Shooters gotta shoot, aka. getting out of the slump

[casts_by_fly]

We've had some crap weather the past three weeks (at least for fishing)- 90+ highs during the day, bluebird skies, minimal wind, and negligible rain.  Water temps are 85+.  The milfoil has died off in a lot of lakes  (and all of my usuals) and turned brown.  Lakes are starting to get low and one is 5' low (all shoreline structure is dry, the grass has died everywhere else).  Not ideal conditions by any stretch.  Yesterday we had a rainstorm predicted and the barometer was changing quite a bit.  Inspired by the change in barometer and associated cloud cover from another thread:

 

 

I had to get out and 'keep shooting' @DaubsNU1 @gimruis.  I picked a smaller local lake that in the past has yielded a fair number of strikes but a low conversion rate of hits to landed bass for some reason.  It was the site of the 'soft plastics only' outing from a month ago.  Last month there was a fair bit of grass, plenty of pondweed, a couple lily pads, and a strong scumline around the shore.  Great conditions for toads then and, I hoped, frogs last night.  I still haven't found a good frog bite this year and I've been dying for one.  If the grass was dead like the other lakes, I was going to bottom bounce some swinghead beavers and search the dropoffs. 

 

 

I got out of the house and got there a little after 4.  It poured rain and was heavy clouds on the drive there.  I arrive to bluebird skies, hot sun, and barely a whisper of wind.  I dropped the kayak in and started pulling gear from the backseat which suddenly looked surprisingly empty.  I completely forgot my tackle bag.  Its the first time I've ever done it.  I'm a half hour from home and the boat is already in the water, so let's see what I have in the truck.  I had 6 rods with me, but only 4 were rigged from sunday's outing.  One was my backup pitching stick that I just pulled out of storage and threw a reel on with heavy line (dedicated frog rod), but didn't put a lure on.  Later I find out that I grabbed the wrong rod and it was my light cranking rod that looks just like my pitchin stick.  What's still in the boat?  My frog/toad/weedless spoon box is there because I tossed it in the rear well the other day and didn't take it out.  My 'just snipped off' tray is in the boat with the lures I snipped off Sunday.  Total inventory:

 

- 3 jigs- 1 PB&J flipping jig with green pumpkin rage chunk, 2 swim jig with keitech trailers (shad and bluegill colors)

- 1 GP boar Hogz, texas rigged on a rod

- Two topwaters- 1 black buzzbait, 1 plopper 90 in blueblood

- 1 palmetto bug in black/blue with flipping hook

- 1 small senko on a dropshot hook (weights in the boat always)

- 1 1/2 oz football head with a black toad on it

- my frog/toad/spoon box with a full compliment of lures

- 1 6" bright orange inline spinner of unknown brand that I found sunday on the bottom of the lake

 

Since I was hoping for a frog bite, I said why not.  Sometimes you just have to put your head down and fish.  Well, the grass wasn't dead for a start.  In fact, the milfoil was really going bright green and starting to thicken.  But there wasn't much of anything on the surface aside from the eelgrass that was laying over from the low water.  Low water also meant that the pads only had a foot of water under them at best aside from a couple random patches.  So I picked up the bluegill swim jig and started swimming the cuts and dropping into the holes anywhere that the weeds were green.  It was the right call.  Third cast hit a 3 lb fish that I lost boatside.  A couple casts later was a 14" fish that hit it like a truck.  I swapped the jig to my heavier rod and continued for the evening.  After the third fish in 40 minutes I realized that my trailer was going to give way soon so I glued it to the jig which bought some time.   A couple fish later and I had a hard hit but pulled back to nothing- whatever it was grabbed just the paddle tail and took it.  No more trailers, or so I thought!  I pulled the rage chunk off the flipping jig and glued it on.  Not my first choice for a swim jig, but it has a LOT of movement in the water.  Three casts later and a 17" bass was in the boat.  After a quick pass down the dam in low light with a buzzbait (catching a 3 lb fish), I called it a night.  Not a single frog fish, but 7 landed and 2 more lost made for a good evening.  The 14" was the dink of the night, the rest were 2.5-3 lb fish (I only weighed the first 16" fish and it was 2-08, so I just did quick lengths the rest of the night).

 

I texted my wife when I launched about forgetting my bag and asking if she'd run it over.  She said, "Scarcity breeds innovation".  It also forces you to do whatever it is you have will full focus because you don't have another choice.

 

 

 

[PhishLI]

Good story.

54 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

I got out of the house and got there a little after 4.  It poured rain and was heavy clouds on the drive there.  I arrive to bluebird skies, hot sun, and barely a whisper of wind. 

Yesterday it looked like we'd get a torrent here, which would've been welcome with this drought, but it only rained hard for about 9 minutes. By minute 10 a blaring sun was back out, and that was that.

 

Decent southern winds coming in later combined with the cooler air should spark them later today into this evening.

[Darth-Baiter]

your wife sounds awesome.  hahah..  very funny.

 

 

[casts_by_fly]

54 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

Good story.

Yesterday it looked like we'd get a torrent here, which would've been welcome with this drought, but it only rained hard for about 9 minutes. By minute 10 a blaring sun was back out, and that was that.

 

Decent southern winds coming in later combined with the cooler air should spark them later today into this evening.

 

We had a downpour before I left and then got another steads rain as I was leaving.  It rained half of my drive there and was cloudy the rest.  It rained most of the time I was gone.  Not what I got to fish under.