My First Two Fishing Outings in 2011

[islandbass]

My First Two Fishing Outings in 2011

Outing #1 – Monday, May 2, 2011

The first outing left a bitter taste of rust, or at least the shaking of it off, as I attempted to catch for my first bass with a jig a rubber skirt. If you didn’t know, jigs and I don’t get along. Could you imagine entering your eighth season of fishing and still NOT landing a bass with a jig and rubber skirt? Oh the embarrassment! To add salt to the wound, I was pleasantly surprised to have had not one but two excellent opportunities to finally get this done while fishing through hand-numbing cold, non-stop, pouring rain.

From the dock, I pitched my jig right where I intended (grass and old lily pad remains) and watched it descend about five feet to the bottom. Shortly after the jig hit bottom, a 15” largemouth bass came out of nowhere and inspected the jig. I gave it a tiny hop and that was all she needed to commit to the strike. In my thoughts I shouted, “Ah yeah!!” Then, I set the hook. Unfortunately, the excitement of the situation overcame my usually cool and collected approach and I yanked the jig away a split second too soon. The silent, “Ah yeah,” was followed by a loud and verbal, “Oh no!”

I let the environment rest a few minutes and tried again in another spot close to where I made the first cast. Can you believe I did the exact same thing again?

Further attempts yield no other takers and neither did changing tactics. 0 for 2 can make you blue, especially if you haven’t fished for bass since last October. The poor weather didn’t help either.

Conditions: Miserable – Overcast, constant rain, about 45 degrees F.
Gear:
Rod #1 Cabelas Mag-Touch casting, Curado 101D, Black and Blue jig with a zipper worm as a trailer, 8# Spiderwire Mono

Rod#2 Shimano Compre spinning, Rapala 6Sxi reel, various plastics, 6# Invizx.


Outing #2 – Friday, May 6, 2011

This was definitely an unplanned trip. Had to run some errands downtown and happened to have one rig, a casting rod and a reel and some finesse tackle with me. The weather conditions were overcast as is was on the first trip, but this time there was no accompanying rain.

I only had time to use one tactic and I chose the drop shot. After a number of snags, forced break offs, and trying two different plastics, I finally broke through with the third bait, a brown sniper snub. After dragging the drop shot rig about three times, I felt a mushy take and I knew it was game on and fortunately this time around, I remained composed.

Yes! My first bass of the season, and I am glad to get that monkey off of my back. I released the bass after taking a photo and it swam away vigorously. I am glad I caught her when I did because I was also out of time.

Conditions: Fair – Overcast, but dry about 50 degrees F.
Gear:
Cabelas Mag-Touch casting, Curado 101D, Sniper Snub worms, 8# Spiderwire Mono


Not a pig, and not taken with a jig, but I’ll take her!