requires a delicate touch along with accuracy. 

So in retrospect it was really fun and a bit quirky.  The eagerness of the fish to cooperate made it easy to overlook the quirky operations of these two rigs.  I'm happy to say that it is good to have alternatives.  Still nice to have quality equipment to use. 

I did manage to catch more catfish and LMBs this time out.  Although those green sunfish are always good on the line too.  On my previous trip there I managed to catch a catfish that had a previous hook in it.  Yes, I caught him again and returned him back to the water for another go.  Given the early amounts of rain, there was a touch more water in the river but not that much more. 

Hopefully, the schedule will allow for another visit soon.