New hitch, new lures, and the one that got away…

2010-06-12T20:52:00.001-07:00

I never really had a “one that got away” story before. I mean, I’ve lost fish, but I’ve never really lost a fish big enough that made me disappointed to loose it. Until now.

It was windier than hell. I was underneath the rear end of my Jeep with the cordless drill trying to drill a 3/32” hole for the ground wire of my new trailer light harness. My arms were tired. I was sweating out of my Bass Pro sweatshirt. And the wind was blowing every metal shaving off the drill into my eyes. I asked myself if I really liked to fish this much. I crawled out from under the bumper to try and find a screwdriver that was better suited to completely strip out the head of the screw that holds the ground in place. A few days before, I had just finished installing the factory hitch onto my 2006 Grand Cherokee. I didn’t have a chance to put the wiring harness on at the time, so I was finishing it up after work one day. Up to that point, most of my fishing time was done when someone else had time to take me. I rarely fished by myself prior, and I was looking forward to taking off on a whim and heading to the lake, boat in tow.

I live about 15 minutes from Clinton Lake, in Central Illinois. Clinton isn’t the best lake around here. Many anglers prefer Shelbyville or Sangchris or Newton. I kind of grew up fishing it, though. My family spent quite a few evenings crappie fishing off the bank at the marina. That is, back when you could fish at the marina. Anyway, it was finally time to hook up and head out. I had all my gear loaded up in the boat. My boat is a 15’6” Lowe Pro Jon. It’s the kind of boat that’s built to run a river with, not necessarily take off across open water, especially with the way I have it set up. I’ve decked out the front, and I made the mistake of using thick plywood and 2x4s, which has made it a little front heavy. I’ve planned to take it apart again and use some thinner wood, but I’d really like to log a few more hours on the water before I render the boat useless for a few weeks.

In an effort for full disclosure, I will mention that I custom paint crankbaits and sell them online at www.buildyourownbaits.com. I’m no professional fisherman by any means, but I am a guy that has a hobby of using the airbrush, and with fishing one of my pastimes, I’ve decided to give fishing lures a try. The website is one where you can design your own lure, and I paint it up and send it to you. I’ve also painted my “stock” lures, and I’ve got a few new ones to try. I’ve named one after my home lake and based it on a cross between a shad and a crappie pattern. It has a black back and olive sides, which gives it a nice, subtle lifelike appearance. This bait is one that I’ve tied on this afternoon.

I arrived at the lake at about 4pm. Launching was uneventful, but I did feel bad about interrupting a father and son who were fishing on the boat dock. The boy wasn’t much older than my son is. He was using hot dogs for bait, and claimed he had caught a nice crappie with one. I guess I can’t think it’s too strange; I’ve used a brat before. Hopefully they didn’t get too mad at me for parking right on their fishing spot, but being by myself I didn’t really have another option. I headed straight for a spot I’ve only fished once before. It’s very shallow, only 3-4’ deep in the deep spots. And it’s full of stumps and laydowns. I thought it would be good in the late afternoon and evening. I pulled out the Clinton Lake Shad crankbait and began pitching it to the laydowns. I noticed right away how hard it was to hang up. The wide wobble allowed it to sing through the branches pretty easily. No takers right away, though. I moved in towards the shallower part of the cut. I nearly got thrown out when the trolling motor hit something underwater. I raised it up a bit.

I decided to turn and head towards the point where the cut met the main lake. I was able to hook up on a nice bass while casting towards the main lake. I fought it to the boat and netted it with one hand. A quick photo with the Blackberry and back in the lake it went.

I had a good bit of confidence after that fish. I continued working down the bank, headed back to the bridge that separates the North basin from the South. I’ve had good luck on the bridge in the past, but as I approached it, I saw that some shore fisherman were set up just under it, exactly where I wanted to cast. I continued past, and figured I would work the bank till it was time to head in. There are some good laydowns and stumps on that end, and I began casting toward those. I made the third or forth cast towards a small stump, and I thought I was snagged. I set the hook anyway, and my St. Croix rod nearly doubled over as the creature on the other end of the line took off to the right. It wasn’t exactly moving quickly, almost like it didn't know it was hooked yet. I pulled back again slowly, keeping a tight line and about that time it figured out it was hooked. It took off back to the left, towards the boat and swam underneath. I jabbed my rod under the water, as the fish slammed it against the side. I loosened the drag a bit with my cranking hand, and I felt the massive head shake as it turned back around and headed toward open water. I stammered down off the casting deck onto the lower middle deck, where the net was. I was already planning my strategy of how I would get the fish in the boat. I pulled a bit more, and that seemed to make the fish rise toward the surface, and as it broke the water I saw the huge black eye about 10 feet away. I now can tell it was a bass, and it looked like it could have swallowed a basketball. I had no idea that fish like that even lived in this lake. If I had to guess, it would have probably been in the 6-7lb range, defiantly the biggest bass I would have caught to date. As the huge head shook, I did my best to try and force the fish back under the water, but the lure came unbuttoned, and it flew back towards the boat. All I could do is stand there and watch the ripples on the water settle back into the glassy sheen that was the evening.

PB Bass Quest

New hitch, new lures, and the one that got away…