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Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2002 - 7:53 p.m.

Perfect conditions, not so perfect results�

Today, everything was perfect.

Perfect how, you ask?

The temperature was in the low 80�s, a few degrees above normal for late September.

The wind was out of the south/southwest. The barometric pressure was falling steadily.

A cold front was approaching the area, promising a dramatic change in weather in the next 24 hours.

And Lease had to work late tonight.

What does all of this add up to?

Time to go fishing!

I drove home from work, took the dogs outside to do their business, slathered my body with Deep Woods Off�, grabbed my tackle and headed to Lake Mohall.

I returned to my favorite spot on this lake to try my luck again on white bass. This spot is about a 15 minute walk from the parking area, so I also got in a little exercise.

Perfect.

Then wind was causing small swells on the surface, kicking the baitfish around and towards the shoreline. This is perfect for white bass, which like to school up and attack the hapless shad that slam into the rocks.

Sure enough, the fish were there. In my first 8 casts, I had 8 strikes and caught 4 fish (a small crappie, a nice largemouth bass that I released, and two 1 �-1 � pound white bass).

This all happened in the first 10 minutes. How many more would I catch, I wondered�.

Turns out, not too many. Since white bass follow the shad wherever they go, they move in and out of an area rapidly. They are much easier to catch in a boat, because you can use a fish finder to locate the schools of fish, and you can follow them whenever they move.

Walking the bank is another story. When they stopped hitting, I moved a little, but didn�t pick up any more strikes. I changed lures, trying a spinner first, and then going to larger jigs (two 1/16th of an ounce chartreuse twister tails, instead of two 1/32nd of an ounce).

Nothing worked for about 30 minutes.

Then, when I was ready to call it quits, the wind picked up from a 10-mph breeze to a 20+ mph whitecap-inducing squall. I decided to let my jigs drop further into the water (to get below the rough surface), and reeled the line in a little slower.

This change took me down to where the small crappies were hiding. I picked up around 15 undersized fish in the next half-hour, and I ended up with wet boots and pants (up to my knees), too. I was standing near the surface of the water, and the waves were slapping the rocks, soaking me down.

Funny how I never notice things like that when I am catching fish. Even if they are just small fish.

When the crappie stopped, I decided to call it a day. As I was walking back to the car, I crossed over the road to the other side of the bridge to use the sidewalk. The water on the opposite side was almost completely still.

That is, until I saw a nice white bass break the surface, attacking some slow-moving baitfish.

I had to make a few casts on the calm side after this sight, of course.

I picked up one more nice white bass, and several more small crappie. Since it was getting near time for Lease to leave work, I decided it was time for me to go.

So, here is the final tally:

Three nice keeper white bass (filleted for supper tomorrow night).

One nice largemouth bass (big enough to keep, but I don�t eat these fish. They are too important as a game fish, and relatively hard to find in Lake Mohall).

Around 20 undersized white crappie. Maybe in another year, they will be big enough to keep.

Not bad for an after work, hurry to the lake, under 2 hour fishing trip.

Now, if I had just burned a couple of hours of vacation time and got to the lake 2 hours earlier, I might have filled a bucket with white bass���..


I just joined a new diaryring. This one was started by PearlJamie, and is for anyone who can't stomach the HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (the 'star' of this horrible show is up for an Emmy this Sunday? What's wrong with people?) Please join, if you agree that this is the worst show on t.v.

Antique - Futuristic


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