Haven't posted lately, but I've been doing my thing bassing every day and catching virtually every day with one exception. Upon consultation with the older, and more accomplished brother of someone who writes books on bass fishing using bucktails, we decided on a bucktailing strategy to try in a narrow. deep cut on a local river where the current runs so hard the lobstermen can't set traps, shades of Plum Gut. Years ago I had tried near this place, but constantly lost rigs on "ghost" lobster traps.
Ran over there on Weds afternoon and made a few drifts with no joy. I wasn't too upset in that I didn't see any fish on the sounder and I didn't lose any rigs.
Since I was close to a decent bass casting spot, I decided to give that a shot, although I was not happy with the "middle of day" bright sunlight. Casted for a while and decided "last cast" when my plug got smashed 10' from the boat. After some thrashing the 24ish" fish shot straight up into the air and we looked at each other eye to eye! Then I had to duck as he sent my lure straight back at me. I figured that was a sign that it was time to quit and accept the skunk, not feeling too badly about it as this was more of an experimental exploration trip than serious fishing.
As I walked up my pier my eye caught sight of a mackerel colored lure sitting on top of the rockweed, so I snagged it and brought it up. I thanked Poseidon for the gift and brought it up to the house. It was something I had never seen before, and further research yesterday showed it was a Yo-zuri 3D TopKnot Pencil 5" Topwater Knocker, virtually brand new. I tied a leader on it and put it on the boat dash.
The daily AM "blitzes" in my harbor have become such quick events that the gulls and terns can't even make it over to grab some baitfish before it's all over. Since I'm not as strong in The Force as Yoda, I decided to remember some wise words from Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson: No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy. From recent observation, I noted that these brief frenzies tended to be in a specific, but large area so this AM I got the boat up current of that area and just let fate decide the rest. I ended up catching 2, which were just blind casts, and dropping 2 that hit when a fish fed within casting range of the boat and I was able to drop my lure on its head, something I refer to as "Target of Opportunity Fishing".
Not a bad morning and I was pleased in that my newfound TopKnot caught the larger (24") of the two fish.
Ran over there on Weds afternoon and made a few drifts with no joy. I wasn't too upset in that I didn't see any fish on the sounder and I didn't lose any rigs.
Since I was close to a decent bass casting spot, I decided to give that a shot, although I was not happy with the "middle of day" bright sunlight. Casted for a while and decided "last cast" when my plug got smashed 10' from the boat. After some thrashing the 24ish" fish shot straight up into the air and we looked at each other eye to eye! Then I had to duck as he sent my lure straight back at me. I figured that was a sign that it was time to quit and accept the skunk, not feeling too badly about it as this was more of an experimental exploration trip than serious fishing.
As I walked up my pier my eye caught sight of a mackerel colored lure sitting on top of the rockweed, so I snagged it and brought it up. I thanked Poseidon for the gift and brought it up to the house. It was something I had never seen before, and further research yesterday showed it was a Yo-zuri 3D TopKnot Pencil 5" Topwater Knocker, virtually brand new. I tied a leader on it and put it on the boat dash.
The daily AM "blitzes" in my harbor have become such quick events that the gulls and terns can't even make it over to grab some baitfish before it's all over. Since I'm not as strong in The Force as Yoda, I decided to remember some wise words from Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson: No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy. From recent observation, I noted that these brief frenzies tended to be in a specific, but large area so this AM I got the boat up current of that area and just let fate decide the rest. I ended up catching 2, which were just blind casts, and dropping 2 that hit when a fish fed within casting range of the boat and I was able to drop my lure on its head, something I refer to as "Target of Opportunity Fishing".
Not a bad morning and I was pleased in that my newfound TopKnot caught the larger (24") of the two fish.
Last edited:
