After my first visit of 2017 to Lost Grove Lake wound up being another challenging quest for quality fish I got to thinking about a change of approach, not so much in presentation as location. Fishing a 400 acre lake in an 8-foot johnboat means you’ve got to break it up into manageable pieces. And with only 2 bass at 12” or better of 35 total caught in three trips prior to this outing meant that I was up for a different piece.
Stats
Date: June 17, 2017
Location: Lost Grove Lake, IA
Time: 6:25am-9:40am
Weather: Partly cloudy/windy-very windy
Air Temp: not sure
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 18 bass
Lures:
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 14 bass
Senko wacky rig (electric shad) – 4 bass
Top Bass: 1-11 Buzzbait
Top 5 Weight: 6-9 (1-11,1-8.1-6,1-4,0-12)
Notes & Nonsense
Gnats – Well, the first thing to get my attention on this morning before even making a cast was the abundance of gnats. I inhaled several, ate a couple, and had them in my ears, under my hat and between my shades and my eyeballs, rather annoying. Even more so when throwing a buzzbait as you have to hit the water reeling and keep it going all the way to the boat or a bass. I know there are proposed potions and lotions out there to address this problem and I suppose some are worthwhile, but I’ve just never been a fan of getting anything on my hands or body that could translate in a negative fashion to my lures and turn the bass off. Actually, I never wear the stuff even when I’m not fishing, just try to ignore the bugs as best I can.
Six minutes into the outing I had two bass in the boat on a buzzbait 10.5″ and 12.5″ (0-12)
Back to Back Bass – I sent Julie and the kids the picture above a whole ten minutes into my trip even though nobody at my house was likely awake at 6:35am anyway. The shorter of the two was my first catch of the day and managed to flip off the buzzbait after coming aboard. Tough call in terms of fish care but I was on a productive spot and opted to cast again rather than chase down the bass flopping around at my feet. Good decision for me as the result was back to back casts with a bass. At least my boat is old enough that it leaks a bit so the first fish had a little water to splash in while awaiting release.
7:34am 13.5″ 1-4 Buzzbait 8:00am 13.5″ 1-6 Buzzbait 9:03am 14″ 1-8 Senko
Close Calls – So, I’m shooting for a 1-10 for a new Iowa record and after two hours my two best fish were 1-4 and 1-6, okay size, but I knew neither one was heavy enough as I lifted them into the boat. Then on the home stretch I nab one that I knew was gonna be close and my guess was a tie at 1-9. However, turns out I was a little high as it fell short by one ounce, coming in at 1-8. Another decent fish compared to the majority of bass from the fishing hole but I was running out of time.
Best for Last – The old saying was indeed true as my final catch of the day was the bass I was looking for at 1-11 on a buzzbait, boosting the record by a whole two ounces. I cast around for another fifteen minutes or so but the wind had gotten so bad that I had to call it quits without another bite. Good way to end my day, though.
9:22am Top Bass and new Iowa personal best 15″ 1-11 Buzzbait
Five bass at 12” or better and a new Iowa personal best in just over three hours certainly reinforced my decision to try a change of scenery on Lost Grove. Compared to 2 bass over 12” in the previous 13.75 hours it seems like I just might be onto something. For further research, I went back the next day, and again yesterday evening. Getting behind on the fishing reports…stay tuned (and check out the Facebook page). Talk to you later. Troy