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I have not been able to fish much this year since I destroyed my shoulder back in January (torn labrum, hole in one tendon, others partially delaminated from bone). I have taken 3 trips to the Willie for bass and had good days each time catching 30 to 50 bass. I could have caught more each time but my arm starts hurting like a toothache shortly after getting started and eventually I pack it in. First two trips were out of George Rogers park and the fishing for numbers was superb both trips, but size was lacking.
The lures I have really been doing damage with are a 3-4" Sebile swimbait and the drop shot. I catch fish on other lures as well but those two have accounted for probably 90% of my fish. I have not had much luck with topwaters this year but rather fishing the Sebile a few inches under the surface has been dynamite. The bass have been slamming it hard. The funny thing is that in the past I would fish it with an erratic retrieve and get a lot of hits but my hookup ratio was not great. My hurt shoulder caused me to fish it much more calmly - mostly just throwing it out and reeling it in. I think I get about the same number of bites but my hookup percentage is now really high. So that was a hidden benefit of fishing with a bad wing!
By and large my strategy is pretty simple: I fish the Sebile early or if there is cloud cover and then switch over to the drop shot once they stop biting the swimbait.
This past Sunday, I really wanted to fish topwaters and spent the first 45 minutes doing just that. The bass were not impressed. I finally put down my topwater rod and picked up the Sebile and caught 3 bass on 4 casts. I am not sure what the deal is but the fish seem to really be loving the near surface presentation but just don't want to hit a surface lure. I kept throwing the swimbait and picking up fish when I had a big bite. Turns out it was a pretty big pikeminnow, probably north of 2lbs. When it hit I thought I had a really nice bass, but the pikeminnow don't seem to fight that hard after the initial hit.
I kept up with the swimbait for a couple of hours, but the bite slowed so I picked up the drop shot (3" senko, wacky rigged). I dusted off the top of a really good looking rocky point/reef without getting a bite. I was really surprised, but some days the fish just aren't where you think they should be. The current pushed down the dowstream side where it dropped from about 10' to about 23'. The fish were really stacked up in the hole below the reef. I was getting bit on almost every cast for a while.
Once the bite stopped I moved down to the next point and had a nearly identical experience. Nothing on top of the flat but once I got to 20-25' of water on the downstream side of the flat I had another really good period of action.
That pattern repeated itself for the rest of the day. The tops of points and flats seemed dead, but the downstream dropoffs (as long as they had 20+ feet of water) all had good concentrations of bass. It was almost boringly predictable.
I ended the day with between 35 and 40 bass, but I have to say I did not catch any nice ones. My best fish of the day was probably only a pound and a half. That has been true of all three of my trips this year. I am catching a ton of 10-12" bass but I can't seem to hit a better fish. I am not sure if I am fishing the wrong spots for better fish or if the population has just exploded so much that I can't get my lure through the smaller fish to a better fish.
I should probably try fishing deeper or shallower or try bigger baits, but I am using lures and fishing locations that have produced quality fish during the fall in past years.
I will try to update with a pic or two at some point.
The lures I have really been doing damage with are a 3-4" Sebile swimbait and the drop shot. I catch fish on other lures as well but those two have accounted for probably 90% of my fish. I have not had much luck with topwaters this year but rather fishing the Sebile a few inches under the surface has been dynamite. The bass have been slamming it hard. The funny thing is that in the past I would fish it with an erratic retrieve and get a lot of hits but my hookup ratio was not great. My hurt shoulder caused me to fish it much more calmly - mostly just throwing it out and reeling it in. I think I get about the same number of bites but my hookup percentage is now really high. So that was a hidden benefit of fishing with a bad wing!
By and large my strategy is pretty simple: I fish the Sebile early or if there is cloud cover and then switch over to the drop shot once they stop biting the swimbait.
This past Sunday, I really wanted to fish topwaters and spent the first 45 minutes doing just that. The bass were not impressed. I finally put down my topwater rod and picked up the Sebile and caught 3 bass on 4 casts. I am not sure what the deal is but the fish seem to really be loving the near surface presentation but just don't want to hit a surface lure. I kept throwing the swimbait and picking up fish when I had a big bite. Turns out it was a pretty big pikeminnow, probably north of 2lbs. When it hit I thought I had a really nice bass, but the pikeminnow don't seem to fight that hard after the initial hit.
I kept up with the swimbait for a couple of hours, but the bite slowed so I picked up the drop shot (3" senko, wacky rigged). I dusted off the top of a really good looking rocky point/reef without getting a bite. I was really surprised, but some days the fish just aren't where you think they should be. The current pushed down the dowstream side where it dropped from about 10' to about 23'. The fish were really stacked up in the hole below the reef. I was getting bit on almost every cast for a while.
Once the bite stopped I moved down to the next point and had a nearly identical experience. Nothing on top of the flat but once I got to 20-25' of water on the downstream side of the flat I had another really good period of action.
That pattern repeated itself for the rest of the day. The tops of points and flats seemed dead, but the downstream dropoffs (as long as they had 20+ feet of water) all had good concentrations of bass. It was almost boringly predictable.
I ended the day with between 35 and 40 bass, but I have to say I did not catch any nice ones. My best fish of the day was probably only a pound and a half. That has been true of all three of my trips this year. I am catching a ton of 10-12" bass but I can't seem to hit a better fish. I am not sure if I am fishing the wrong spots for better fish or if the population has just exploded so much that I can't get my lure through the smaller fish to a better fish.
I should probably try fishing deeper or shallower or try bigger baits, but I am using lures and fishing locations that have produced quality fish during the fall in past years.
I will try to update with a pic or two at some point.
