I was the first boat in Hauser, the glorious sunrise gracing Barrett Lake as it tends to do this time of morning. The peacefulness of the morning quickly subsided the moment I made my FIRST cast. And that's when my trolling motor started smoking like Cheech and Chong, and If you've ever microwaved foil as a kid, (or as an adult, if you're into that kind of thing,) you'd recognize the sound it makes right before it catches on fire.
The terminals were quickly disconnected from the battery and I began assessing the situation hoping the Minn Kota didn't erupt in flames. Didn't want to be THAT guy.
"You hear about the guy whose boat caught on fire at Barrett?"
The trolling motor's housing continued to expel smoke for 10 minutes, and it reminded me of the time my roommate in college burned his PopTarts in the toaster, and when the flames erupted, decided to throw a Big Gulp's worth of Mountain Dew on it while it was still connected to the wall. He went on to become an electrical engineer, no joke.
"That's...no bueno," I murmured under my breath.
*
For the next 20 minutes, I drifted along aimlessly giving off smoke signals like a coal powered tugboat, wanting to re-position for better casts, but being at the mercy of the wind which wasn't blowing at all. And as luck would have it, every where out of casting distance, I'd see a stretch that looked fishy, but I knew I would have to start the outboard to get there, and there's nothing like putting the bass you want to catch down. Plus, if you're one of the lucky few, you'll have an outboard that requires having Herculean strength to start, so my shoulder socket would be separated by 9 am at this point.
Here I was, at one of bass fishing's meccas, with no trolling motor. (Like being at the Spearmint Rhino with no dollar bills.)
But, I grew up fishing off of rentals without any trolling motors, so I reached back into my memory bank and decided to make the best of it. After continuing to force feed fish topwater to no avail, I motored across to the opposite side of the mouth of Hauser, and found a stretch that would allow me to park my boat and use the now fully flooded shrubbery as a de facto SpotLock, and perhaps have a chance at some decent casts. I began using the oars as an eco friendly trolling motor of sorts for small re-positions, and continued to try to force feed the fish topwater baits, knowing full well I wasn't going to catch anything on them.
I finally put the topwater rod down and grabbed a jig rod, and sure enough, I got bit on the drop on my first cast which resulted in a 4.5 pound fish. Second cast in nearly the same spot resulted in a 4 pound fish. 8.5 pounds in 2 casts. My game plan quickly shifted, and the pattern was so obvious, you could call your shot:
As both fish were getting acquainted inside the aerated igloo cooler at the front of the boat, I continued to oar myself around the shrubbery like a Viking. Those were the only two fish and the only two bites I got on the jig, go figure. Some times Barrett is weird like that.
I had a Texas rig rod rigged up, and it did damage all day, and the pair of fish that were chilling in the aerated igloo cooler soon had some company a few moments later, as I began waving my bright orange flag that I was given to every boat in the morning, which summoned a DFW employee.
As he motored towards me, he asks,
"Anything wrong?"
"Naw man, I just need you to weigh these guys and get them out of my Igloo so I can continue fishing."
"2055 grams."
"What's that in United Statesean?"
"Uhh....about 4.5 pounds."
*
I forgot to mention that I was fishing on April 6th, a full month before the lake opened to the public. I was fortunate enough to score a spot to assist the DFW in their SHARE program, and to say that it was a once in a lifetime experience, would be an understatement.
After the measurements, I chit chatted with the DFW employee, and explained in passing that I was without a trolling motor as mine decided to implode, and they were kind enough to let me borrow one that they had back at the dock. After a short trip back to the dock, I was back in business!
There were quite a few fish in the shallows, but my focus was fishing the deeper secondary brush line and the big rocks that were adjacent to deeper water, and unlike years past, the average sized fish today about 2.5 pounds, with many fish that pushed 3. And as Barrett has shown in the past, at least when I've fished it, the quality fish came in deeper water.
95% were caught on a simple Texas rig which allowed me to fish that secondary brush line efficiently. The only problem is that there were only 2 DFW agents stationed in Hauser, and a lot of time was spent with 4 or 5 fish in the box, motoring around trying to find the DFW guys so they can weigh, measure and release the fish.
At around 10 am, the DFW agent suggested that I just start releasing them, as they let me know they already had enough samples from my boat and that they needed to find the other few boats that were spread around in Hauser.
*
At around 11 am, I had already caught about 40 fish, not counting the one pounders that just got tossed back.
We had to be back at the dock at 3 PM and the last 30 minutes provided a flurry of 2 to 4 pounders, a hard fighting bunch who would try to dig into cover and big boulders but the 8# Shooter and Mastiff that I was using on two different rods handled the fish all day. That pattern of fishing deep kept up through out the entire day, and I think that a lot of the momma's that had now left a lot of the nests shallow were now sitting in deeper water, recovering from the spawn, and eating quite healthily, I may add.
It was hard experimenting with other baits, when there was a solid pattern going. I wanted to throw bigger baits, but really stuck to throwing a 4.5" curly tail worm, with a 1/8th tungsten weight. I chose a lighter weight and it kept me out of the cover nicely. I threw a Senko and a baby Ika (3") that got bit, but not in the way the curly wail worm was getting bit. Numbers and sizes just kept me throwing that Texas rig.
I threw reaction baits, but only to get the dinks. They were ravaging the shallows so I knew to get off the shoreline immediately.
I had about 75 fish over 2 pounds by the time we had to head back to the docks. Having the DFG weighing many of them gave me a precise idea on weights and the biggest fish I had that day was about 5.5, and all were extremely healthy and hard fighting.
The day was pretty surreal. Knowing I was fishing an entire month before the opener made it exciting, as I'd be fishing during a time period where I hadn't fished before. Definitely, my best day at Barrett when it came to numbers and average size, and while I wish I could've explored different areas, I've never fished such a small area of Barrett with so much success.
Thanks to all the DFW employees and volunteers that put this together, and worked had throughout the day to make this happen. Cannot wait to donate my 11 bucks next year!
