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McCLURE IS JUST THE TICKET FOR THAT
BLACK BASS FIX
By: Ron Wilson 
March 4, 2004…. With
the weatherman predicting beautiful weather, I figured it was time to get
a black bass fix.
I knew McClure’s
spotted bass would be on the prowl so I called my Webmaster and
valleyoutdoorsmen.com partner, Tim Paes, to see if he wanted to come
along.
Tim’s been boat less
for about six weeks now as he waits for his new
Stratos bass
boat to arrive from the factory in Tennessee. He said any ride is better
than no ride so a 7:30 a.m. Saturday departure time was set.
At 7:00 am I was
checking out the boat and truck to make sure everything was shipshape.
Everything looked good, except the large portion of a $100 bill killed
from gassing up both rigs. Sure glad I have small tanks in both my truck
and boat!
Tim showed up, we hit
the road and by 8:30 am we were at the Barrett’s Cove gate. We both got a
shock when the attendant told us $12 to get in!
Damn it sure is
getting expense to go play, higher gas prices and higher gate entry fees,
it won’t be long before fishing is a rich persons game!
We launched and headed
across the lake to the big rocks, Tim scored with a
Super Pork purple
drop shot bait that Super Pork owner, Robin Lowe, has added to his
collection of fine pork baits.
 I
was going nuts in front of the boat. I was dragging with one rod and
throwing dart heads on another trying to figure out the pattern.
I was going through my
6-inch
Keeper worms trying to find the bait they wanted. 1001B, 1058, 1060,
082 reverse with black flake and some of the same baits with chartreuse
tails. Having Tim backseat me is not my idea of having fun!
We decided to make a
move so I asked Tim which way he would like to go, upriver or down. Tim
said he like Cottonwood so we were off and running in that direction.
I made a sharp left
into the cove before the buoy line and worked over the trees in it.
Spotted Bass love
crawdads. At this time of year I decided a
Keeper
082 red, green and black flake was as close as I could get to the look of
one.
After a couple pitches
I caught a nice largemouth on the inside of a rocky point. Finally some
action! I had fished for over 3 hours without a bite.
I moved on down the
bank and on the inside of the next rocky point, near deep water, I nailed
a spotted bass in the 16-inch class. “We’re having fun now”, I said to Tim
as he snapped a picture of the fish and me.
Tim was switching back
and forth between a jig and his
Super Pork dropshot
baits. On the next point I scored and then lost one, then Tim scored three
in a row off it. We were both having fun now!
We moved to the next
point where Tim scored again. On down the bank I scored a couple and then
moved to a spot where I told Tim, “There’s always a fish here”. I no
sooner said that and Tim caught one. I moved to the inside of the point
and connected with a small one for myself.
We moved to the main
lake where Tim scored again on the first point we stopped at. Then we
continued down the
bank just enjoying the weather and scenery.
Tim said, “Look at the
deer feeding over there,” I slowly worked the boat over to where we could
get a real good look at them.
A nice forked horn
buck was lying down and he had 4 does with him. We got within 50 yards as
they were all looking up the hill toward a stand of trees on the hillside.
They were gazing like
there was danger up there. We never saw what they were looking at before
they spooked and ran around the hill getting away from us or whatever it
was up in the trees. My guess would be a mountain lion!
We went back to
fishing after realizing that we wasted a half hour watching the deer. It’s
not just about catching fish, its about being in the outdoors and just
enjoying what mother nature has to offer.
Tim was having a ball
reeling in fish on his drop shot rig. He was sitting in the back of the
boat with his feet kicked up refusing to let the fish he caught force him
to get out of his comfortable position.
I found out the fish
also liked 082 red and green flake as a 17-inch bass ate it along with a
few smaller ones. Once I find a bait the fish want, I feed it to them
until I don’t have anymore.
 I
was going through my supply of
Keeper
worms much quicker then Tim was going through his pork baits. Except for
the baits he lost when hung up, I never saw him wear one out. This new
dropshot bait should be an awesome fish producer.
By 5:00 pm I’d had
enough, it was Tim’s first outing of the year and I don’t think he was
really ready to go but since my motor was spitting and sputtering from 3
years with the same spark plugs and darkness was quickly approaching, I
didn’t want to risk being left out there all night!
We had a great day,
lots of wildlife and once we figured out a fish catching pattern and the
structure they were on, we ended up with about 25 fish. We would of loved
to have been fishing a team tournament, as we would have had a nice
stringer of fish.
Tim’s first day on the
water was a great one. He experimented with Robin Lowe’s latest
Super Pork baits
and caught a lot of fish while enjoying some great sunshiny weather.
The spots are moving
up and getting ready to really turn. Get ready as the bite is about to
happen, those 50 fish days are almost here!
Hey there is an early
morning crank bite going on according to some of the bass fishermen we
talked to on the lake. |
