Immediate Success

Posted by MNAngler On August - 1 - 2010

Date: 7/30/2010
Time: 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Body of water: Tiger Cat Flowage
Location: Hayward, MN
Weather Conditions: partly cloudy

As I mentioned in my last post, my brother is in town. He’s here because my aunt, uncle, and cousin from Canada, and cousin from California are visiting. As part of the visit, we all went to my dad’s cabin in Northwest Wisconsin.

The family got there first and when I arrived, the first thing I noticed was that lily pads had grown not more than 10 feet from the dock. I haven’t been to the cabin in the middle of summer for several years, so this was a nice surprise.

Shortly after we got there, my brother went down to the dock to see what he could stir up. He dropped a little plastic craw in a hole about 12 feet from the dock and got a swirl, then another. But before he could entice a third, he had to go cook dinner.

I pulled out a bubble gum fluke, sent it flying over the target area, and reeled it back through. Nothing bit. I did this a couple of more times with no success. I then decided to try a bigger hole further out. Still nothing.

Given the swirl earlier, I decided to try a topwater scum frog. On the third or fourth cast, I watched as a splash engulfed my frog. I waited the obligatory two seconds and set the hook. It fought until I pulled it through some weeds, then stopped. I was afraid I had lost it. All I pulled out of the water was a pile of weeds. But I never let tension off the line, just in case. Sure enough, after sifting through the greenery, I found a 12″ largemouth bass.

Species: Largemouth bass
Size: 12″
Lure used: chartreuse scum frog

My dad came running down with a tape measure because it turns out we can only keep bass 14″ or more from this lake. So I tossed it back.

The girl messed up my frog so that the hooks were exposed. Guilty of not really paying attention to the frog all these years I’ve owned it, I had no idea how to fix it. I spent a good 5 minutes fiddling with it and finally decided I needed just to cast it even if it wasn’t weedless any more.

On the very next cast, SPLASH! Again, I was able to control my excitement, waited 2 seconds and set the hook. Again, it stopped fighting when I hit weeds and again I pulled in a pile of greenery. This time I found a 14″ bass under the mess. A keeper!

Species: Largemouth bass
Size: 14″
Lure used: chartreuse scum frog

My cousin from California hadn’t fished in over 20 years, so I asked him if he wanted to try. I gave him my rod and gave him a quick lesson on how to cast and how to retrieve the frog. I tossed a bubble gum fluke on my other rod. Unfortunately, nothing struck either of us before we had to go in for dinner.

After dinner, my brother threw a chartreuse spinnerbait while I tried a topwater prop frog for about 15 minutes, but nothing else bit.

It was still a good start to the weekend and a sign of things to come.

3 Responses to “Immediate Success”

  1. bassdem says:

    Good to see it’s working for you up there. When the hooks get turned around, you just have to tug and twist a bit to line everything back up. A healthy fight will sometimes twist the hooks upside down. I’m used to it by now. I’m taking someone’s advice and plan on investing in a hook sharpener. With that fluke, I would have just let it drop and sit a moment, with only subtle lifts and drags. Sounds like fun, though. I need to have another pier day soon.

    • MNAngler says:

      Yeah, the frog was upside down alright. I kept trying to fluff up the body. My brother was able to figure it out later that night. I was able to use it the next morning with some success.

      I usually do let the fluke sit for a few seconds after the cast. I typically twitch it back, but I’ll be sure to try your technique the next time I’m out. I just don’t think it was a fluke kind of night.

Leave a Reply


CURRENT MOON