Bass Topwater, Upper Chick 10/3

[Fishin Fool]

I saw where Jmax said the water was dropping and just had to get out for a couple of hours and see for myself. I got most of my "have to" work done and was on the water at about 130 today. When we first got there the water temp was 75, overcast, warm, with no wind. The lake was DOWN. Looks like a drop of 3 to 3.5 feet according to the line on the ramp. We headed to some weed beds and didn't see a thing hitting. Just lots of minnows. I tossed a torpedo out into an opening in the weeds, let it sit there.....twitched it....and bam! First keeper of the day, weighed 1.14 (I know Jmax, he looks small in front of me) and they began to tear it up. We caught 10 fish, a whopping 2 of them keepers. Right as we were leaving I tossed my torpedo down a creek mouth near some weeds. I let it sit for a few seconds and twitched it.....ker-bam! My drag started to whine and the entire boat pulled around. The water this fish was in was shallow and I could see his big tail whipping the surface but it had water near 5 feet deep close to it and he headed that way. I honestly haven't hooked into a bass like that in years. He was totally unstoppable even with 20 lb PowerPro. By the time I had my wits about me and realized what he was doing and really started to apply pressure he had hit a clump of spiney leaf. He took the ENTIRE clump down with him. I was trying to get in close to get a net on him when suddenly the pressure just stopped......he was off....I recovered my torpedo and we kept fishing. About 10 minutes later as we were going over some more weeds I happen to have my sunglasses on and looked down close to the boat. I first thought it was a big carp, then as I looked closer I realized it was a bass, that looked to be 8 to 10 lbs, sitting by a clump of milfoil. His mouth was slowly open and closing, like he was not getting enough oxygen! I can't say it was the same fish but he sure looked tuckered out! As we got close he gave a big swipe of his tail and crusied off. We ended with 10 fish in 2 hours, 2 or which were keepers, and the one that got away!

 

[Jmax]

Fishnfool, I am confused.emoConfused You said the first keeper of the day was 1.14 lbs????? Are you saying you caught a 15 inch LM that weighed 1.14 lbs.???? That fish would be a cigar. You did a lot better than me I will say for sure. My two and a half hour outing yeilded only three all slicks. I think once the water stablizes the fish will really turn on.emoBigsmile Jmax

 

[stump jumper]

Nice report fishin fool!emoToast I hate that tha big'un got away from you...that always hurts... Sounds like you had a good day on the water though! emoThumbsup

 

[Fishin Fool]

Jmax I only report what the scales and the tape says. If it is 15" then I call it a keep regardless of the gut or lack thereof.

 

[wishiwasfishin]

it's always a bummer when that big one gets off. at least you had the pleasure of hooking him.

 

[flip1up]

Bet he was saying 1 pound 14 ounces, thats what it looks like. You fellas sure are lucky getting to fish during the week. I cant even seem to get to go on the weekend. When I do get to I'll be begging for a backseat til my boat gets returned. Two welds gave way on the bottom of the hull and it had to go back to the factory.

 

[Fishin Fool]

You got it right Flip. It was 1lb,14 oz on the scale. and measured just at 15". I've gotten to where I carry a tape and a berkley scale just to make sure for myself before I yell "Keeper"!

 

[flip1up]

Jmax has been weighing so many fish this year in the CFF tournaments that he thought you meant 1 pound 14 hundreths. My little cull scale weighs to the ounce also.

 

[Fishin Fool]

Yeah, I should have thought of that. My mistake. Heck the only reason I weighed and measured him was because on Saturday we couldn't BUY a keeper. I just wanted to reassure myself that there were 15" fish still in the Chick! LOL

 

[G-MAN]

Great report. Torpedo is next on my fishing list. I was fishing up by the twin towers the morning of the tournament and had fish jumping all over. We tried everything we had with no takers. I believe that is where you said you were fishing in an earlier post and had caught a few shorties on the torpedo that day also.

If you had it to do over, when that big fish started taking off, would you have gotten on your trolling motor and followed him or just turned your drag down a little harder and cranked him on in?

 

[Fishin Fool]

Actually G-Man I would have tried to crank the drag down some and horse him a little. You know when you are describing stuff like that it sounds like there was a lot of time passing but it was really only 30 seconds or so. My biggest fault was I just wasn't looking for something that big to be in water that shallow. I know that is a stupid thing to do but honestly I thought I might pick up a small bass there, but nothing even coming close to keeper size! Just let my guard down on that one. As for the torpedos I have caught a ton of fish on them this year, both in the spring, and summer/fall. The one I was using today is a frog color, green on top with a yellow/orange belly. Also I have noticed in fishing these things that size really does make a difference. I dropped back to a smaller size (closer to the size of the bait fish) and noticed an increase in strikes right away.

 

[Jmax]

Yep....that makes a little more sense now. I was thinking about the scales we use and thought you meant 1.14 lbs., not 1 lb and 14 ozs. I was thinking that was one heck of a skinnie fish. When I saw it in the pic I thought your scale was screwed up becuase it was not all that skinnie. Almost 2 lbs. makes a lot more sense. Most fish that hit 15 inches even when they are skinnie go around 1 and a half pounds at the least. emoCool Jmax

 

[jason]

Once you move up river a bit, it will surprise you at how shallow some of the quality bass hold. It just takes a speck of cover to make them feel safe. When they are that shallow, a topwater is just as effective, if not more than, a spinnerbait or soft plastic. Sounds like today was a good day to be on the water!

 

[Fishin Fool]

You are right Jason. I have found them really shallow up there and I don't know why I wasn't more on guard when he struck. It was a BEAUTIFUL day to be on the water. Tomorrow will be even better I bet with this weak front moving in late tomorrow night.

 

[polo-dog]

I wish that there were big grass beds down here. I think that I know where you have been fishing from the pic. It's a long run for me to get up there to all that grass but maybe one of these days I'll do it.

 

[TennesseeTalker]

Enjoyed reading about your day FF ... especially the part about the fight with the big one!!! Good fishing report mister!

TT

 

[jon the fisherman]

Great report FF! I love the torpedo. What size`and color were you using? I like the baby in shad and clear myself

 

[Fishin Fool]

Hey Jon,
I was using the baby in Frog Green with a yellow/orange belly. Love those torpedos and the way they sit in the water until you give them a little twitch!

 

[jason]

Hey Polo, you must be confusing the place in the pic with somewhere else. It is just a short run for you. A lot of CFF'ers have done well up there in the last month or so.