Early Morning Stitching

[Fish_Whisperer]

I wish I had a pic for you guys, but I don't have a gopro yet and didn't have someone with me.  Wife definately wouldn't approve of me taking her cell phone out wading lol.  

 

So I left out to my usual spot bout 4:50 this morning, after a full day of light/medium rain.  Wanted to try something different, so I set up a split shot rig consisting of a number 3 shot, 4/0 owner hook, and a 12" manns jelly worm with the flat tail pinched off, making it about 11".  If you have ever saw my pics, you know I fish a dam.  On one side of the spillway is a discharge pipe about 5 ft in diameter, it runs from the top of the dam, and discharges about 12 ft deep on the bottom.  Years of water constantly running through the pipe have eroded a 50 +-ft diameter hole around the end of the pipe, which goes down about 16 ft.  You can wade from downriver 10 ft from the bank towards the pipe, and stay chest deep and lower in the water, but when you get to the hole it drops down pretty quickly, not that you would fall in the hole because the current would push you back.

 

Anyway...

 

I head over that way, and begin stitching.  My second cast wielded a bite, a small bass that I never got to see, don't think he had the hook in his mouth.  After about an hour I decide to throw directly where the pipe is, you can tell where because the water will bubble up some before being pushed towards you.  I let the current take over and after a few seconds or so, know that I have hit bottom about 6 ft in front and 10 ft to the right of the pipe, still on the big hole.  I stitch it up to the edge of the hole, and felt my shot catch a snag, or so I thought.  I wrap my line a couple times around my index finger to pull on the line, and I feel it move sideways, then I hear the braid scream on my guides as the bass burns a cut into my finger.  I had about 3ft of line hanging down, and she pulled all that slack out within a few head shakes on the run.  When I got myself together, I tried to turn her away from the hole, but she kept pulling down and going to the left side of the hole.  I know from experience that somewhere on the left side of the hole, to the left and the front of the discharge pipe, is some old rebar and concrete of sorts from construction work on the dam.  Had many a fish wrap around it and cut the braid.  This bass didn't get that opportunity.  I tightened down and got her to run back to me about 40 seconds into the fight, and was able to get a thumb in her mouth.  Again, sorry for no pics, but I gauged her to be about 6 lbs.  If you have seen my most recent report before this one, I shared a bass that scaled out at 5lb 4oz.  This one was heavier, but not as heavy as my 7-7 earlier in the year.  Beautiful color and  football shape.  

[Dwight Hottle]

Great outing & description.

[Fish_Whisperer]

Great outing & description.

 

Thank you sir.  I got out in the water at 5, was heading home at 6:40. Was the only fish I caught this morning, but I'm totally fine with it!

[Will Wetline]

This is a well told tale about a hard earned fish.