Lake Bixhoma, 6/28/2013

[Allen Morgan]

Went to Bixhoma bright and early this morning.  Arrived at about 0620 to flat/calm water, and scattered LMB hitting top. 

 

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I was thinking I'd repeat yesterday, take my 8wt up to where the creek dumps into the lake, and work the weedlines over.

 

Well, I got there, trolling a Rapala F7 all the way. 

 

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Caught a small Bluegill. 

 

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Ended up heading back to the main lake to see if I could connect with any of the schooling fish in open water that I had seen.  Of course, I would have to beach, and swap out fly gear for my other spinning rig, and grab my two plano boxes of lures.

 

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On the way there, managed to catch a fish on the Rapala.  I boated the fish, tucked the rod under my arm, attached the fish grips, removed the hooks, then somehow managed to loosen my grip on my pole, which promptly fell into the lake.  The lure was floating just out of reach.  I was trying to think fast, fish in one hand, and trying to grab the lure when it nose-dived to Davy Jones' locker.  CRAP!  Got the fish on the board, when I noticed that the line for the rod leash was taunt and over the side.  THAT made me grin.  I recovered my rod, then took a pic of the fish, which I then released.

 

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Once I got my gear switched out, I set up in the NW corner for a drift, letting the wind push me, while chucking a 1/2 oz lipless crankbait around.  I never caught a fish that way.

 

I switched over to a Tiny Torpedo in silver/black. I saw a few pods of active fish tearing into bait in the NE corner, near the spillway.  I paddled over, slowly trolling the Rapala.  Got into a spot, and had 4 pods of active fish all around me.  One of those was just inside casting range.  I tossed out the Tiny Torpedo, and started ripping it back.  One LMB took a swipe at it, but didn't connect.  I realized that the Tiny Torpedo just doesn't have the weight needed for me to get it out there far enough.

 

I grabbed a Berkley Swimshad that was in my box.  It gave me some better distance, but unfortunately, not quite enough.

 

I drifted around for a couple hours, trying to position myself near a pod of surfacing fish, with enough time to get off a cast.  They would usually be up on top for just a few seconds, long enough to snap-shoot a lure their way and hope you have the distance right.  Picture me, sitting calmly, quietly, rod cocked back, finger on the trigger, listening intently for a splash, and try to rotate and cast in one motion when I hear a couple splashes.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't connect with any fish this way.

 

Lessons learned:

 

1) LMB just do not stay up on top as long as Sandies/Whites do.  You need to position yourself as best you can in the area they are surfacing, and have a lure with the weight to get some good distance.

 

2)  Don't ignore obviously feeding fish just to try a technique that you want to do.  Be adaptable, ready and willing to change approach as the situation warrants.

 

3)  It pays to have your equipment leashed to the kayak!  In the past two weeks, I've managed to drop two rods into the water, but luckily had them both leashed.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Pretty nice gill on that popper!

Great lessons learned. For all the fuss over fishing topwater, the fish themselves only rarely feed there. The majority of their forage is taken beneath the surface. At certain times of year, and even during certain hours of the day, they will be nearer to the surface. This is when things like frogs, lizards and other terrestrials may be on the menu. That trusty "Jitterbug" or "Sputterfuss" comes into its own, then.*

When they do take a bait at the surface, it is explosive and that explains its popularity. There really is no thrill like having your topwater lure smashed by 'Ol Bucket Mouth. But something just beneath the surface seems a better choice most of the time, and especially to run by them when they are feeding among the schools.

I was waiting for you to throw a spoon of some kind. My fave lure for casting at chasing predators is a Luhr-Jensen Krocodile, or some other wounded minnow mimic spoon. These will cast a long way and they look the part. This lure caught a massive pickerel last year for, near this sort of school chasing action. I only recently learned that large pickerel are a rarity on my home lake. Now that I've learned that, I am saddened. He swallowed the treble hook so far down when attacking the lure that he was mortally wounded in the process. I had to take him, even as I wished I could release him to breed.

* A study from South Dakota found something surprising that may change the way you look at these fish. Examining the stomach contents of fish during the late spring/early summer, it was found that large insect nymphs and amphibious aquatic insects made up the bulk of the diet. Specifically, the largest percentage were damselfly/dragonfly, with some others mixed in.

Interestingly, this held true across the board for all the fish studied, including bass (large mouth and smallies), sunfish, walleye, perch... even pike were found to have been feeding heavily on these foods. This doesn't mean they wont eat small fish when the opportunity presents itself. But it shows they are eating things WE don't seem to readily think of.

[Allen Morgan]

I didn't even think about spoons!  Most of them are in my "trolling" box anyway, which I didn't have with me.  I'll either need to allocate some space in one of my Bass boxes, or start taking the trolling box as well.  My crate has the room.......

I will readily believe the bit about fish eating Damselfly and Dragonfly nymphs.  I tie some Bead Chain Wooly Buggers in Olive, and they absolutely get inhaled but sunnies and LMBs.  I've always assumed they imitated a Dragonfly nymph.  I'm also working on a Damselfly pattern I found online.  I've fished it a couple times, haven't caught anything yet.  I need to start using that pattern exclusively to learn it.  Maybe this weekend?  I have the perfect spot for it!

[Tim Cotton]

Every lure has its day. Finding the right lure for that day is the key. Last year I caught 6 trophy bass all on topwater. It was basically the only saltwater lures I found I could catch trophy bass on. This year because of KBF competitions I've caught 9, have 4 times as many lures and my trophy fish were predominately caught on crank or swimbaits.

I'm not sure how big the bass you target are. Don't be scared to go big. Gambler makes a swim baiit you can cast a mile. Likewise, you should be able to cast a spook jr a long ways. Most, but not all of my trophy bass(8-10 lb) have come on big lures this year. The topwater bite has just picked up. Last Sat was my first 2 fish day.

[Allen Morgan]

Yeah, I know, big baits for big fish.  I have a 9" Redfin with saltwater-grade hooks.  I usually use it for Striper fishing, bug haven't caught anything with it yet.