Canyon Lake 4/24

[Bendo]

I hit Canyon again today with my Buddy Hoppy for another Bass catching session. Last trip was good, with several real nice Fish and a big Catfish. You know the Lake is on fire when the Cats are in with the Bass. During the last trip the Moon was barely a waxing Crescent. Now it is getting to be Rounder with 68% illumination. This seemed to get the bigger Girls up shallow and excited. On the tree filled first shoreline, I nailed 7 Bass on Ten chances on the Topwater, each one fat, long and healthy looking. At the Halfway point I crossed the Lake, protected by a set of “No Wake” Bouys. Float Tubes aren’t very fast, it’s just a concession. A Ski Boat fired up its motor and took off my way, in less than a minute later, I’m only halfway across and the Boat is going 60 straight at me. It’s loud, the Bow was up where I could not see the Driver. So I’m kicking to try to give him as much room as possible. He flies right thru the “No Wake Zone” by the Grace of God, I wasn’t in his path. He was gone 15 seconds later around a bend in the Cove. I’m sure many have had similar experiences on the water. So I start fishing down the Cliff side. The water is high, so the base of the Cliffs are about 20 feet deep where it intersects the relatively flat bottom. Switching over to a 1/8 oz. Jighead and a ZMan Trout Trick, I started slowly trolling right on this transition. The Bites were just a “tick” mostly right after it would bounce off various rocks on the bottom. Not as big as the Topwater Bass, these were more Shorter and Stout. I caught 6 Bass and a Catfish along this Area, maybe 3/8 of a mile long. Coming up on a long Point with a nice sized Cove, a different method called, as it looked so fishy, It needed to be dissected. I put a nice long cast prolly 10 feet outside the Shoreline of the Cove, just past the Long Point. Before I realized what was happening my line was motoring out to my left and I cranked down to tight line and set the Hook. I really was thinking Catfish as the bite was so aggressive. Then the line started coming up and a huge Bass jumped up, but not completely out of the water. I kicked hard to try and get to deeper water. I was fishing 20 Braid with 15 Flourocarbon Leader. All the signs were good, and had manifested into my first really Big Bass in 3 years. My new Rod is fantastic and can really pull, the Reel preformed flawlessly. A few runs and jumps and I had her up to the Tube. She was still “Green” with plenty of fight left, but I truly believe the key to getting these fish up for a quick Picture, is hooking them on heavier gear. So I tried to Thumb her but couldn’t get her mouth open. I tried to get some fingers in her Gills. Snapped shut tighter than a drum. I literally couldn’t reach down to try and lift her from the belly as it was too far down. By now I’ve got a Bass Boat and 2 Kayakers descending on the show. There was no trace of my Jig, swallowed completely, just 15 pound test coming out her Lips, and big Bug Eyes looking me right in the eye. I let line go and went to battling her a little longer, maybe get her a little more tired and I could get her mouth to open up. Wrong move. With a little freedom she took off on about a 20 foot run, then came up and jumped. My Jig flew thru the air. Oh well, no picture, no weight. The Hook on the Jighead had straightened out. I had my drag too tight. One of the big advantages of heavier gear is you can really put the Wood to them and shorten the fight. I had been fishing heavy cover earlier and really had the drag locked down to pull those Bass out of thick cover. Just didn’t readjust for Jig Fishing and overwhelmed the Hook on the Jighead. So give that some thought the next time you find yourself facing a Monster. Could of, would of, should of. I most certainly could have just pulled her up onto my legs, as I’m sitting on the water in this particular Tube. Damn. I predict that I won’t let the next one do that to me. This time fishing heavy screwed me. It’s the first and only time I think. I’ve got to get heavier duty Jigheads…

[Midnightpass]

Sounds fantastic, except for that one boat and the spit hook... You've caught a lot of bass, so I assume you have a good reference point for sizing these fish.. How big do you think that girl went?... Congrats on a stellar day..
Butch

[Bendo]

I have been lucky to fish some Lakes that have lots of big Bass. Some private, some public. I got my first 10+ at Castaic Afterbay, then a string of Giants along the Lower Colorado River for about three years. Canyon produced a large number of 6-8 pound Bass but no Giants for me over the years. In 2005 I got a Condo at Mission Viejo Lake and it took me a year to figure it out. I then landed over 100 Bass, over 10 topped by an 18.4 pounder over the next ten years. So I have some experience with big Bass. I would say this particular Bass was between 10 and 11 pounds, long and deep, very well fed. It all depends on if she dropped hers eggs or not. She definitely had the bulged out eyes and Deep belly of a Double Digit Bass. It’s not like I didn’t have her in hand, she just didn’t cooperate. I also made the mistake of having my drag too tight for the Jighead I was using. It is the mistakes that get you. I just really wanted to get a Picture of another Monster, it’s been a while.

[Borderbasser]

Heck yeah Jim! Glad you are healed up and have been getting out there!