Lo and behold, the stars aligned yesterday to get me the afternoon off. I headed to Westlake to see if I could entice a few fish despite the 100°+ heat and the clear blue skies. Fortunately, there was a slight breeze that was welcomed by fisherman and fish alike. I started out at a spot I know usually holds some nice fish. But, after about 40 minutes and only one small bump, I thought it was time for a change of venue.
As I journeyed along the walkway next to the lake, I kept a sharp eye on the water. With my polarized glasses I easily had 10+ feet of visibility! Suddenly, I noticed a decent sized school of 3-4" fry swimming in formation. They were kind of penned in by the wall formed by the walkway and seemed to be on the edgy side, too. It was as if they were being stalked.
Sure enough, that was when I saw the wolfpack comprised of 5-6 Bass, all in the 5 pound class. I quickly backed off, tied on a BPS XPS Lazer Eye shallow diver in a green Shad/baby Bass type of pattern and casted beyond the fry school and their predators. I only got about three cranks in ... KABOOM! This 4 pound 10 ounce (on the digi scale) beast exploded out of the water in an attempt to inhale my bait. After a great fight, with 4 or 5 aerials thrown in, I stretched my arms as far as I could to snap this shot:
By the time I got setup again, the school and pack had disappeared. I continued my journey over to some docks near the main marina. Along the way I saw several nice sized fish, but none had any interest in what I had to offer. When I reached the docks, I threw out a Malibu-style 4" Kinami Flash in Mad Melon, placing it right on the edge of the platform and then gently flipped it into the water. On the sink, I get the tell-tale little tap. I let him run a bit, loaded up the line and BOOM! I set the hook on this feisty two-plus pounder.
I nailed one more small one on a T-rigged 6" Aaron's Magic Roboworm and decided to head to the other side of the lake where there was lots of cover. My first cast at the new location brought a quick pick up of the 4" Kinami, but if I wasn't watching my line I never would have known it. He had picked it up stealthily and was heading to deeper water on my left. BAM, I set the hook and quickly landed this one and a halfer.
I started experimenting with some other baits but these three were the only ones getting any love today:
After lipping this two pounder on the Roboworm and another dink on the crankbait the bite died.
But, I was seeing tons of decent sized panfish swimming around. I decided to have some fun! I just happened to have my trout rig with four pound test with me. Plus, UFCer AWMiller had sent me a few of these:
It's a hand tied Crappie Jig he calls a Swamp Thang that I've been dying to try. It's tied on a 1/16 ounce jig head with 3/0 black thread, #2 dark green chenille body and olive marabou tail. All I can say is WOW!!! I made four casts with it and nailed four fish before I lost it on the fifth cast when my hookset ended up missing the fish but finding the heavy cover. It's too bad because this little bugger was good for one Bluegill, one Redear and two Bass including this stubborn one pounder.
All in all, it was a great, relaxing day. The only problem is ... now I'm jonesing for more!!!
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