Fishing with my dad in Iowa last weekend...(Really long & lots of pics!)

[WatterBoy]

Bass season still isn't open here in MN yet, so I made the 2-hour drive down to my parents' place in IA last Friday after work. On the way down, I contemplated what lure I should use first. My dad had warned me that the grass mats were becoming more prevalent on top of the water and the thick weeds/slime under the water were making it tough to throw anything except top-water baits. I had really liked the looks of the Koppers Hollow Body Field Mouse when I bought two of them at Cabela's this past winter, so I tied on the brown/white one when I got there and went to chucking that as my first option. That ended up being the only lure I threw all weekend, except for about 30 minutes on Saturday night when I caught a couple on a jig & pig! Every fish I'm holding below came on the same mouse that is pictured at the very end. Maybe it was just a case of "right time, right place" this weekend, but I sure do have very high hopes for this lure after catching so many fish with it the first time I ever used it. I'm not sure how the bass even knew it was up on the surface with all the crazy winds and rolling waves we had all weekend, but somehow they did! Again, maybe it was just the aggressiveness of the fish, but I can't believe how well the hooksets went with this mouse...20 of 22 times that I set the hook I hooked up, and I landed 19 of those and lost 1 in the heavy weeds. I was using 20-pound Power Pro braided line on a Shimano Symetre spinning reel.

Friday night at the lake

3lb 4oz, 17.5" -- hadn't even been there 10 minutes when I landed this one, three other smaller ones followed before the 3.12 shown below.


2lb 11oz, 16.0" - Spro Poppin' Frog - my dad's only fish of the night


3lb 12oz, 18.0" - the last of my five bass for the night



Saturday morning at the lake

3lb 4oz, 17.5" - arrived at the lake by myself at 5:30 a.m., had landed two small bass by 5:45, and caught this one shortly after 6:00 just as my dad was pulling into the parking lot. I caught two more small ones before we left at 8:00, but unfortunately, my dad was skunked.


Saturday morning at the gravel pits

2lb 12oz, 15.75" for my dad's fish (5" wacky-rigged senko); 4lb 2oz, 18.5" for mine - a doubleheader! We made use of the timer on my camera to get a shot of the two us, the only ones there at the time.



4lb 5oz, 18.0" - high noon after I had hiked through the underbrush to get to the only semi-calm spot you can see at the far end of the pit behind me. First cast back there yielded this one! We left after releasing it because we needed to get home for lunch. Four more bass for me, two for my dad during this brief outing.



Saturday night at the lake

4lb 5oz, 18.0" - I caught the only fish at the lake during our brief stay there on Saturday night. We made the 20 minute drive from there to the pits because it's not weedy at all there and we had more lure options available to us there.



Saturday night at the gravel pits

2lb 11oz, 15.75" (5" wacky-rigged senko) - one of my dad's two fish for the night; I caught a small one on the mouse and two small ones on a jig & pig. I had a huge WHOOOOSH "swipe and miss" from what looked like a good bass literally ONE FOOT from shore as I was lifting my mouse out of the water.



Sunday morning at the lake

3lb 3oz, 17.0" - My dad finally relented and took me up on my offer to try the mouse late on Saturday night. He got his first one with it, and his biggest fish of the weekend, on Sunday morning. He had another one on, but lost it on the way in. This was his only fish of the outing.


4lb 6oz, 20.0" - I made one cast from the boat launch dock you see in the picture after having caught two small ones from the shoreline near my dad, and this was the result. This is only the fourth 20" bass of my life, so I was pretty pumped. It was a great way to end a fun weekend of fishing with my dad!


This is what the field mouse looked like after pretty much every fish, so it takes a little bit of adjusting to get the hooks flipped around and the tail and legs squared away again to get back to fishing...


And I'd say about every 4th fish, the hook came completely out of the mouse body and it took even more manipulation to get it ready to go again...


These are kind of blurry, but this gives you an idea of how the mouse stands up after 19 landed fish and 1 other one that got away after a good fight...just a little paint loss around the nose and tail and a few scrapes on its back. I thought it was very durable.




I left both of the mice with my dad when I headed back home on Sunday afternoon, and then I just stopped by the Cabela's outside of town here and picked up two new ones. As long as I was there, I also picked up Live Target frog since I was very impressed with the Field Mouse.

[islandbass]

What a great report!!! I discounted the use of a mouse but not anymore. The next time I go to cabela's I'm going to buy a couple. What type of rod (power and action) suited to using the mouse?

Kudos to you for taking your dad fishing. Memories to cherish for sure.

[keithdog]

That was a great time spend with your dad for sure! Enjoyed reading your report. I went on line to check out those mouse lures and the common complaint was that they do not hold up to a fighting fish. I guess one just has to realize he'll need to put it back together after every fish. Not a biggie, so long as they catch fish. Congrats on your outting!

[WatterBoy]

Originally Posted by islandbass

What a great report!!! I discounted the use of a mouse but not anymore. The next time I go to cabela's I'm going to buy a couple. What type of rod (power and action) suited to using the mouse?

Kudos to you for taking your dad fishing. Memories to cherish for sure.

Yep, I love fishing with my dad any chance I get. That's what it's all about for both of us. Any fish we catch are just a bonus.

I was using a Cabela's Fish Eagle II rod, 7' H, not sure what the action on it is.

One other thing I forgot to mention is that the mouse casts like a bullet. I was casting into 30+ mph winds and getting great distance. When I would cast with the wind at my back, I was casting farther than I can ever remember casting anything I've ever thrown before.

Originally Posted by keithdog

That was a great time spend with your dad for sure! Enjoyed reading your report. I went on line to check out those mouse lures and the common complaint was that they do not hold up to a fighting fish. I guess one just has to realize he'll need to put it back together after every fish. Not a biggie, so long as they catch fish. Congrats on your outting!

Maybe the fish here are smaller than what others are used to, but they were just brutes as far as fighting goes...for LM anyway. We'll see once I tie into some smallies up at our cabin how that goes. Anyway, I was pleased with its durability, but I've found that people's experiences vary, so a lot of times I just need to try something out for myself, regardless of what someone else might say.

[Jrob78]

Great report as always Dean! I think it's so cool that you and your family enjoy fishing together. It would do a lot of families a lot of good to have something like that to do together.

Those are some nice, healthy looking fish. I would say the mouse held up pretty well considering the beating it took. I'll say it again, Kopper's Live Target makes really good baits. They cost a little more than your average bait but I think it's well worth it.

[WatterBoy]

Originally Posted by Jrob78

Great report as always Dean! I think it's so cool that you and your family enjoy fishing together. It would do a lot of families a lot of good to have something like that to do together.

Those are some nice, healthy looking fish. I would say the mouse held up pretty well considering the beating it took. I'll say it again, Kopper's Live Target makes really good baits. They cost a little more than your average bait but I think it's well worth it.

Thanks, Joe. I'm anxious to hear how you and others from this site do when you get a chance to try yours. I am also very anxious to try mine out up at our cabin this weekend and next week. They are going like hotcakes at the Cabela's here. When I was there on Sunday, they didn't have any of the brown/white or gray/white in either size. So I bought a black/white and a plain white one instead. When I went back to pick up another spool of line tonight, I checked on them again and there were only black/white ones left now. I don't really think the color will matter, but I've become kind of partial to the brown/white one for some reason.

[bcklash]

Great report and pictures Dean. Keep'em comin.

[rrw4258]

Sounds like an awesome weekend! Glad you guys were able to spend some time together and catch some fish!

Ryan

[islandbass]

Thanks! I wonder if this will be my excuse to add a H powered rod to my arsenal! If it catches half the bass you did, that would still be cool.

[Bubba_Bruiser]

Things that make you say sumanafish! Whackamole or throw a mouse. Sounds like you definitely made the right call.

[bamabassman]

and here we go again folks. the waterboy has started his assault ont he bass once more.



FANTASTIC DEAN!!!!!

[woody]

Hey Dean, once again you deliver an awesome fishing report. Way to go!


-Mark

[Bassboss]

Thanks for sharing dean! Love the looks of those lake's yaller fishin. Great pics too... quality time with dad.