TL;DR - Get out and fish, leave the topwater at home, dont be bashful about size of fly, bass are biting.
Well it would have been easy for me to be super lame and bum round the house, but to hell with that! If I have to mow the lawn then there are surely some bass to be caught, right?
Armed with a hall pass and some fresh ties whipped up by @Sir Homey I packed my trusty OSG Trinity and head to the local watering hole. Usually, I haul in my pontoon to this spot but with the wind forecast I opted for the tube since it sits lower to the water and hands free maneuvers are a lot easier! I knew the water would be higher and weeds growth low enough that it wouldn't be an issue since this lake is pretty shallow. Come late Summer this is not an option!
As far as gear, I settled on subsurface presentations. I knew if I had brought a floating line and poppers that I would have fished that for far longer than justified. Besides that's what June is for. This trip: 10' 6wt with a I/2/3 Sinking line size and 9' 8wt with sink-tip line.
I arrived, eager to get on the water. The wind was whippin (good call on the tube), but at least it wasn't raining and a few breaks in the clouds allowed me to soak up the much needed Vitamin D. Eventually I found them. There was a Northeastern edge that I was able to get to, and I casted in the deeper water adjacent to where I have caught them before. Here I enjoyed about half hour catching 4 nice specimens about 18 inches give or take all on the same rod. Each one had a subtle take, but would come to life after feeling the hook point.
After this my phone died so that was the end of pictures.
At this point wind had kicked up to the point I needed to find some sheltered water so I wasn't fighting the breeze. Unfortunately this was on the southern shore. Shaded, colder, and deeper. I was not surprised that nothing was caught along there.
Coming to the western shore headed to the takeout, I switched over to the 8wt with a larger streamer tied on a worm hook. I was graced by a big ol momma who dug in and put a nice deep bend in the 8wt. I didn't have a scale but I'm guessing 4-5 pounds. Of course, I couldn't grab a photo, but she was a stunner!
At this point I was done being brutalized by the wind and called it. 5 for 5 seems like a successful Western Washington Bass trip, any day of the year much less the first day of April. Plus I got to enjoy a menagerie of birds being birds.
I passed a gentleman as I was heading out. He asked if I had any luck and I smiled and gave my usual response of "I got a couple tugs.'' His said it was a little early in the season. Maybe but you can't argue with results.
Couple more fish pics that I got before the phone died...
Happy fishin.
Well it would have been easy for me to be super lame and bum round the house, but to hell with that! If I have to mow the lawn then there are surely some bass to be caught, right?
Armed with a hall pass and some fresh ties whipped up by @Sir Homey I packed my trusty OSG Trinity and head to the local watering hole. Usually, I haul in my pontoon to this spot but with the wind forecast I opted for the tube since it sits lower to the water and hands free maneuvers are a lot easier! I knew the water would be higher and weeds growth low enough that it wouldn't be an issue since this lake is pretty shallow. Come late Summer this is not an option!
As far as gear, I settled on subsurface presentations. I knew if I had brought a floating line and poppers that I would have fished that for far longer than justified. Besides that's what June is for. This trip: 10' 6wt with a I/2/3 Sinking line size and 9' 8wt with sink-tip line.
I arrived, eager to get on the water. The wind was whippin (good call on the tube), but at least it wasn't raining and a few breaks in the clouds allowed me to soak up the much needed Vitamin D. Eventually I found them. There was a Northeastern edge that I was able to get to, and I casted in the deeper water adjacent to where I have caught them before. Here I enjoyed about half hour catching 4 nice specimens about 18 inches give or take all on the same rod. Each one had a subtle take, but would come to life after feeling the hook point.
After this my phone died so that was the end of pictures.
At this point wind had kicked up to the point I needed to find some sheltered water so I wasn't fighting the breeze. Unfortunately this was on the southern shore. Shaded, colder, and deeper. I was not surprised that nothing was caught along there.Coming to the western shore headed to the takeout, I switched over to the 8wt with a larger streamer tied on a worm hook. I was graced by a big ol momma who dug in and put a nice deep bend in the 8wt. I didn't have a scale but I'm guessing 4-5 pounds. Of course, I couldn't grab a photo, but she was a stunner!
At this point I was done being brutalized by the wind and called it. 5 for 5 seems like a successful Western Washington Bass trip, any day of the year much less the first day of April. Plus I got to enjoy a menagerie of birds being birds.
I passed a gentleman as I was heading out. He asked if I had any luck and I smiled and gave my usual response of "I got a couple tugs.'' His said it was a little early in the season. Maybe but you can't argue with results.
Couple more fish pics that I got before the phone died...
Happy fishin.
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