First bass of 2011 after a long winter

[keithdog]

The lake had only been ice free since wednesday and the water temps must have been only in the upper 30's. It was cold and rainy all morning with strong winds, but by mid afternoon the rain had shut off. I really wanted to try out my new BPS Carbon Black casting reel and so I drove out to the lake around 4PM. Was only planning on staying 20 minutes or so. It was cold! I had an Excaliber floating minnow jerkbait tied on and began working off a pier in a northwest bay. On my 5th cast I landed this chunky 3-4 pounder. That really put a smile on my face. I landed another about the same size 10 minutes later. I'm thinking I might be onto something here. The water I was working was around 6-7 foot deep and my jerkbait was nipping the tips of the weeds below. The lure I was using rises slowly back to the surface, so I was able to work it fairly slow and still maintain some depth, but also able to stay out of the weeds. Suddenly after fishing 30 minutes or so I felt a huge weight on my line and reared back. Oh my, I had a monster on! I worked the bass gently back towards the pier and once it was close I could see it easily was going to weigh over 8 pounds. I caught my personal best last summer, an 8 pounder out of the same lake. This bass was bigger by far. It's mouth and head were HUGE. As it came closer to the pier I started getting down to grab it by the jaw when it reared back and shook off. I about cried on that one. I would have released the gal anyways, but I would have wanted to take a pic to show you guys. I ended up catching 5 bass in total in about 90 minutes before I had to leave. I can't wait to get back oout there again. Maybe tomorrow night. The BPS Carbon Black reel performed fantastic. I couldn't be happier with the reel. And one last bit of great news. For those who remember my earlier post about my fears of a heavy fish dieoff from this winter, this is that same lake I was concerned about. Outside of the initial dead fish I found that first day, I havn't seen any more, and todays outting tells me the lake faired just fine. Thank God for that! Detecting the strike today was as it normally is in very cold water. It wasn't like a strike, but rather a sudden resistance on the line. Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again. A lot is said about suspending jerkbaits in early prespawn. But don't discount a floating jerkbait in shallow water no matter how cold it is. I've had tremendous luck over the years on the floating versions. And I'm always suprised by how often I have found bass in shallow water right after iceout.