I lose a lot good largemouth in the weeds.
Interesting Day At The Lake
Trout fishing was out of the question today. Not only is it supposed to get up to 97 degrees, it is "free fishing day" which means the trout lakes would be packed with those too cheap to buy a fishing license.
So, I decided to brave the heat and headed to the private farm lake where I did fairly well with poppers a few weeks ago.
I started in the same place where I caught the bass last time but no one wanted to play. So I finned around assuming the bass had moved. I switched to subsurface patterns and was trolling around when WHAM! Something really nailed one of the WBs I had tied on. I thought for sure it was a LMB... nope. It was a 17-inch Northern Pike Minnow.
Ratz.
The wind came up so I decided to try again around the weed beds. When I reached the spot, I noticed some surface activity so I switched back to my poppers. I tried a normal size frog pattern and managed to fool a bass. However, all I got when I reeled in the line was a glob of weeds. The damned bass had wrapped me around the weeds and got off.
This scenario reoccurred three more times! I'd hook a bass but I would loose it in the weeds.
I had beat the water up pretty good with different size frog patterns -- including the mondo popper I had made and did hook and lose a bass with that one. I decided to try my mouse popper again.
It worked! This time, I put the pedal to the metal and pulled on that guy like I was a bass master. I told myself, this one was not going to get off!... and it didn't.
Along with the bass there was the usual glob of weeded but I got the sucker to hand. Unfortunately, I'm still messing around with my body cam and tried to use it as a still camera but there is no view finder so I had to guess if the bass was completely in frame... it wasn't.
This was the best shot I got:
![Water Sky Vertebrate Plant Fisherman]()
Notice the weeds on the mouse pattern... that was just a small amount remaining after I removed as much as I could. The blasted bass managed to tear off one of its ears so I need to fix that.
So... I certainly wasn't skunked but I wish I could have caught all the LMB I lost in the weeds!
So, I decided to brave the heat and headed to the private farm lake where I did fairly well with poppers a few weeks ago.
I started in the same place where I caught the bass last time but no one wanted to play. So I finned around assuming the bass had moved. I switched to subsurface patterns and was trolling around when WHAM! Something really nailed one of the WBs I had tied on. I thought for sure it was a LMB... nope. It was a 17-inch Northern Pike Minnow.
Ratz.
The wind came up so I decided to try again around the weed beds. When I reached the spot, I noticed some surface activity so I switched back to my poppers. I tried a normal size frog pattern and managed to fool a bass. However, all I got when I reeled in the line was a glob of weeds. The damned bass had wrapped me around the weeds and got off.
This scenario reoccurred three more times! I'd hook a bass but I would loose it in the weeds.
I had beat the water up pretty good with different size frog patterns -- including the mondo popper I had made and did hook and lose a bass with that one. I decided to try my mouse popper again.
It worked! This time, I put the pedal to the metal and pulled on that guy like I was a bass master. I told myself, this one was not going to get off!... and it didn't.
Along with the bass there was the usual glob of weeded but I got the sucker to hand. Unfortunately, I'm still messing around with my body cam and tried to use it as a still camera but there is no view finder so I had to guess if the bass was completely in frame... it wasn't.
This was the best shot I got:
Notice the weeds on the mouse pattern... that was just a small amount remaining after I removed as much as I could. The blasted bass managed to tear off one of its ears so I need to fix that.
So... I certainly wasn't skunked but I wish I could have caught all the LMB I lost in the weeds!
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These are the three patterns that worked to fool the LMB. As I was setting up the shot, I remember that I lost two more bass on the mondo popper but not due to the weeds... the bass didn't stay hooked for more than a couple of seconds.
I wondered if the hook gap between the bottom of the body and the hook spear was too narrow and I think it must be and the reason the two bass didn't stay hooked. If I tie any more of those giant frog patterns (toads?) then I'll need to find larger gap hooks than what I have. (The popper is also a pain to cast. Due to the abnormally large size, I had to fling it more than cast it!)
![Plant Insect Arthropod Blue Art]()
The mouse is in bad shape. One of the ears is gone and the other is barely hanging on...
I wondered if the hook gap between the bottom of the body and the hook spear was too narrow and I think it must be and the reason the two bass didn't stay hooked. If I tie any more of those giant frog patterns (toads?) then I'll need to find larger gap hooks than what I have. (The popper is also a pain to cast. Due to the abnormally large size, I had to fling it more than cast it!)
The mouse is in bad shape. One of the ears is gone and the other is barely hanging on...
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
