Hai! was heard echoing in the hills surrounding Quabbin quite often on this day in the middle of May. At the time I thought it was a battle cry sounded by a Japanese warrior when engaging the enemy but, when Googling a Japanese/English dictionary later, I found that it actually translates as, "I am paying attention and I understand what you are saying." This corrected understanding works as well: Having "listened" to the big lake, I assessed the conditions and presented appropriately.
Before I get into the day's adventure, let me introduce Brad B., a mild mannered bassmaster with whom I had been swapping true tales of smallmouth trips for the past couple of years. You know how it is when you talk the talk with another fisherman. Sometimes you think you're being sold a bridge but on rare occasions you know you're talking to someone who really knows his stuff. Not only does Brad know more than a few ways to catch a bass, he's overly modest about it.
We started from Gate 31 about 8:00. We saw a number of smallmouth - some big - on beds but neither Brad nor I care to park over a bed and harass a bass until it goes nose down on the bait. What we did was cast a variety of lures onto the flat, over the edge into the deep - wherever we thought a smallie might be hanging out. I checked the water temp. It was 59º. Brad tied on a venerable Heddon Torpedo which he had modified and with that put the first bass in the boat. This caused me to have an acute attack of SCS (seasonal confusion syndrome). Hell, only four days prior to this calm morning they were rooting around on the bottom picking up my blade baits!
We worked our way out into the big water and at 9:00 we found ourselves on the edge of a favorite rock hump. The sky was gray; the water was flat. Gray is okay but a flat Quabbin makes for skittish fish. This requires the approach of a ninja in the night . . . It was time for the "technique of silent capture" - Spybaiting. I took out a Duo Realis Spin Bait 80 and secured this $13.99 Japanese creation with great care to the end of a full, fresh spool of 6 lb. Sunline FC Sniper which I had strung through my St. Croix Avid ML power rod. The reel used was a Shimano Stradic 2500. Opening the bail and loading the rod, I cried, "Hai!" and let this weird looking little bait sail over the vastness of Quabbin. After letting it sink for a few seconds I began a slow, steady retrieve, rod tip low . . .
Three more spybaited bass came over the gunnel during the course of the day. They were all fine, plump fish but not nearly as hefty as Big Mama. I'm not going to trouble you with the sad tale of my limit fish that departed a rod's length away from the boat.
And what was Brad doing while I was practicing stealth maneuvers? Quite the opposite and it was a lesson I won't forget: He was reeling Pointers, mostly the 78 size but also the 100, working them briskly with a twitch or Two then a short pause. I have never caught a smallie on a suspending jerkbait when the water was warmer than 53º. Could be because I've always been a sweep and pause kinda guy when working a jerkbait, and more slowly than Brad's banzai presentation.
Here's a pic of an average Brad class bass:
And here's his best:
To close, let me say that Brad is a gracious captain and a fine fisherman. And when he shares a piece of bass fishing insight with me I say, "Hai!."
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