Good Day! Yeah, it was a good day. It was pretty good to be out on the water and I learned a few things and basically enjoyed my time out there. I'm confirming my theme of keeping it simple as the basic baits and presentation are working out consistently. I'm also convinced after this morning's events that the theme should be applied to knots also. The fancy knots that I've been trying are not holding up. I tried a couple of loop knots to allow the baits to articulate on the end of the line. This articulation might be a slight improvement in presentation as I don't have an argument for or against this point. The compromise is the minimized strength of the rig. It seems that loop knot is the source of additional slack which under a strong strike produces a snapping effect. I tried both single and double strand knots and unfortunately arrived at the same conclusion, not suitable for me.
So I'll be sticking with the well known and suitable performing single, double palomar. This is a low fuss easy to tie knot. Nothing complicated and can be done well on all the line sizes that I use. Additionally, I've found that under field conditions, poor lighting, wind, etc. that some of those more complicated knots are not possible to create with reliable consistency. It does appear that the theme of simple is good still holds.
I arrived out at the lake shortly after 5am this morning. There was only one bass boat out on the water and they put in to shore shortly after I put out to water. There was a slight breeze this morning as you could feel the thermal difference of the water to ambient air temperature. Yes, the season is progressing nicely. More rain would be nice. Somehow it seems to form just fine, it then tends to migrate away from where we would like it. There were some high clouds overcasting the early morning light so I got in some extended twilight conditions.
It was interesting to see just how much effort I had to put into yak positioning. I would get the yak into a casting position, make the cast and work through the presentation. By the time the lure was fully retrieved it was time to re-position again. So I got a good workout today. Fortunately all that directed effort was productive in that I caught quite a few in the first fishing area by the rip-rap. No monsters there but good fun hauling in the little green sunfish. They are more than eager to hammer on that little grub. I did manage to loose the first jig/grub combination on an underwater snag. I was dissappointed at how easy it was to break off using one of the initial single loop knot. After that experience I changed over to a slightly heavier jig 1/8 oz (~ 4 gr) with the same grub bait. This did produce a few fish and was easier to cast. However, it just didn't seem to be as attractive. So eventually I switched back to the 1/32 oz ( 1 gr) jig head. After that move things picked up dramatically.
People started to show up to get into recreating at an early hour too. As they arrived, I made my way across the lake towards the dam area. I figured I would hit that area earlier than I typically do and see what it was like over there. I also took a more northern route to get there. Along the way I fired off the grub at various top water activity. That was fun as I got several strikes but no connections. I eventually got one after casting to a long past area of activity. It was a large healthy bluegill that managed to take out quite a bit of line. This was even on the heavier drag that I decided on for today. So that posture will also change as I'm going back to my lighter drag settings. More fun and it seems to be more successful too.
Upon making it to the dam I was joined by a long time fellow angler, Eddie. Eddy would also angle along side me at the local pond. He is another one of those avid anglers who just enjoys fishing, nothing fancy, just catch fish. He managed to walk the southern perimeter and arrive at the dam at roughly the same time I did. So I floated to within chatting distance and told him about me running over several of the top water action. I noticed he was going with his confidence bait, a wacky rigged senko.
I just finished telling him about my experiences with fishing the dam. I told him that I had to put the bait within about 15 cm of the shore line to get good consistent results. As I told him that, I sent a cast right in between several of the larger rocks and let it settle for a slight moment before working it back towards me. Within the first two hops the bait was sort of heavy so I tensioned up and reeled back in more aggressively. At first it just felt like I had snagged a weed, just heavy, then it figured out that it was connected to me. This fish started to pull the tip of pole towards the surface of the water. Fortunately the deep water of the dam doesn't hold too many snag opportunities so the fight was a gentle give and take play. Eddie saw the action, "that's what we're talking about!" It was a nice 30 cm or so large mouth bass. A good healthy fish with again really sharp teeth. I could feel my skin getting pricked by them. Checked my knot and line for good measure too.
It was later along the dam that I ran into the other well known angler, a blue heron. I had been slowly drifting along the dam running into quite a few green sunfish along the way. As I approached the center of the dam, there was this loud cackle that broke the silence. The heron had been standing there quietly trying to fish also when I happened by. As a consideration, I eased the yak out to deeper water to provide a wide berth as to not interfere further with the heron. I'm recreation fishing, so the heron has priority. I only wish I could have advised it to move over to the south pocket as that is where I caught and released a bunch of them.
Speaking of a catch and release, my first big catch and release of the day a long distance version was also at the grass beds near the dam. I managed to find a small pocket where I sent in a T-rigged double tail trailer. I had it lightly weighted with only a 1 gram sliding sinker on the end. The line went aggressively slack so I had to intensely wind in to get to where I could feel a loading on the line. I hauled back on it and it dove into the weeds hard. A single shake and that was it. Apparently that small wide gap hook didn't connect in. So it goes... It felt really heavy but I'll not get to see that one.
A quick venture to the north end of the lake produce a few nibbles with no solid connection. As the wind was picking up and the sun started to burn through the clouds, I figured it was getting close to time for me to head on out. The activity level on the lake was reaching an all time high. There were quite a few more boats and lots of small inflatables too. Also the noise level was much higher too.
I made my way back to the boat launch area where it was quite congested so I diverted to explore the grass beds along the way. As I flipped the double tail. I found it was only good where I could find a clear pocket. So I switched over to the 7 gram skirted jig. That configuration was just the ticket to land on the grass and gently drop through with a slight wiggle. As I made my way along the shore waiting for an opportunity at the loading dock. I saw a submerged tree limb. So I tossed the jig next to it. Just after the jig slipped through the floating mat, the entire mat erupted with a massive lifting from underneath. I remembered the tip that said if the mat moves go ahead and tension up as the fish as already got it. Yup, sure enough the little pole doubled over and the tip dipped into the water under the load of the heavy fish. It made two unrestricted massive surges and managed to strip line even with the extreme drag setting. < almost at max, approximately 90% setting on that reel > The second protracted pull concluded with the snap of the line. That was it. I can only guess that the size of that was big. Something that could lift that much grass had to be pretty sizable. I regret that it has my jig still with it. Hopefully the hook will loosen up rapidly and dislodge before too long. It may be time to reconsider braid for that particular reel. I'll think on it a bit more as it is apparent this is a good application for that.
So that was the last event of the day. The loading dock cleared up and I was able to put in to shore and head back home. More learning involved. I'm getting there.
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