Took last Monday off work along with the previous Friday for an extended weekend of family camping, some swimming, visiting with more family around the campfire and, yes, some fishing. On the heels of a Saturday outing with my brother, Brent, here’s the Monday report when flying solo.
Stats
Date: July 17, 2017
Locations: Little John Conservation Club (2 lakes)
Time: 5:25am-10:45pm (5.00 hours fishing)
Weather: Sunny/calm to breezy
Air Temp: 64-82F
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 12 bass
Lures:
Senko wacky rig (pumpkin with black flake) – 6 bass
Whopper Plopper 90 (I Know It) – 6 bass
Top Bass: 4-7 Whopper Plopper
Top 5 Weight: 9-4 (4-7,1-7,1-3,1-2,1-1)
5:35am Top Bass 20.5″ 4-7 Whopper Plopper 5:51am 14″ 1-1 Whopper Plopper
Notes & Nonsense
Firsts – Ten minutes in I had my first catch of the day which was also my first Whopper Plopper catch ever. And like the first name of the lure, it definitely qualified as a “Whopper” in my book. Pretty cool when you’ve got a 4-7 in the log at 5:35am. While that first bass would also wind up being the Top Bass, I can’t say I was particularly disappointed with the rest of the morning as five more fell to the Whopper Plopper along with several more strikes from bass that had some poor aim. Looks like this lure could be a winner, actually catching fish instead of fishermen.
What About Me – Despite the smashing success of the new topwater weapon in my arsenal, I still had the good, old Senko rigged up. Although it does not weed out the small fish to the extent of my trusty buzzbait or the early Whopper Plopper catches, the Senko wacky rig flat out catches bass on the waters I was fishing. You’d be a fool not to have one rigged up. No doubt I’ve got some bad habits but I ain’t no dummy when it comes to getting wacky with it. Dead even score between the only two baits that caught bass on this day.
7:07am 14″ 1-3 Whopper Plopper 8:27am 15″ 1-7 Senko
2017 Top 5 – The 4-7 Whopper Plopper fish knocked a 3-5 out of my Top 5 limit boosting my weight by over a pound which ain’t easy for me to do at this point. You see, I was already in uncharted waters at 23-6, my top weight in the four years of this project, as I launched the boat on this outing. With the latest cull I now sit at 24-8 and find myself wavering between satisfied and greedy. But I figure it’s kind of like one of those days back in the 70’s and 80’s; 3 for 3 and walking out of the on deck circle, time to just let ‘er rip as you never know when you’ll enter “the zone” again.
9:11am 13.5″ 1-2 Senko 10:45am Last Cast Bass
Last Bass – Now the picture above may not hold a candle to the glossy magazines, YouTube videos or websites that actually earn some bucks but I’d have to say it ranks as my second favorite bass of the day. The regular responsibilities of husband and father don’t take a break even on a “vacation day” and I’m good with a timeframe when I need to get back home. On this day, that meant a decision to fish until 10:45am and then load up and head home. Within casting distance of the ramp I was fortunate to get another “last cast bass” right at 10:45am. Always dig it when that happens and totally satisfied with hooking my lure back to an eye on the pole, calling it “well done” and rowing back to the ramp. Doesn’t get much better than a successful final cast.
Very fortunate to have some recent circumstances that have allowed me to hit the water much more than I would have anticipated this summer (thanks Julie, Mom and Dad). Two more trips in the books in the meantime, just can’t catch up with the blogging portion of the program. Try to work them in when I can although Sunday is out as I’ve already got some blogging plans lined up. Hope you’ll stop back by for a milestone of sorts and check out the Facebook page if you need a friend. Talk to you later. Troy