Super User A-Jay Posted July 12, 2014 Super User Posted July 12, 2014 I got out yesterday; first time in about a week. I chose a place that I fish quite regularly and I know it as well or better than any place I fish here. It’s a mid-sized lake that’s deep (90ft) and has very clear water. The state stocks it with trout and it’s designated as a Trout Lake. What this means to me is, the lakes very abundant smallmouth & largemouth bass population goes by and large unfished for. This however, does not mean the bass are suicidal and strike everything that one throws. It’s quite the opposite. The 15-20 ft of visibility (and sometimes more) really gives the bass a heads up on an anglers approach. The bass are catchable but if an angler does not take steps to put the odds in his favor, it can be pretty tough sledding. After the first of July, many of the bass spend the day suspended and very hard to catch, which prompts me to hunt them almost exclusively at night. The past few days this area has experienced some heavy rains accompanied by very high winds. This usually gives the waters here a little color but it’s not much and it doesn’t usually last more than a day or two. So when I showed up at the ramp yesterday, the sun was beaming, the skies were blue, winds were calm, but the water Had Color. Like 1 foot of visibility color. I was very surprised. I was expecting a drop-shot or Senko bite on 6lb line and spinning gear, but this no-vis warm water was a game changer. I started out fishing with what I rigged up (and expected) the night before I left, But the drop-shot and stick baits were going untouched. After a little scouting around, the hummingbird was showing that there were fish suspended down at 10 – 12 ft off the points and around submerged wood. Bringing only a limited bait and tackle selection on this trip, the only crank baits I had was a box of square bills. The first bait I tied on (the one casting rig I brought) was a 6th Sense Crush Flat 75X. It’s a square bill crank that’s rated for 2-5 feet but my experience with the bait shows that it runs down to like 7-8 ft on a long cast. The bait had worked well here in the spring slow crawled through shore line cover, so I thought I might be able to buzz it along right over their heads and hopefully they’d come up and whack it. It took a few casts to figure out the speed they wanted but as soon as I started burning the bait, it was on. The bluegill pattern plug would be doing all the damage and before the day was over, the paint was chewed off the bait. Many of the bass looked like 2 pound clones; fat and healthy. Their heads almost looked too small for their body size which is not something I see in green bass up here. Near the end of the afternoon my bait got slammed by a very respectable smallie. It's funny how you know right away "This is a good one". It was the only brown bass I got all day among 30 plus largemouth (which is an oddity up here for sure). Turned out to be the big fish for the day. Warm Sunshine & Several hours of the best numbers type day I’ve ever had on this lake, Good Times right there. A few final thoughts ~ I didn’t know how these fish would react to the colored water when the majority of the time the lake is crystal clear. Lesson here – a Bass is a Bass. Every strike that comes on a high speed crank is awesome, even from 2 lb bass. 6th Sense Baits catch bass, at least for me. A-Jay 4 Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted July 12, 2014 Super User Posted July 12, 2014 Outstanding ! That had to be a great day indeed... 1 Quote
CJV Posted July 12, 2014 Posted July 12, 2014 Nice man it always feels good when you can figure them out. Quote
Super User 00 mod Posted July 12, 2014 Super User Posted July 12, 2014 Good fishin A-Jay and that is one nice Smallie! When I get up there and fish with you one day, I wanna go to some of these absolutely beautiful places you always take pics of!!! Jeff 1 Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted July 12, 2014 Super User Posted July 12, 2014 Good fishin A-Jay and that is one nice Smallie! When I get up there and fish with you one day, I wanna go to some of these absolutely beautiful places you always take pics of!!! Jeff Good luck with that. I'm still waiting on my invite. Maybe we should just show up at his door unannounced & make it happen. 1 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted July 12, 2014 Author Super User Posted July 12, 2014 Good fishin A-Jay and that is one nice Smallie! When I get up there and fish with you one day, I wanna go to some of these absolutely beautiful places you always take pics of!!! Jeff Good luck with that. I'm still waiting on my invite. Maybe we should just show up at his door unannounced & make it happen. OK Guys - I'd love to have you up - It's going to have to be one at a time. Otherwise, with the both of you, the Old Town could turn into a Submarine . . . . . . . A-Jay 3 Quote
Super User MarkH024 Posted July 12, 2014 Super User Posted July 12, 2014 Sweet smallie A-Jay! 30+ day of fish is stellar, way to go! I still haven't picked up any 6th sense cranks but that gill color sure does look good. Thanks for sharing. 1 Quote
flyingmonkie Posted July 13, 2014 Posted July 13, 2014 Interesting! I've always been curious how bass would react to significant changes in water clarity/color, and this summer has been a learning experience for me! Had a similar situation a few weeks back… a normally very clear lake that fishes very deep in the summer had 1-2 feet of visibility and we were catching them on the bank. It's reassuring to me that a "bass is a bass". Sometimes I think we have the tendency to over think things. 1 Quote
jbw252 Posted July 13, 2014 Posted July 13, 2014 Congrats on a nice outing. Gotta love those square bills... Quote
hookset on 3 Posted July 15, 2014 Posted July 15, 2014 Great Day Fishing! What's that saying that Mike L. here on BR Forum writes? You Adapted, Improvised and Overcame what many might think of as an obstacle. Executed to a T. hookset on 3 Quote
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