Ice is Gone and the Fish are ON!

[rufus]

Well let me start by saying that I returned on March 29 from fishing the Bass Cat Owner's Invitational on Lake Norfork in Arkansas. I fished it with a friend of mine who has fished it once before. The water level rose 23 feet in 6 days after they had 12 inches of rain to the north. We caught a grand total of 6 fish (3 keeps and 3 shorts) in 6 days of hard fishing. We only weighed one in the tourney and over half the field of 566 boats blanked. I believe most everyone who had a fish weighed it because the pay scale on this tourney was very interesting. They paid the top 25 places and then randomly paid 50 other places. They also released a total of 50 plastic ducks that were worth prizes up to a brand new 150 Optimax. The last place that was paid was $800 for 247th. It was interesting to say the least and made guys tick around to see if they hit one of the lucky places. 201st paid $499 and we got 211th   . If anyone has a Bass Cat I would highly recommend this tourney it truly was a good time.
Anyway, upon arriving home to 27 degree temps and ice still on the lakes with about 3 inches of snow on the ground was a little bit of a downer. I was able to find a few channels that I could bank fish on for a few crappies the last few days and my boys loved it, but I still had the need for a few big 'ole spring bass. My boat is currently in Tennesse at Triton being worked on so I have to beg a ride to go. Finally, on Wednesday I got a call from a boat owning friend while I was at work who said he had just driven by one of our favorite spring lakes and that it was wide open. He told me to meet him at his house at 3:30pm. It didn't take me long to be ready after work. I only brought 3 rods one plus a crappie rod because the guy I was going with loves his panfish and this lake has some bruiser crappie in it. It was a glorious sight upon arrival to see the wide open water and the beautiful sun. Air temp was around 55 with little wind and not a cloud in the sky. We were on the lake by 4 and the main lake water temp was right at 42. This lake is a little stained and warms up pretty fast. We decided to head for a backwater area where we have caught some big ones in the past. It blew my mind when we arrived to find the water temp all the way up to 49.7 degrees! The ice had just come off the night before. The only thing I can figure is we had a very warm rain and this area is hilly all around. It had stained the water a bit more than normal, but visibility was still around 2-3 feet. The shad were flipping all over the surface and I knew that this was going to be a good night. After 15 minutes of casting a rat-l-trap and Jimmy with a silver buddy I switched over to jerkbait. The conditions just seemed right and this can be a phenomenal lake for jerking at times. Within 3 casts I lost a 3 1/2 at the boat. Two casts later I nearly had the rod jerked out of my hand, but missed the fish. A few minutes later I landed a fat 15 1/2 incher. Another few casts and I lost a very big pike and 2 more bass that were both over 3. Jimmy looked at me with puppy dog eyes and said the only thing he brought was blade baits and could he please have a jerkbait. I opened my box for him and he went right after one of my ole discontinued sinking rebels. We then proceeded to put a few Monsters in the boat. Within the next hour we caught a 6'4" and a 6'1" and lost three other fish in the 6 pound range. It was funny the fish would nearly jerk the rod out of your hand and you would fight them for maybe 10 seconds and as soon as they came to the surface to shake their head out would come the jerkbait. Every fish we landed had the jerkbait head first and only the tail of it was sticking out so how alll these others were coming off I have no idea. We did land several more very nice fish with the smallest being a very fat 15 incher. These fish look like the Clear lake fish of California. The shad they were feeding on were 5-8 inhces as we snagged several of them with our jerkbaits and watched them being chased all night. Our best five for the night went 22'8" and there is no doubt in my mind we would have been very close to 30 if we could have landed a few more of them. Jimmy had a small lead on me for numbers and upon catching a couple of big crappies on his jerkbait put the boat to a halt. I said hey man the monsters are on, we can't fish for crappies. I think he was scared I was gonna catch up  . I tried throwing my jerkbait around the boat after he had anchored and did catch another 3 pounder, but the fish were moving with the shad and you had to follow them. Jimmy was putting crappies in the boat as fast as he could cast. 2 of 3 were small, but the good ones were really good. I am glad I brought my crappie rod. We only had about 30 more minutes to fish. In that time we put 25 crappies in the box with a monster 15 1/2 incher as the biggest. The rest of them were 10-13 inches and we threw several  less than 6 inchers back. It was an awesome afternoon and now I can't wait to get my boat back It is 4 weeks late of being done and if I have to wait much longer I will explode! God Bless All!

[canvsbk]

You're my hero Rufus!

(Even after all my sniveling and whining and begging for help on Wawasee....we donated again last Saturday!! :(Me and 39 degree water just don't get along very well.)

That Bass Cat tourney sounds fun.

[skeeterman190]

 Speaking of Wawasee how was the NBAA out there on saturday? Who won? what was the weight? That lakes got my number ill tell you what. If I was to compete there id have to spend some serious time out there. I was there on sunday and to say i had a bad day would be an understatement. I went IKE on an 8 incher if that says anything. Ive not yet solved that puzzle or even put one or two pieces together. Im sure with a few days in a row out there sun up til sundown, Id have a plan. but right now ive been there like 4or 5 times and cant seem to get them where they should be. maybe one of these days.-skeeterman-

[canvsbk]

I have no idea what happened. We fished until 3:30, came in and loaded the boat, pulled up in the parking lot....and at 3:38 everybody was walking away from the scales to their trucks!
I have no idea what the big yank was but I'm guessing at the next go around my partner might slow 'em down a bit.
I think there was 18 boats or so and I thought I saw LGMOUTH walking off with a wad of cash in his hand........again. I'm really not sure.

[LGMOUTH]

Im sorry I didnt see this until now, Joe Hammond won the first tournament with 12 1/2lbs and big fish  just under 4lbs. We had 2nd with around 11 1/2. The second tournament on the 19th we won with 13.13. The bite should only get better in the next month or so. I dont have any problem helping anyone out on wawasee if they need help. Jerkbaits and Poorboys darters are all you need in the spring.