On the heels of the previously reported washout last week I headed back across the river the following evening to try it again. Thanks to my folks for keeping our boys an extra day to alleviate a scheduling conflict and thus opening up another chance for me to hit the water, making it an unexpected three days in a row and four out of five overall. Been a lucky guy in July.
Stats
Date: July 19, 2017
Location: Lost Grove Lake, IA
Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm
Weather: Sunny/breezy
Air Temp: 89F-83F
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 2 bass
Lures:
5” Yamasenko wacky rig (pumpkin with black flake) – 1 bass
Strike King KVD Rattling Squarebill 2.5 Crankbait (pumpkinseed) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-11 Senko (only fish at 12” or better)
Notes & Nonsense
Compliment? – I reached the launch about the same time as a group of folks who were doing some distance swimming on the lake. One of the fellows even helped me haul my boat to the water’s edge, a welcome gesture as I was flying solo as usual. As I prepared to shove off, one of the ladies in the group took a look at the seeming overabundance of stuff in the little boat and said in wide eyed fashion, “You look serious about this.” I appreciated her take on the collection of seven poles, moderate sized tacklebag, pair of oars, anchor, boat cushion, lifejacket, tripod, couple bottles of water and a 200-pound guy with an unruly beard and a floppy hat as I suppose “ridiculous” could have been used instead of “serious.”
I think I could fit at least a couple more poles in there if needed.
Crank Bank – On the section of lake that I was fishing on this outing there is an abundance of scattered subsurface vegetation that limits presentation options. I like my lipless and traditional crankbaits but those types of treble hooked baits present a great deal of difficulty as they constantly foul in the scattered weeds that are not visible in the stained water (fortunately I dig topwater offerings which navigate the conditions much better). However, on this trip I did find a second stretch of bank that lends itself to cranking and my Strike King KVD 2.5 squarebill landed one fish and had two others hooked in a roughly fifty yard stretch during the span of fifteen minutes. There’s a fishing standard that says you should learn something new each time out and this time around I discovered an a spot that could certainly pay further dividends and will be a regular stop.
Top Bass 7:48pm 1-11 15.5″ Senko
Front Row Seat – In the middle of the crankbait stretch described above, I also managed to coax a bass out of a weed pocket on a Senko wacky rig. The fun thing about this catch was the fact that I had lifted the bait to a point where it was just visible below the stained surface when the bass hit. It is always cool to see a strike in such a close up fashion as the bass suddenly appeared out of nowhere to grab the lure. Luckily, I made sure that the fish had the bait rather than getting too trigger happy, prematurely setting the hook and pulling the Senko away from the bass before it got a good hold. Been there, done that, and probably will make that mistake again, tough to control those reflexes.
Two bass in two hours wasn’t exactly the results I was looking for but still a productive outing. One quality Lost Grove bass, lost three other fish I had hooked, several missed strikes on a buzzbait or frog and found a new spot that definitely has some future potential. Oh yeah, didn’t get caught in a storm either. Overall, a worthwhile evening across the river. Still have a birthday outing report and this Tuesday’s regular Lost Grove visit as I deal with playing catch-up on fishing reports. Cool when that happens. Talk to you later. Troy