Cancun and Spring State

Someone reminded me that I hadn't been blogging lately.....and they missed me.  I agreed so felt compelled to jump in with both feet and catch everyone up just a little.

Had a great early part of the Spring because of the weather.  Warm, fishing was awesome. Then April showed up and we were back to a somewhat normal weather pattern.  All that means in Iowa is:  Unpredictable!  One day it would be below normal, the next it was above.  Rainy, dry, cool, warm, and above all else.....WINDY!  I was pretty sure we were all going to blow away a few of those days.  Much of my time was consumed with finishing my final college classes....(yes, I'm finally done)...and that feels great!

Some of my other time was spent working on the yard, tilled the garden, working on rental properties and being very busy at work.  Kim is back on her weekly travel schedule, so, she's gone four days a week.  I miss her.  Fishing helps though.

We had a trip to Cancun planned for lateApril/early May for Tyler and Ashley Hamerlinck's wedding.  Of course, Tyler had a little fishing trip planned for the boys while down there.  The goal was Marlin, what we ended up catching was Barracuda, Bonita and Red Snapper.  Always a good time fishing with Tyler, really enjoyed it.  The wedding was awesome as well and Ashley was an absolutely beautiful bride.

Kim and I accomplished exactly what we set out to do in Cancun, and that was relax!

Relaxing allowed me to begin thinking about what was coming next:  The Iowa Bass Federation Spring Tournament.  I was already thinking about spending time with the guys, Brad Rockwood in particular.  Brad and I go way back....wish we would have spent more time together as kids!  We got home late Tuesday night and I spent Wednesday morning getting packed up and ready to roll.  Left Wednesday afternoon and arrived at the river late Wednesday afternoon.  Went right to where we were staying and settled in. Got a phone call from our club president asking if I still wanted to be a boater instead of a non-boater.  The answer was obviously yes!

Thursday morning, met Brent Roloff in Marquette and we waited out a thunderstorm and then hit the water in pool 10.  Fishing was............different.  It was not the normal spring bite I expected.  Part of the problem was the river was really low.  I hadn't seen it that low since the mid-90's.  I managed to catch 5 keepers from the back of Buzzy's boat, but one of them was a little questionable.  But I didn't have any of my questions answered.

Friday, I went out alone on pool 9, starting way up North. Apparently, that is where all the Northern were living, because that is really all I caught early.  Had a couple really nice ones though.  As I moved south through the pool, I began catching a few more bass, but nothing with too much size.  Couple nice ones, but wasn't cooking with fire just yet.  By the time I got off the water on Friday, I was probably more confused than I have felt in a long time.  The Spring tournament was going to start in the morning and I was in the front of my boat making the decisions for the first time and wasn't sure what I was going to do!  Got off the water a little after lunch, went and got cleaned up, then drove down to Prairie to check in, wait for the meeting, and think some more.

The meeting went quick, got a very good draw, boat #4, and got a good partner in Mark Sexton from Spirit Lake, Iowa.  Mark works for Berkley and I have fished against him for years.  Our little meeting was short and sweet, we are going North and locking through to pool 9.  We talked about a couple spots and settled on one.  Once that was over, I headed for the trailer and tied and re-tied, getting ready for my second state tournament and first as a boater.  To say I was anxious, well, that wouldn't come close to describing what I was feeling.  I had also decided how I was going to fish the spot we had chosen and it was a method I had NEVER used.  I mentally committed to it and there was no turning back. Time for bed, Saturday morning was coming early!

Saturday morning started off pretty well, arrived at the lock, got through, and made it to the spot we agreed to fish and hit it hard.  I looked at Mark and said, "I'm about to do something stupid", and I did.  I started throwing exactly what I decided I would throw the night before and had never thrown before.  It worked.  All day.  Felt great to catch fish after fish after fish.  Had my limit in the first 40 minutes or so and worked hard all day to improve on that catch.  I did, but only a tenth of an ounce at a time.  My culling beam got a work out.  My partner, however, was struggling.  I like Mark, and I remember how Steve Huegerich treated me when I was struggling last year on day two.  He did what he could to help me catch fish.  It was my turn to do the same.  I told Mark to hook up and start grabbing the baits I was throwing and see what happened.  He did.  We worked hard but could only get him two in that same area we had fished all morning.  We took off and fished one other spot in pool 9, where Mark got one more.  It was time to head south. We made it into the lock right in front of a North bound barge and locked back South.  I had another spot in pool 10 that I thought we could possibly get a couple out of.  It worked, they weren't huge, but Mark got his fourth and fifth fish and it was time to weigh in.  I thought I had 11 and a half, turned out it was only 11.02lbs.  I was happy to have my five fish and was ok with the weight.  Something to work on improving on Sunday.

Another short meeting, met another new partner for Sunday, had a short conversation with him (Darrin Corley).....and off to tie and re-tie.  Spoke briefly with Brad, he asked what I was going to do....I said if I have learned anything, the one thing was never leave fish.  I was going right back to where I had caught my limit the day before.  He agreed. 

Woke up at 2:30am Sunday morning and couldn't get back to sleep.  Way too excited.  Rolled down to Prairie, found my partner, got launched, helped Buzzy get in the water, went to the blast off area and it was another quick drive to the lock (last boat in on Sunday) and back to the same spot.  I was not immediately catching fish on Sunday, Darrin was the one catching fish right away.  He put two in the boat and then it was my turn.  Same bait, same rig, four straight keepers in the live-well.  Darrin caught another, then I caught three more and began culling.  I had made the decision early that we weren't leaving that spot on Sunday, regardless of what was happening.  It worked.  I caught mine, Darrin actually caught a bigger bag.  Weighed in 11.43 on Sunday, which put me in the top third at 41st, 2lbs out of the top ten.

Congratulations to a member of our club, the Cedar Valley Bass Masters, Greg Seitz, who was the Spring Tournament winner.  The club had 6 members in the top 50, which was as good a showing as any other club.   First Club tournament this coming weekend.......feel pretty good about the plan I already have in my mind.  Guess we'll see.

On the Board

     There comes a time, every year, when the desire to fish wins out over everything else.  The last week or so has been that way for me.  A week ago today is when it started for me.  I went down to a local park and caught a couple little walleye and a small sauger.  They all went back in to fight another day, just like the bass I catch.  Later that day, I went looking for Mr. Small Mouth and Mr. Large Mouth, but was unable to get either.

The next day, I went to a different spot on the Cedar River, and got skunked again looking for the suddenly elusive Smallmouth bass.  My luck got better early yesterday morning when on the second cast, I hooked a nice little keeper smallie.

That was it though.  Threw for them for a couple hours, and nothing.  All that smallmouth did was get the competitive juices flowing even harder, so, I devised a plan.

I knew of a small pond that I've been meaning to fish for some time.  To get in there, I was going to need permission.  I left the river on a mission to get permission and that's exactly what I did.  I was excited to finally have the opportunity, but it wouldn't come until later on Sunday afternoon because of prior committments we had on Sunday.

As Sunday wore on, I was getting more and more excited about what "might" happen later that day. I was fairly confident that I'd have the opportunity to put some fish on the end of my line, but what was I going to use?  I asked my wife, who knew I was getting antsy, "what should I use to catch the monster bass I'm going to catch later"?  Her answer was one word....Chartreuse!  I looked at her and said, Okay, sounds good!  Right then, I knew I was throwing a spinnerbait today.  I also knew that with 30mph winds, gusting higher, that I would need to be strategically located in order to take full advantage of it.  The time came and I was off and running. 

I arrived at the semi-private pond and headed for the near corner.  After a few casts, had a pretty little large mouth grab the spinnerbait and game was on! Among bass fisherman, this next picture is the sign of a good day on the water.  When your thumb is all tore up from taking fish off the end of your line, its a very satisfying feeling.

The following are the pictures of the the bigger fish that I started catching shortly after I started fishing this afternoon.  It was, without a doubt, the best afternoon of fishing I've ever had, and it all came from fishing off the bank! Hard to imagine what it might have been like pitching plastics from a boat!

I know most of you have heard of "cookie cutter" fish, meaning, that every fish is identical, but what you are about to see is borders on ridiculous:

Fish#1, I knew I was going to need my scale!  Conservatively estimating the weight of this fish over 5 lbs.                                                      

Fish#2 - a little smaller, but not a lot.  Pushed 5 lbs pretty hard.

Fish#3, Which, by the way, is likely the biggest largemouth I've ever caught and I've caught a LOT of largemouth.  This fish was an estimated 23+ inches.  My best guess, again on the conservative side, would be a light 7 lbs. This fish almost never got caught, one more jump and she would have been free.  I picked her up and the spinnerbait fell out of her lip! 

Fish #4 - again, this fish is over 5 lbs.  This, literally, had me wondering what the heck was happening!  The bass gods had aligned every bass planet perfectly.  Maybe the Mayans are right and the bass were being kind because they know this is the last year I'll be able to fish for them!

And then fish #5 decided it was her turn to eat! She was a spunky little 2.5 lb fish that rounded out the first 5 keepers, but we weren't quite done........

Fish #6, keeping in mind that these are only the "keeper" fish I was catching, was again well over 5 lbs!

I actually lost track of how many total fish I caught out of this pond today, but it was somewhere close to 50 fish and I only made one trip around it and didn't fish the north side too hard because of the wind. The first five fish would have made for a really solid tournament bag.  Throw in the kicker fish at the end, and my six keeper fish would have been over 30lbs!  Seriously stupid. 

I wasn't done.  I ran to another spot I had been wanting to fish.  When I got there, I discovered that the water level was really very low.  I know this is a problem in many locations, but the "Lake" was nearly empty.  I made a few throws, walked around a bit, and gave up.  One more place to try before the sun went down.

The last thing I did was go down to the Cedar River across from my house.  I wanted a smallie to cap the day.  I parked just off the hwy and climbed down the West bank under the bridge.  I had never fished here before, even though it is just a 1/4 mile from my driveway.  I tied on a jig and made a couple casts and BAM!  My line got smoked hard!  I fought the fish for about 10 seconds before it turned and broke my line.  I stood there dumbfounded. I thought, "well, that sucked, now what?" I decided to go back after the smallmouth with the spinnerbait that I had been using earlier.  Made a cast to the back side of the bridge piling......nothing.  Made a cast to the front side of the bridge piling...........FISH ON!  Here is the last fish I caught today, a chunky little small mouth that would have been my seventh keeper of the day!  As you can see, the chartreuse and white spinner bait is still in the smallies lip, just for proof.  It has a little something else that you might be able to distinguish, but not going to tell you what that is.  You can probably figure it out!  Can't wait for my next fishing adventure.  Probably won't be as exciting as the one I had today, but it will have it's own memories, I'm sure.

Remember to always get permission to fish the waters you would like to fish that are on private or semi-private land.  Whether its a small farm pond, a quarry or access to a larger lake that requires you to trek through private property, ASK.