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THE MOTHERLODE'S HIDDEN JEWEL

By: Ron Wilson

February 20, 2003.... The sky was a little overcast but it looked like it was going to be a nice day. I called Tim Paes to see if he would like to go to Kelsey Bass Ranch to catch a few black bass. Mary, Tim's wife, answered the phone and said she would have to wake him up and ask him. Tim got on the phone and the only thing he wanted to know was why I had waited so long as he was always ready to go fishing at Kelsey no matter who asked him!

We met at the Dredger Inn in Snelling for breakfast, and arrived at the pond a little after 9:00 am. It wouldn't be very tough to find a spot to fish, because we had the lake all to ourselves. When the lakes are crowded, you can always count on a little solitude at Kelsey. Even during the busy season, they limit the number of boats on the lake to six, so you can still enjoy a pleasant day on the water. 

The water was gin clear as we started with spinnerbaits and flipping pig and jig. After about ten minutes with no luck, I suggested that we go to the dam. I told Tim "the water should be a little warmer there". I picked up my darthead rod 8 pound line. I put on a watermelon red brush hog and tossed it out. I shook the bait down the rocks and when it was about 8 feet deep a fish picked it up. We worked the dam on down and at the other end I picked up fish number 2 and 3 and then dumped a good one.

I said "Tim, I think I found a pattern, lets move to another spot and check it out". By this time Tim had enough watching me catch four fish when he hadn't even got bit. He put down his flippin stick as was digging in his rod locker for a spinning rod! While I was moving the boat, Tim was busy stringing up his rod. He was tying on an 8lb fluorocarbon leader to the braided line he had on the reel. Next thing I know, he's borrowing a 1/16  ounce darthead and by the time we get to the next spot he's ready to go.

Tim soon hooked his first fish, just a run of the mill 2 pounder, His next fish was about the same size, but his 3rd was a picture moment, as he had one in the 5 pound class. We made another move and I pitched out into the middle of a neck in 6 feet of water and was rewarded with a fish and as Tim circled the area I put 7 or 8 more fish in the boat. I said boy this is fun, Tim looked at me and said "for you maybe, right now I am not having any"!

We worked out a ways and Tim finally got another bite. It was another one of those picture moments as he had another fish close to 5 pounds. But, I wasn't buying Tim's theory that he was after quality and not quantity!

During the morning I was constantly trying to figure out the black bass, why they bite or don't bite. Tim and I were shaking the baits thru the grass in 5 to 10 feet of water and the fish were liking the action we were producing. We had a hot bait that we were catching our fish on but it was not working on my drag rod with 15 pound test line. I then changed to my rod with 12 pound test line and a light dart head, and still no takers. The only conclusion I could come up with was the light line made the difference.

We moved on down past the bald island in the lake toward a big tree near a point with a pair of bald eagles sitting in the top of it! One was mature with a brilliant white head and the other was an immature brown colored bald eagle. They sure were pretty and Tim got a few pictures before we got too close and scared them off.

Tim got back to fishing and kept the boat in the 8 foot depth and stuck a couple more fish. Another camera moment. I was sure getting tired of this, here I was out fishing him two to one and he was catching all the quality fish while I was lucky to catch anything much over 3 pounds.

The small fish were eating the bleached watermelon red brush hogs I had but the bigger fish seemed to prefer
Tim's darker baits. Whether it was that, or the fluorocarbon line, I don't know but something was going on that I didn't understand.

By 5 p.m. we had gone from flat calm to wind and the bite had remained pretty steady all day, all we had to do was locate the fish and catch them. 

Tim was having a ball just catching fish, but I was counting,  Owner Jon Kelsey had told me that a member the day before had caught over 30 fish in just a couple hours. Here I had spent 7 hours and I had only managed to catch 38 fish. 

I told Tim that I had one more spot I wanted to try before we called it a day. The area is like a creek channel in 12 feet of water with grass and rocks. As we got there, I pitched out and before it hit the bottom, I set the hook on my first good fish of the day, one in the 5 pound class.  A picture moment for me! 

My next cast produced fish number 40, another picture moment with another in the 5 pound class. Things were looking up. Fish number 41and 42 were just average and then fish number 43 was another picture moment this baby was in the 6 pound class and one of the biggest fish of the day for us.

Tim caught a couple more and then I ended the day with fish number 44, it was at least 8, maybe 9 inches, I
think it was the smallest bass I have ever caught at the pond, but it was a bass! 

It was time to put the boat on the trailer as 6 p.m. fast approached. We had put together a fish catching pattern as Tim and I had another great day of bass fishing at Kelsey's Bass Ranch. For more information call Jon at (209) 563-6573 or visit his web page at www.kelseybassranch.com.