Super User Paul Roberts Posted July 16, 2009 Super User Posted July 16, 2009 Finally getting some fishing in! I've had SOoooo much work the last few months I hadn't gotten out to fish since pre-spawn. That hurts. :'( So it felt really good to get out and shake the rust off this month. I've been waiting for a cool summer to continue observing bass activity related to temperature, and this summer has remained cooler than previous -so far. Come mid-July daytime fishing can get spotty in many waters and I believe water temps play a role. Real curious how this'll pan out this year. I've fished four times this month. The first trip was just a couple stolen hours at a pond from shore. Talk about getting the rust out, I had a comical series of events happen. I call such events episodes, where a series of seemingly impossible events (tangles usually) keep me from getting a lure into the water >. Sometimes I just have to sit down and wait for the sunspots, or whatever bad vibes are going down, to pass. :-/ I started my fishing at the back end of a duckweed covered cove into which the water has flooded the willows with a good 2 feet of water, and which has a large female of about 20 inches that suns in there. Because of the flooded willows I had to get that lure tight to those willows. And on my first cast in almost three months I overshot my mark and buried my jig right in the willows >. It wouldn't come free so I set the rod down and hiked over. I had to push my way into the thicket, and found the water too deep in there to reach my hung lure. Back at the rod I just pulled tight and the lure shot out of the willows and skipped across the surface, and a big bass likely that same female ripped after it! I reacted at the splash : and the lure flew behind me into the trees. > After getting it out I found my braid tangled into a beauty of a knot so I took a deep breath, sat down, and picked it out. After the sunspots left, I managed to stick a few. Look at how fat these fish were. Not uncommon for June, into early July. STs peaked at 76F. Next two trips I decided to fish a pond with a strong class of 18"-20" bass in it. But it tends to kick my butt come mid-summer. I do fine ice-out through early summer, but it's about the 2nd week in July when we hit the wall. I've been challenged to try and figure this out each year, and burned two days, 6 and 8hrs, with four 12 dinks to show for the effort! > It did it again it kicked my butt! Both days under very nice overcast skies! The pond that kicks my butt. I'm still determined to figure something out there, but I needed to lip a few so on my next trip I hit a different pond. This pond has both LM and SM. Under sunny skies I planned to fish the slop, and crank and shaky away from shore. Smallies seem generally less perturbed by bright conditions, or at least hit better than LM under bright conditions, and indeed I found willing smallies at the edges of cover, as well as in the slop with the LM. Notice barometric pressure was high and barely eroding through the day (Wednesday). BP commonly drops as moisture builds and can really drop with a passing T-storm -which come nearly every afternoon here in the summer. This day though, it just didn't happen and the sun stayed with me. BP is known to affect some fishes anticipation of feeding. From what I've seen it needs to be a strong change to excite bass much. This day, they were whopping lures anyway. Damselflies were emerging and the 'gills were on 'em. They sounded like popcorn in the slop, which was probably why the bass were in there too. And the 'gills were all across the surface of the pond watching for damsels to drop in. During calm periods it looked like a light rain was falling. Loaded for bear: 61/2ft w/8fluoro(lt wacky/shaky), 7ft w/10fluoro(shaky), 6ft w/20braid/12XT(slop edges), 61/2ft 10XT(crankin), 61/2ft 30braid/17XT(slop). Sonar screen shot. Float-tube structure buoy -a large float, Fireline, and lead wheel weight. Still fat! ST at 81F. 77F at 12ft where thermocline began, dropping 8degrees to 69F at 14feet. Top smallie of the day. Look at the anal fin on this mutant! Man did she run and pull. Spun me round and round. Top LM of the day. Quote
Super User J Francho Posted July 16, 2009 Super User Posted July 16, 2009 Great report, and excellent photos to accompany the story. I always forget to take a shot of the graph. Glad to hear you're getting out. I have a place that kicks my butt -- handed me my 1st skunking this year: I Bay, or "The City Dump." Quote
Super User .dsaavedra. Posted July 16, 2009 Super User Posted July 16, 2009 LOL your first fish is dropping deuce ;D ;D ;D Quote
Super User J Francho Posted July 16, 2009 Super User Posted July 16, 2009 LOL your first fish is dropping deuce ;D ;D ;D Being the resident fish poop expert, you would notice! Quote
Super User 5bass Posted July 18, 2009 Super User Posted July 18, 2009 Very informative post man! Excellent catching! Quote
Super User RoLo Posted July 19, 2009 Super User Posted July 19, 2009 Paul, thanks for a highly informative report and excellent photos! We rarely get to see pix from Colorado. That's a fertile looking drop back and those bass are plump...what are you feeding them? By the way, your Fish Cat is the Cat's Meow, everything an angler needs within easy reach 8-) Roger Quote
skillet Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 You sound like me as far as number of time you're getting out this year. Glad you got some nice ones... skillet Quote
Big-O Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 Glad to see you're fishin' went well Paul, terrific photos too. They tell a great story all by themselves..."A Fishing Adventure" Big O www.ragetail.com Quote
Super User Paul Roberts Posted July 20, 2009 Author Super User Posted July 20, 2009 Thanks all. LOL your first fish is dropping deuce Yep. I've had several like that. They are chowin' down and crankin' out the deuce (or whatever you want to call it lol). ...those bass are plump...what are you feeding them? Roger, these bass are mostly bluegill fed. There are also young cats and carp, and crayfish of course. But bluegills are primary fodder. I have a couple ponds in which yellow perch fqctor in. I'm waiting for the mid-summer weight loss, when water temps hit mid-80s and bass get thin. I'm assuming there is a correlation. Since we've got a cool year so far, early summer temps are continuing into mid summer. Curious when, if, the bass thin out. Quote
Daniel My Brother Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 Excellent post. You are certainly making the most of your time on the water. Quote
Super User Paul Roberts Posted July 21, 2009 Author Super User Posted July 21, 2009 Float tubes are great -like fishing from your Lazy-Boy. Mine's rigged to fish, but there are a couple drawbacks to tubes. -They are slow. You have to pick your fishing water ahead of time. You gotta know where to spend your time. You can't "run around" graphing stuff. -You are so low to the water you can't see cover until you're on top of it. If I get bright sun and calm conditions I can see weed clumps far enough out. But otherwise you fish by brail, and that's slow going -lotsa wasted casts. I tried a pedestal seat but kept tipping over -it was like riding a unicycle. I then thought of getting four tubes and fitting a hunk of plywood to 'em. I also once rigged a 20hp Evinrude to my tube. Ended up in a tree. My wife thought it was a bad idea. She suggested I just get a boat. Glad I have her. Quote
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