Topwater

Heddon Tiny Torpedo

Fishing with topwater lures can offer explosive action and big fun, no doubt about it. Bass will attack that twitching bit of plastic, hitting the lure like steam train before pulling it down into the depths, and the fight's on. 

The emphasis here is on can; a lot of the time, if you're me, poppers, torpedoes, spooks and the like produce no action at all. Still, the other day at Lake Whitney I had good success with a Torpedo and decided to read up on the subject. I found this article helpful, here's an excerpt:

Wham! When the strike came, I stifled my jerk reflex and waited for the fish to pull the bait down. Then, when I felt tension, I set back, and in short order a surprised three-pounder was flopping in my net.

Heddon Spook

...Most every brushpile harbored bass, and my Tiny Torpedo and that stay-put, irritating retrieve were the keys to catching them. Those fish never hit when the lure first gurgled into range. Instead, it was the twitching that changed their mood from neutral to aggressive. By tantalizing them long enough, the lure triggered their instinct to kill the "helpless prey" even though they weren't hungry.

So this is the object with topwater lures, to present bass with a vulnerable, unaware "creature" that is an easy target, then allowing nature to take its course.

You can read the rest of it here and learn something about the why, where, when and how of topwater lures. For me the why's simple, sheer excitement at the ferocious, leaping, impact of the Bass. 

Lake Aquilla, The Challenge Is On!

Nothing like it and while I'm no expert, the success I have had makes me want more. A lot more.

Fish On,

LSP

Get Back in The Fight

When the action goes against you, you can give up, defeated. Or you can reengage, get back in the fight and win. I chose the latter path, it wasn't easy.

After vicious setbacks, culminating in thieves stealing my rods right out of the bed of the rig this morning, I was tempted to pack the whole fishing thing in, at least for the week. But no, that would've been useless and defeated, so I rearmed.

Several Ugly Sticks and an Abu Gracia and a Mitchell reel later, there was Lake Aquilla, fish beckoning. I tried my luck by the ramp with worms, and sure enough they were biting, but no strikes. So change it up, put a red treble hook on the line and try some strawberry catfish bait. Yum, fish love that, although, to be honest, I've never caught anything with it.

First cast and... bam! Something hit the hook and ran with it. A Bass and a decent little fish at that, putting up plenty of fight and leaping out of the water like Bass are supposed to do. Great result. Reel it in.

Next up, a catfish took the line. It wasn't big but not shy of a fight either, and there it was, another fish. Then low ominous clouds scudded in from the Northeast, the wind picked up and the lake got choppy, so I called it a day.

Moral of the story? Don't give up, like a sad loser, get back in the fight and fish.

Fish On,

LSP

Are You Ready For The Country?

Good question. Maybe you are, maybe you're not, but one thing's certain, the hat most certainly is. Speaking of which, no one's attempted to vandalize or remove this statue.

Sensible townsfolk.

All for the Cause,

LSP

Fishing

Don't get me wrong, shooting is great, but fishing is neat too. So I loaded up the truck with some rods and headed off to Lake Whitney.

The Lake's still high and right  out of the gate one of the team caught a Bass with a long tail worm on a Texas rig. Big excitement, which was tempered, a bit, by the young 'un dropping the fish before we could get a picture. It swam away to fight again another day. 

Then one of the boys fell in the lake and had to dry out in the sun while the other caught a fish with his cowboy hat. The hat was strangely waterproof; you can get them from Cavender's for $24. Keeps the sun off and doubles as a net, quite a deal.

Later on a  friendly fisherman gave us a couple of Perch to use as bait and that was fun but didn't result in any strikes. He'd been there since 5.30 am and had only caught Perch, 6 of them.

As midday came and went, and the sun beat down, we headed for the Compound.

Well done, Team, and you never know, maybe next time I'll catch something...

LSP

The Waters Rage and Foam

I went down to the Lake Aquila spillway to get some angling action in, and sure enough, the waters raged and foamed. But where was that Leviathan?

I went downstream to find him and set up on the bank; it was neat to cast into the swift current, though I didn't get any bites. Fish were jumping, though, in mid-stream and that was tantalizing. Maybe with the right surface bait I'd have caught something; or not, the water was moving fast.

Then, like a lazy submarine, a Gar moved into the bank and I gently lowered a hook-full of worm into the water. Perhaps this was the Leviathan, and sure enough, the Gar took the bait.

But Gar are curious creatures, they like to test the bait before they bite and that's what this one did. I played along and gave the fish plenty of line, and I thought I had him.

The strangely prehistoric creature surfaced and snapped angrily at the worm. Yes! He's on! I thought, and made to set the hook. Too soon. The fish sensed something wasn't right and dropped the bait, and that was that. A smaller hook would've done the trick, I think, but as with everything else, hindsight's 20/20.

A Gar

Still, I'm not complaining. It was good to get out and I enjoyed talking with the fishermen. One of them had brought a bow, to shoot the Gar. Maybe I should get one. 

Fish on,

LSP

Out Fishing

We set out in search of fish.

Get on the Bass!

A youngster caught one and shot a snake. Well done JH!

Testing...

I skillfully product tested a variety of lures. Sure enough, they all worked pretty well against pond weed...

Thanks RS, for a great afternoon.

Fish on,

LSP

Just Go Fishing

Today's the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul and I thought I'd celebrate with a bit of bank fishing  at Cedar Creek Park on Lake Whitney. There's plenty of access to the water from the bank and I enjoyed casting into the creek mouth where it meets the lake. 

Lake Whitney from Cedar Creek Park

Had a few bites but no catch; it was tantalizing to see channel cats breaking the water in mid-stream and ignore my lures. Still, always good to get on the water and cast about. I find it clears the mind and there's plenty of sport when the fish are biting, great fun. Next time I go there I'll try my luck further down the Creek.

Here's the Collect for the day:

Almighty God, whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul

glorified you by their martyrdom: Grant that thy Church,

instructed by their teaching and example, and knit together

in unity by thy Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one

foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who liveth and

reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,

now and for ever. Amen.

Fish on,

LSP