2 stories: The Bait to die for; The Big One got away

[ChrisCarter]

Last Thursday i was at a local pond fishing for whatever was in the mood to bit. It was fairly breezy with a south wind blowing towards me at about 7am. After casting from the shore, out of the trees into the sunny side of the pond, i few ripples were being made from passing bass. None were interested in the crankbait i had on there, so i switched it to a brigther more flashy one. Catfish hit it, but i jerked it too hard that i didn't give the fish time to really clamp down on it and set the hook. So i went back to my original bait, 4" X-Rap, when i felt a slight tug then jiggle on the line, thats when the line went limp. 5 seconds later, i see my bait and i little perch probably 2" long snagged on it. That poor little guy hit the crankbait so hard that the sure set hook went through the top of the his head and killed him. Now that's what i call a bait worth dying for.

Today, i was bass fishing on the westside of a lake with a pretty good Northeast/East wind blowing (earlier that morning there was some large bass in the same spot). After realizing that i couldn't get a good cast into the breeze i found my favorite spot on the southern shore open. A large flat rock that overshoots a pretty decent drop off that bass like to hang out under the trees. At first there was no action, but around 4:30 - 5pm the bass were jumping and swimming awfully close to the shore in packs. Spinnerbaits weren't working, so i decided to use a crankbait, that got their attention but not enough for bits, just following it. After a few unsuccessful runs, i noticed this pretty good size bass just sitting there below me i jerked the crankbait towards him and he was uninterested it, so i changed the colors to a black/orange color. As soon as I saw that big mouth open, i knew he was going for it. I hooked him and lifted him out of the water. As i turned around to step up off onto the ledge and make my way back to the car to get the camera, my foot slipped and the butt end of the rod slipped as well. The last thing I wanted was for my rod to go into the water so i grabbed the rod and lost my grip on the bass. The fish dropped into the water and i caught the rod and jerked it upward. I guess the tension was too much for a 10 lb braided line and it snapped, letting the fish go with my $10 rapala x-rap still stuck in its mouth.

Lesson learned: Keep a handle on the fish instead of your rod.

[wahanlin]

Haha those are a couple of neat stories. I'll have to remember to keep a hand on the fish at all times.

Good luck
Aaron