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Haven’t been out in a while and decided to hit St. Mary’s Lake this morning, both to satisfy my fishing cravings and to avoid the ramps today. Arrived around 6:15 and saw that there were already a couple of yaks on the water and some bass boats waiting to launch (it’s an electric motor only lake so no wakes to worry about). So much for solitude I thought. Skies were dark and there was some light rain a couple of times while I was out, ideal conditions for a long bite.
Like Duluth Trading Company underwear I was buck naked today without my fish finder (actually kind of liberating and made me use my noggin to figure the water out). Decided to head towards the dam end of the lake and to fish the finger that projects north from the dam. Trolled a 1/8 oz jig with a green Yamamoto grub on the way over. Once I got to the far shore I began to pick up a nice mix of pickerel and small bass while trolling. Switched over to a Senko and started pounding downed trees and grass clumps along the bank and had a consistent bite all morning with my biggest bass being 15”. At times the bite was very subtle and the only indication of a bite was the line moving. I didn’t land any monster pickerel today but did lose a 20” at the boat. Called it quits around 10 and had about a dozen bass and an equal number of pickerel with one stray crappie in the mix. One of the bass boat guys told me the water was 66 in the finger.
At one point today I had the pleasure to sit back and watch a bald eagle harass an osprey. I’m so used to seeing eagles harassed by crows and other birds I was surprised to see this one acting the aggressor. So impressive to see such large birds pivot, dive and soar with such ease.
My day was not perfect. I just purchased a Shimano 3000 NASCI reel to pair with the Loomis rod I bought from John Veil. I was using it to fish a heavier jig and around the third cast I hooked a sunken tree that I soundly set the hook on. I got the jig free but after that the drag on the reel was shot. No matter how much I fooled around with it I couldn’t get the drag to tighten enough that it wouldn’t spin when setting the hook. Now to look for that receipt that I’m sure is long gone. I give this reel a one star Yelp review.
Like Duluth Trading Company underwear I was buck naked today without my fish finder (actually kind of liberating and made me use my noggin to figure the water out). Decided to head towards the dam end of the lake and to fish the finger that projects north from the dam. Trolled a 1/8 oz jig with a green Yamamoto grub on the way over. Once I got to the far shore I began to pick up a nice mix of pickerel and small bass while trolling. Switched over to a Senko and started pounding downed trees and grass clumps along the bank and had a consistent bite all morning with my biggest bass being 15”. At times the bite was very subtle and the only indication of a bite was the line moving. I didn’t land any monster pickerel today but did lose a 20” at the boat. Called it quits around 10 and had about a dozen bass and an equal number of pickerel with one stray crappie in the mix. One of the bass boat guys told me the water was 66 in the finger.
At one point today I had the pleasure to sit back and watch a bald eagle harass an osprey. I’m so used to seeing eagles harassed by crows and other birds I was surprised to see this one acting the aggressor. So impressive to see such large birds pivot, dive and soar with such ease.
My day was not perfect. I just purchased a Shimano 3000 NASCI reel to pair with the Loomis rod I bought from John Veil. I was using it to fish a heavier jig and around the third cast I hooked a sunken tree that I soundly set the hook on. I got the jig free but after that the drag on the reel was shot. No matter how much I fooled around with it I couldn’t get the drag to tighten enough that it wouldn’t spin when setting the hook. Now to look for that receipt that I’m sure is long gone. I give this reel a one star Yelp review.
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