Tweet
Weird evening at St. Mary's Lake, 3/23
I hit St. Mary's Lake for a quick trip after work last night. I wanted to try out some tips Michael (Redfish12) gave me about fishing flukes as well as try to find some crappie and maybe explore some new areas. As it turned out, the action was much slower than during my previous trips.
I hit the water at around 5:15 and fished until 7:15 (I wish the park was open after dark). I went straight to where I caught all the little bass last time, and couldn't buy a strike on a fluke. I switched to my trusty Rapala and a couple other lures and still had no luck. I thought that they might not be in the sunny areas anymore since it was so warm, so I went to some areas that always hold fish that were now in the shade. I picked up one little bass on the Rapala and had another throw the hook. The action was way slower than it has been, so I figured there must be a new pattern.
I tried for crappie for about 40min with no luck. I keep forgetting to bring bobbers, which I think will help. The green slime has started growing on the bottom and on the woody debris, so it was hard keeping the jig clean. I scanned some other areas that were suggested on Tidalfish, but I didn't see any marks and had no hits.
With daylight rapidly fading and only 1.5 fish caught, I decided to explore new areas. I headed to the head of the lake, which I've never fished. I've checked it out while paddling with my wife, and I thought it was too shallow, but I've been seeing bass boats coming from that area. There are expansive shallow flats, but there's also a channel that's 5-10ft deep with a hard bottom. I finally started catching little bass, both on the flats and along the drop off. I ended up with 5 from that area, and I also caught a couple bluegill:
They seemed like better fish at the time, but they look pretty average in the pics.
Both were over 7". One hit the tail hook, and the other actually tried to eat the Rapala head first.
The most exciting part of the evening was the monster yellow perch I caught on the Rapala. It jumped twice. When it first jumped, I saw it from the underside and thought it was a little peacock bass, which made no sense. When it jumped the second time, I realized it was the biggest perch I've ever caught. It was at least 12" and much fatter than any 12" perch I've caught in the past. Unfortunately, it hit the side of the yak when it jumped the second time, which gave it enough slack to throw the hook.
The kids on the playground learned some new words at that moment. That's the only time I've ever regretted swapping out treble hooks for single. Oh well, it's still out there.
I caught another little bass on a Rebel Pop-R, which made up for the loss of the perch, somewhat. That end of the lake is really pretty, and I need to spend more time checking it out. I'm hoping to find the rest of the 4% of the bass that are over 15" in the pre-spawn areas around there.
Some pics from that part of the lake:
At about 6:45, the mosquitoes swarmed in. I haven't lost that much blood since the last blood drive I donated at.
It's kind of unfortunate that I have to dig out the bug spray already.
I noticed that every single bass I caught last night had holes in their mouth. I wonder if that's why the bite was so slow.
I tried all kinds of lures, but the Rapala was the most productive. I also caught fish on a short, fat, square-billed Bomber crankbait and on the Pop-R. I wish there was somewhere nearby with quality bass like the Mattawoman. At least it was a really pleasant evening, and there were lots of families enjoying it and having a good time.
I hit the water at around 5:15 and fished until 7:15 (I wish the park was open after dark). I went straight to where I caught all the little bass last time, and couldn't buy a strike on a fluke. I switched to my trusty Rapala and a couple other lures and still had no luck. I thought that they might not be in the sunny areas anymore since it was so warm, so I went to some areas that always hold fish that were now in the shade. I picked up one little bass on the Rapala and had another throw the hook. The action was way slower than it has been, so I figured there must be a new pattern.
I tried for crappie for about 40min with no luck. I keep forgetting to bring bobbers, which I think will help. The green slime has started growing on the bottom and on the woody debris, so it was hard keeping the jig clean. I scanned some other areas that were suggested on Tidalfish, but I didn't see any marks and had no hits.
With daylight rapidly fading and only 1.5 fish caught, I decided to explore new areas. I headed to the head of the lake, which I've never fished. I've checked it out while paddling with my wife, and I thought it was too shallow, but I've been seeing bass boats coming from that area. There are expansive shallow flats, but there's also a channel that's 5-10ft deep with a hard bottom. I finally started catching little bass, both on the flats and along the drop off. I ended up with 5 from that area, and I also caught a couple bluegill:
They seemed like better fish at the time, but they look pretty average in the pics.
Both were over 7". One hit the tail hook, and the other actually tried to eat the Rapala head first.The most exciting part of the evening was the monster yellow perch I caught on the Rapala. It jumped twice. When it first jumped, I saw it from the underside and thought it was a little peacock bass, which made no sense. When it jumped the second time, I realized it was the biggest perch I've ever caught. It was at least 12" and much fatter than any 12" perch I've caught in the past. Unfortunately, it hit the side of the yak when it jumped the second time, which gave it enough slack to throw the hook.
The kids on the playground learned some new words at that moment. That's the only time I've ever regretted swapping out treble hooks for single. Oh well, it's still out there.I caught another little bass on a Rebel Pop-R, which made up for the loss of the perch, somewhat. That end of the lake is really pretty, and I need to spend more time checking it out. I'm hoping to find the rest of the 4% of the bass that are over 15" in the pre-spawn areas around there.
Some pics from that part of the lake:
At about 6:45, the mosquitoes swarmed in. I haven't lost that much blood since the last blood drive I donated at.
It's kind of unfortunate that I have to dig out the bug spray already.I noticed that every single bass I caught last night had holes in their mouth. I wonder if that's why the bite was so slow.
I tried all kinds of lures, but the Rapala was the most productive. I also caught fish on a short, fat, square-billed Bomber crankbait and on the Pop-R. I wish there was somewhere nearby with quality bass like the Mattawoman. At least it was a really pleasant evening, and there were lots of families enjoying it and having a good time.
"Ceci n'est pas une pipe"
Comment