What a Day!
The winter seemed to drag on, and it seemed like spring would never get here. I’m from East Texas, and my blood is a whole lot thinner than my Michigan born wife’s blood is and the cold and I don’t get along all that well. But, the sun has been shining, there are green sprouts beginning to show in the yard, and I have had spring time fishing on the brain! Oh boy, oh boy, I couldn’t wait for this weekend. Then came the cold front. It’s ok, I told myself. I know how to do this. Sunday afternoon should be just fine.
And, was it ever!
I got to the Bowman Springs boat ramp about noon and for the sake of writing the Lake Arlington Fishing Report I headed straight to one of the creeks to see if the crappie were still holding. The big wave hasn’t quite reached the creeks, but I caught one and had a couple of bites, so I picked up my bass catching flipping stick with watermelon red soft plastic creature bait on the end and went to work looking for bass. It wasn’t long, before I got a bite and set the hook on a crappie! That is one mean crappie to bite this bait, so the crappie report just went from fair to good in a hurry! A short while later, I caught bass number one. He was a small keeper buck bass.
I fan casted the flats with a chatter bait near the creek channel looking for cruising bass. They should have been there, but I cast out a carolina rig with a heavy weight onto the flat to see what kind of bottom was there…and it was really soft. Not what we’re looking for when targeting spawning bass. Bass want to make their beds on firmer bottom (gravel is best!), and this wasn’t what I was looking for. So, I moved out toward the main lake where there was a cove I knew well that had what I was looking for. Towards the back of the cove was a an overhanging thicket of buck brush, and I thought to myself that although the water is heavily stained, and I can’t see the bottom even with my polarized sunglasses, that looks like an ideal spot for a spawning bed, so I pitched my bait into the thick of the brush.
My line began to slow swim off, and I set the hook. It felt like I set the hook on a wall. She came out of the thicket and swam under the boat stripping line from my drag. I worked her back towards the surface and was reaching down to get her when she kicked one last time and spit my bait. She was easily in the 8 to 9 lb class. What a monster! I fished on down the bank to let that spot rest. I caught one other small bass, before I returned to that spot to see if I could get her to take again. If she was truly on a bed I probably could have gotten her to bite one more time, but she wasn’t, and I couldn’t. So, I ran down the lake to the dam to fish the sun warmed rocks.
First cast I catch a nice keeper. Two casts later I had about a 3 lber on. I worked down the bank and boated several more. Some small, but the biggest was about 4 lbs. I saw other boats leaving the dam and thought, “What are you doing!?” I knew a couple of other anglers had seen me catch a couple of bass, but they moved on. I called a friend and told him to grab his tackle box and meet me at the dock. The bite was on! I also called my wife and asked her to bring the kids and the video camera. I kept three good fish and picked up my friend and met some folks who were bank fishing. It was so cool! This one young man told me he had watched my Lake Arlington Fishing Tip videos this morning! Unfortunately, I didn’t have The Fishing Librarian cards with me, or I would have given him an autographed copy. I hope he’ll come to the event at California Lane Park on April 9th. I’ll have them with me, then.
My wife called and was still looking for the camera, so my buddy and I went and fished for a bit until she got there. We came back to the dock, and I invited several kids and their families to join me to film this week’s Lake Arlington Fishing Tip video on how to let kids safely touch a fish. What fun! Be sure to check it out by clicking on the video image at the beginning of this article.
I said goodbye to my new friends, and my buddy and I went back to where I started the day. They were in there, and I felt horrible! I caught big bass numbers 15, 16, 17, and 18! The picture at left here is one of those four bass. My buddy caught just one more keeper size buck bass. He was good natured about it, and he even offered to back the trailer down to the water for me to load the boat when we got back. He kinda had that look in his eye like he intended to see if my truck would float! :)
What a day on the water, and the long cold winter, the cold front that came through Friday night, and even the chill that remained tonight when we were heading back down the lake to load up and head home were all forgotten. Catching a bunch of big healthy Lake Arlington bass was just the icing on the cake. The best part of the day was making new friends and sharing a love of the outdoors with the families I met today.
And, was it ever!
I got to the Bowman Springs boat ramp about noon and for the sake of writing the Lake Arlington Fishing Report I headed straight to one of the creeks to see if the crappie were still holding. The big wave hasn’t quite reached the creeks, but I caught one and had a couple of bites, so I picked up my bass catching flipping stick with watermelon red soft plastic creature bait on the end and went to work looking for bass. It wasn’t long, before I got a bite and set the hook on a crappie! That is one mean crappie to bite this bait, so the crappie report just went from fair to good in a hurry! A short while later, I caught bass number one. He was a small keeper buck bass.
I fan casted the flats with a chatter bait near the creek channel looking for cruising bass. They should have been there, but I cast out a carolina rig with a heavy weight onto the flat to see what kind of bottom was there…and it was really soft. Not what we’re looking for when targeting spawning bass. Bass want to make their beds on firmer bottom (gravel is best!), and this wasn’t what I was looking for. So, I moved out toward the main lake where there was a cove I knew well that had what I was looking for. Towards the back of the cove was a an overhanging thicket of buck brush, and I thought to myself that although the water is heavily stained, and I can’t see the bottom even with my polarized sunglasses, that looks like an ideal spot for a spawning bed, so I pitched my bait into the thick of the brush.
My line began to slow swim off, and I set the hook. It felt like I set the hook on a wall. She came out of the thicket and swam under the boat stripping line from my drag. I worked her back towards the surface and was reaching down to get her when she kicked one last time and spit my bait. She was easily in the 8 to 9 lb class. What a monster! I fished on down the bank to let that spot rest. I caught one other small bass, before I returned to that spot to see if I could get her to take again. If she was truly on a bed I probably could have gotten her to bite one more time, but she wasn’t, and I couldn’t. So, I ran down the lake to the dam to fish the sun warmed rocks.
First cast I catch a nice keeper. Two casts later I had about a 3 lber on. I worked down the bank and boated several more. Some small, but the biggest was about 4 lbs. I saw other boats leaving the dam and thought, “What are you doing!?” I knew a couple of other anglers had seen me catch a couple of bass, but they moved on. I called a friend and told him to grab his tackle box and meet me at the dock. The bite was on! I also called my wife and asked her to bring the kids and the video camera. I kept three good fish and picked up my friend and met some folks who were bank fishing. It was so cool! This one young man told me he had watched my Lake Arlington Fishing Tip videos this morning! Unfortunately, I didn’t have The Fishing Librarian cards with me, or I would have given him an autographed copy. I hope he’ll come to the event at California Lane Park on April 9th. I’ll have them with me, then.
My wife called and was still looking for the camera, so my buddy and I went and fished for a bit until she got there. We came back to the dock, and I invited several kids and their families to join me to film this week’s Lake Arlington Fishing Tip video on how to let kids safely touch a fish. What fun! Be sure to check it out by clicking on the video image at the beginning of this article.
I said goodbye to my new friends, and my buddy and I went back to where I started the day. They were in there, and I felt horrible! I caught big bass numbers 15, 16, 17, and 18! The picture at left here is one of those four bass. My buddy caught just one more keeper size buck bass. He was good natured about it, and he even offered to back the trailer down to the water for me to load the boat when we got back. He kinda had that look in his eye like he intended to see if my truck would float! :)
What a day on the water, and the long cold winter, the cold front that came through Friday night, and even the chill that remained tonight when we were heading back down the lake to load up and head home were all forgotten. Catching a bunch of big healthy Lake Arlington bass was just the icing on the cake. The best part of the day was making new friends and sharing a love of the outdoors with the families I met today.
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