Bunking by Bass

[Glenn]

@ol'crickety did it again with another great article!  She goes into detail about "roughing it" in the wilderness for some amazing fishing!

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/camping-bass-fishing.html

 

[Bazoo]

Thanks for the heads up, that was a good read. I've not done any camping fishing, but I've been dreaming about it.

[Pat Brown]

Awesome article and a great primer for my camp n fish on Lake James coming this weekend!

 

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[TnRiver46]

Great read, except cotton is your best friend where I camp in the south. It’s low on the list of things that will kill me haha

[Swamp Girl]

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

Great read, except cotton is your best friend where I camp in the south. It’s low on the list of things that will kill me haha

 

Point taken. 

[TnRiver46]

Just now, ol'crickety said:

 

Point taken. 

My friends always make fun of me for wearing cotton, but we aren’t in Ontario haha

[Skunkmaster-k]

The part about incentivizing your buddy laying in the tent listening to you catch fish was funny. 

[roadwarrior]

 

 

                                             

[Swamp Girl]

13 minutes ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

The part about incentivizing your buddy laying in the tent listening to you catch fish was funny. 

 

He was so slow. If I heard bass leaping, I'd come running with coffee in one hand, a toothbrush in the other, and my fishing rod in my teeth!

[pdxfisher]

That was a fun read! Early bird gets the bass!

[steve carpenter]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

enjoyed your article. Made me think of great trips trout fishing in the Siera Navada Mountains when I was younger and camping by the beautiful streams and lakes there. Thank you 

[Swamp Girl]

Thanks, guys. I'm all out of responses, but I appreciate your feedback! 

1 hour ago, pdxfisher said:

That was a fun read! Early bird gets the bass!

 

Heck, yeah. Pre-dawn fishing is often amazing. 

39 minutes ago, steve carpenter said:

Made me think of great trips trout fishing in the Siera Navada Mountains when I was younger and camping by the beautiful streams and lakes there.

 

Sounds heavenly.

[Mobasser]

Ol Crickety, great read. I bunked for bass as a kid along with my older brother. At our grampas farm in Chillicothe Mo. Thank you for bringing back good memories.

[WRB]

Katie you are a treasure?

Tom

[Mike L]

Enjoyed that!!

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

Mike

[GreenPig]

Excellent. Thank you.

[ironbjorn]

Great article, crickety. My kind of fishing. ? you are blessed

[Susky River Rat]

Great read! I do not ever do anything note worthy to write about. I fly by the seat of my pants and hope it works. I really admire @ol'crickety basic and simple way  of  fishing. Canoe, tent camping. In a day where people stay in hotels and have 20k worth of electronics on their boat 80k boat. You are the sleeper that if I could pick a fishing partner in a tournament, you would be towards the top of my list. You seem to dissect water like a surgeon. That is intuition that can’t be taught.  

[Swamp Girl]

Thanks, Darnold. I am a thoughtful fisher. I study the weather and that tells me where and when to fish. Bill Walsh, the coach of the 49ers, drew up his plays before the game and I'm kind of like that too. I'll picture the lake in my head and then sequence where I'll fish. However, if I get a hunch on the water or see something promising, I'll depart from my plan. And I've always got my six to eight rods pre-rigged before I fish, specifically for each lake and the weather of each morning or evening. What I've dropped recently is my tackle box. I now take just a utility box, which I refill before each trip, based upon where I'm going and the weather forecast. I've been lugging that heavy tacklebox and many trips, I didn't even open it. 

 

And when I fail, I tweak. For example, yesterday, I was casting a fat, yellow, Rapala crankbait that goes 3' deep and using three retrieves: cranking it down and letting it bob up, again and again, burning it, and a slow, steady retrieve. I didn't get a single bite, so next time, I'm trying a shad-colored crankbait, and I'll keep experimenting until I succeed or conclude that I can catch more bass with other lures.

 

Yesterday morning, they really liked a small Whopper Plopper, but the prior evening, I hadn't even cast a Whopper Plopper because I was river fishing and with the current, I went with a popper instead to give them a longer look in that current. That popper sure worked, as I averaged 13 bass an hour with pics below. At one point, I caught three bass in three casts. You can see the bone-colored popper in the second and fourth pics. I wish I'd measured that fourth bass. She wasn't a fatty like the second and third ones, but she was long. For reference, the only fish I measured was the first one and she was 17". 

 

Tomorrow morning, I'm fishing a pond that tapers into a long, boggy stretch before becoming an actual river. With our suddenly cold nights, I'm going to try a crankbait again, for there's a flat right before it tapers, and I'm hoping the bass are wolf-packing there, moving in and out of the tapered shallows. We'll see! 

 

There was a day last fall when I caught 43 bass on a blue and silver jointed Rapala crankbait. I have a good memory for fish and what lures caught them, so I'm mulling whether to try that lure again. The trips and lakes and bass don't blur for me. The only thing I can't remember is the name of the lures and the manufacturers' color names, but I do remember the lures and their colors.

 

Finally, simple fishing is underrated. Carrying less can take you to catch more. Look at the water in the first three pics. Can you imagine a bass boat there or any boat with a motor? You'd spend your fishing time pulling weeds from the prop. Even the water in the fourth pic is way weedier than the photo shows. 

 

 

 

 

[Susky River Rat]

@ol'crickety one of my biggest issues is I only get to fish 2-4 times a month. Fishing a river with fluctuating levels adds to my equation. River level trumps all for me. Then time of year. Weather does not seem to be near as important unless it is effecting the river level. I do have an idea what I will throw at the start of the day. Smallies can move so much that the next day the spot that was on fire is done. 
 

My Achilles heel is lakes. I have learned there are certain things on do on lakes that work and on the river they are not as productive. This also works the other way. I also do not frequent lakes much. I feel so confined. Most are small and electric only or have  a HP restriction I am over. 

 

Truth be told I don’t have to be “good” I just have to have fun. Fun could be two fish perfect weather and out with my dog. It could be man I really struggled but, last minute I pulled some out. It’s not about the biggest or the most. It’s about how much fun I am having doing it.
 

[GaryH]

@ol'crickety Katie another great write. You write as good as you fish. Both great. ???

 

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Darnold335 said:

@ol'crickety one of my biggest issues is I only get to fish 2-4 times a month. Fishing a river with fluctuating levels adds to my equation. River level trumps all for me. Then time of year. Weather does not seem to be near as important unless it is effecting the river level. I do have an idea what I will throw at the start of the day. Smallies can move so much that the next day the spot that was on fire is done. 
 

My Achilles heel is lakes. I have learned there are certain things on do on lakes that work and on the river they are not as productive. This also works the other way. I also do not frequent lakes much. I feel so confined. Most are small and electric only or have  a HP restriction I am over. 

 

Truth be told I don’t have to be “good” I just have to have fun. Fun could be two fish perfect weather and out with my dog. It could be man I really struggled but, last minute I pulled some out. It’s not about the biggest or the most. It’s about how much fun I am having doing it.
 

 

IMO, river fishing is harder than lake fishing. And you're right about river levels, which is one of several reasons why river fishing is harder.

 

I love this so much: "Truth be told I don’t have to be “good” I just have to have fun. Fun could be two fish perfect weather and out with my dog. It could be man I really struggled but, last minute I pulled some out. It’s not about the biggest or the most. It’s about how much fun I am having doing it."

 

 

[Susky River Rat]

@ol'crickety ironically I think river fishing can be more predictable than lake fishing. The fish are moving more which is the down fall but, also means they eat more. You’ll generally find schools stacked up in an area.

 

The reason I stress the fun factor is because to many years I chased musky and it wasn’t fun. A thrill but not fun. I also compared myself to this or that and my image mattered.  I wanted to be “known” now I just want to fish. 

[TnRiver46]

This just makes me want to go camping again ! ( I went camping last weekend….      ? )

[Fishlegs]

Great article @ol'crickety! Made me feel like I was there.