cprince
Well-known member
A friend of mine and I have been e-mailing back and forth for a couple of months trying to get together for an outing. At the last minute, we were able to go out Friday.
When he FINALLY got to the my farm, it was hot. muggy at about 86F and somewhat sunny. We drove an hour north with a pit stop for a Quebec fishing license for Lonnie and some inappropriate banter with the owner about magazines available at the country store and whether or not one should lick their fingers whilst perusing the pages...
After one wrong turn (Sorry Lonnie... not used to the sun being SOooo high over head... obscures my recollection of direction...) we got to the launch and we were quickly on the water. The wind was quite strong… about 12 to 15 mph out of the SW.
There are lakers, big pike, white fish and of course bass in this lake... the plan all along was to show Lonnie to some sweet Quebec bass. There were two main places on this deep lake that I wanted to hit; one big shallow bay and one outlet into a creek. Both places socked in with weeds and rice patties.
Our first port of call was a large shallow bay with one of the biggest expanses of rice patties around.
The first thing I pitch was a Spro Frog... pitched it out about 3 or for times into some lily pads before getting a 2.5lb'er to Hoover it down... Minutes later, another one that was within a couple of ounces of the first.
Got Lonnie to guide his Lund into the rice patties... so I can throw what I love to throw through those patties... 1/8oz black buzz bait. I was using a generic brand one... they are as good as any that I can get at the big box stores. I use the 1/8oz because they slip through the heavy cover without getting caught up... you might end up dancing on the reed tops... but so often when it lands in the water, it will miss the water and land in a bass's mouth!!
I don't think Lonnie expected what was to happen next... pitching out the buzz in long casts, and retrieving it slowly and deliberately, the bass just exploded at them... not certain how many I got like this, maybe 4 or 5 in a short amount of time… but it was a ball!
Note the reeds in the background... we are talking about maybe 2 FOW there at most... If you find reeds like this, tie on a light buzz bait and get ready for a ball. Once you get how to pull it through that forest of sticks... you will be hooked and your collection of buzz baits will expand! I was using varying strengths of Power Pro to pull and cut through ANY slop... and docks if need be!
Lonnie was flipping jigs and getting plenty of action. He was having a bit of a hard time with the hook set... but he had a smile on his face from ear to ear.
We moved on to the second destination... a weed socked narrow part of the lake that funnels into a creek that flows into the next lake south. Pads on either side and a lot of weeds under water.
From previous experience, I know that I could throw a buzz bait in the clear part of the water in the middle of the channel, and pull in 2lb'er after 2lb'er all day... but we were hunting bigger prey. This is where the frog would shine.
Lonnie started pitching out a nice green frog and started getting blow up after blow up in the pads.
With my bright yellow frog, the blow ups were more frequent at times... but I couldn't help going back to the now less productive buzz bait.
Here are some real nice shots that Lonnie took with his camera;
And one shot I took with his AWESOME camera!!
Then the sky opened up... and did it ever. The bite turned off during the downpour. After staying out in the rain for about an hour, we made it back to the launch to dry off and check the BlackBerry for the radar shots... we were lucky. The rain was over in time for us to hit the rice patties for the night bite!!
Problem for me was that it was now a completely different day. The temp must have dropped about 10 to 15 degrees... and the wind was now almost nonexistent. When we got to the patties, I threw what I loved to throw… black buzz bait. While I did get a couple SMALL bass… I was not getting any real satisfaction. No explosions like we were getting just 2 or 3 hours prior. But Lonnie was getting heavy action with his jig… but not sinking the hook home! He changed to a Texas hooked Senko… and the results were almost immediate. Blow up after blowup.. while I was pitching my now impotent buzz baits…
There came a point, where the sun was kissing the horizon… I casted my ineffective buzz and just before it hit the water, behind me, a ruckus. Lonnie had pitched his Senko into an interesting transition point where rice patties met triangle heads in about 1 FOW… what I saw when I turned my head was something like white water rapids or a washing machine exploding. MASSIVE blowup!! Unfortunately, Lonnie couldn’t bring it home! It got wrapped around some weeds on the way in and off he went.
At that point, I went to the Senkos. Two casts later and something almost pulled my rod out of my hand. I went to set the hook… and up comes my line sans hook!!!
We made our way back to the launch pretty satisfied with our day. I learned a valuable lesson; Drop the buzz when it stops working!!!!
…and Lonnie had one of his best frogging days ever!
No big pigs.. but a day that had me learn something!
Craig
When he FINALLY got to the my farm, it was hot. muggy at about 86F and somewhat sunny. We drove an hour north with a pit stop for a Quebec fishing license for Lonnie and some inappropriate banter with the owner about magazines available at the country store and whether or not one should lick their fingers whilst perusing the pages...
After one wrong turn (Sorry Lonnie... not used to the sun being SOooo high over head... obscures my recollection of direction...) we got to the launch and we were quickly on the water. The wind was quite strong… about 12 to 15 mph out of the SW.
There are lakers, big pike, white fish and of course bass in this lake... the plan all along was to show Lonnie to some sweet Quebec bass. There were two main places on this deep lake that I wanted to hit; one big shallow bay and one outlet into a creek. Both places socked in with weeds and rice patties.
Our first port of call was a large shallow bay with one of the biggest expanses of rice patties around.
The first thing I pitch was a Spro Frog... pitched it out about 3 or for times into some lily pads before getting a 2.5lb'er to Hoover it down... Minutes later, another one that was within a couple of ounces of the first.
Got Lonnie to guide his Lund into the rice patties... so I can throw what I love to throw through those patties... 1/8oz black buzz bait. I was using a generic brand one... they are as good as any that I can get at the big box stores. I use the 1/8oz because they slip through the heavy cover without getting caught up... you might end up dancing on the reed tops... but so often when it lands in the water, it will miss the water and land in a bass's mouth!!
I don't think Lonnie expected what was to happen next... pitching out the buzz in long casts, and retrieving it slowly and deliberately, the bass just exploded at them... not certain how many I got like this, maybe 4 or 5 in a short amount of time… but it was a ball!
Note the reeds in the background... we are talking about maybe 2 FOW there at most... If you find reeds like this, tie on a light buzz bait and get ready for a ball. Once you get how to pull it through that forest of sticks... you will be hooked and your collection of buzz baits will expand! I was using varying strengths of Power Pro to pull and cut through ANY slop... and docks if need be!
Lonnie was flipping jigs and getting plenty of action. He was having a bit of a hard time with the hook set... but he had a smile on his face from ear to ear.
We moved on to the second destination... a weed socked narrow part of the lake that funnels into a creek that flows into the next lake south. Pads on either side and a lot of weeds under water.
From previous experience, I know that I could throw a buzz bait in the clear part of the water in the middle of the channel, and pull in 2lb'er after 2lb'er all day... but we were hunting bigger prey. This is where the frog would shine.
Lonnie started pitching out a nice green frog and started getting blow up after blow up in the pads.
With my bright yellow frog, the blow ups were more frequent at times... but I couldn't help going back to the now less productive buzz bait.
Here are some real nice shots that Lonnie took with his camera;
And one shot I took with his AWESOME camera!!
Then the sky opened up... and did it ever. The bite turned off during the downpour. After staying out in the rain for about an hour, we made it back to the launch to dry off and check the BlackBerry for the radar shots... we were lucky. The rain was over in time for us to hit the rice patties for the night bite!!
Problem for me was that it was now a completely different day. The temp must have dropped about 10 to 15 degrees... and the wind was now almost nonexistent. When we got to the patties, I threw what I loved to throw… black buzz bait. While I did get a couple SMALL bass… I was not getting any real satisfaction. No explosions like we were getting just 2 or 3 hours prior. But Lonnie was getting heavy action with his jig… but not sinking the hook home! He changed to a Texas hooked Senko… and the results were almost immediate. Blow up after blowup.. while I was pitching my now impotent buzz baits…
There came a point, where the sun was kissing the horizon… I casted my ineffective buzz and just before it hit the water, behind me, a ruckus. Lonnie had pitched his Senko into an interesting transition point where rice patties met triangle heads in about 1 FOW… what I saw when I turned my head was something like white water rapids or a washing machine exploding. MASSIVE blowup!! Unfortunately, Lonnie couldn’t bring it home! It got wrapped around some weeds on the way in and off he went.
At that point, I went to the Senkos. Two casts later and something almost pulled my rod out of my hand. I went to set the hook… and up comes my line sans hook!!!
We made our way back to the launch pretty satisfied with our day. I learned a valuable lesson; Drop the buzz when it stops working!!!!
…and Lonnie had one of his best frogging days ever!
No big pigs.. but a day that had me learn something!
Craig
