Lil' Shaka hitting some fishing goals

 

Goal 1: Catch a fish in a rainy overcast day.

Lil' Shaka was able to achieve goal 1 fairly quickly. I think on his second cast he had a bass come up and chomp on his Yum Dinger. We were specifically using a green pumpkin and white belly pattern.  I think the bass can really see this pattern in an overcast day. Even though a cold front moved in, we both noticed the fish and the water was still warm. So the bite seemed to continue to be on!

Sure enough, we both continued to catch bass on our Yum Dingers with wacky rigs. I actually wasn't using a Yum Dinger.  I still had an orange crawfish color "Bama Craw" stick bait from the company Creme. I picked these up from Walmart a while back, and I have caught some big bass with them!

Goal 2: Catch a Fish in a Specific Pond using Wacky Rig.

The Lil' Shaka caught this 2lbs bass yesterday at one of the ponds that is in the regular rotation. He caught this one on a Yum Dinger in a Wacky Rig configuration. He was casting into an area where there are some good size logs.  He was rewarded with the fish from the pic you see above!

The Goal: Catch Fish at a Finicky Pond

We have a pond not far from where we live that has been elusive to my son and I in terms of catching fish. We usually take our bikes out there with some fishing poles and try like hell to catch fish. Goal completed!

The last couple of times we fished there we were successful with our wacky rigs. I think this pond gets fished quite a bit, and I am guessing this is not a lure that the fish see that much.

I also notice that the bass we catch there are all fairly good size. All of them have been about 1.5lbs to 2lbs.  It seems like there are less bass in this pond, but they are definitely there.

We caught 4 bass on this day and we walked all the way around the pond. On this day, son was using a Yum Dinger in a black with red and gold flake pattern that was working really well.  I continued to use my Creme Bama Craw stick bait.

I hope you are all having a great weekend. Stay Committed, Stay Driven...

 

Big Mama said hi to Lil' Shaka and me

Lil' Shaka and I went fishing yesterday. The Big Mama that you see in the photo was a 4.5 pounder. This is one of the biggest fish I've caught in the last year, and definitely one of the biggest I've caught at one of our favorite ponds. The wacky rig with the Yum Dingers has proven to be an unbelievable combination for catching bass right now for us. 

Lil' Shaka got into the action as well. He set some goals for this session. The first goal was to become comfortable with the Ugly Stick bait caster I bought for him some time ago. It is a heavy power and fast action rod, and I think a 6'6 or 7 foot rod. He was casting his lure, and I noticed he was doing it with little to no backlash.

His second goal was to try and catch a bass on a wacky rig. Well, he accomplished his second goal as well by catching not one, but three different bass on the wacky rig that day!

In terms of the environment we were fishing in, the water was warm as it was around 87 or 88 degrees out and sunny. The water was very clear, but the pond had a lot of grass and weeds. It was fun to watch him hit his goals on this day! 

"Chuggin' down coffee when I shoulda been sleeping"

"Chuggin' down coffee when I shoulda been sleeping..." is a lyric from a Mark Chesnutt song called It Sure Is Monday.

Well, that was me yesterday before work. Right now they are biting hard before the sun comes up. It was a multi-species morning with bass and crappie being caught. 

I walked both ponds in the morning. I missed one really nice bass. It made it to the bank and then spit the lure. Damn! I will say since I changed out my wacky rig to using Gamakatsu Octopus circle hooks I have absolutely increased the number of fish I bring to the bank. For whatever reason, I did not get a good hookset.

Another thing to note was the Crappie hitting top water. I've never experienced that before! I noticed that fish were coming up and hitting something on the top of the water. So, I started to do a "Walk The Dog" retrieval with my Zoom Flukes, and Bam! The crappie were coming up and hitting the fluke. That was fun!  Stay Committed, Stay Driven!

The Bite Is On During The Spawn 2021

 

Friday 5.14.2021 Morning

My son and I have been taking full advantage of the spawn season.  The last three days have been unbelievable in terms of the bite.  The bass are hungry and aggressive.  My last post talked about catching my first fish on the Zoom Fluke. Once I figured out how to catch fish with this lure, I can tell you the last three days have been one of the funnest times I've had fishing.

Lil' Shaka also got in on the action the last couple of days.  I showed him how to use the Zoom Fluke, and he was able to catch some good looking bass with the lure as well. He is also very comfortable using jigs with Berkeley Gulp Minnows. This is definitely his "go to" and what he is most confident with right now.

Lil' Shaka has caught multiple species the last couple of days on his jigs and minnows.  He caught crappie, bluegill, and bass.  Really amazing stuff, and he is turning into a really good fisherman.  It is always fun to "double-up" when catching fish. You know you are on "the bite" when you can catch fish together.

Additional Notes and Thoughts

• Fluke retrieval technique was jerk jerk pause...but also slow retrieve with little jerks that definitely mimicked a dying shad in the water.  It worked very well.
• Going early before the sunrise proved to be the best time. Fish aggressive and hungry.
• I also pulled out the wacky worm and caught a few bass that way as well.
• Wacky worms and Flukes have done really well for me during the spawn.

May 2021 Early Morning Fishing Entry

 

It was exciting this morning! I hit the pond before work. Now that the sun is rising earlier, it is easier to go fishing in the early morning hours. The air temp was still a bit cold (especially for May). I think it was around 47-48 degrees outside at around 6:45am. 

But guess what? The exciting part was being able to catch some bass on a new lure that I have previously never caught any fish on.  That lure my Ohana is the Salty Super Fluke by Zoom in the Bluegill Flash pattern.  I was able to catch 3 bass this morning on this lure.

I fished this fluke in a weightless configuration, and I used a G-Lock hook size 1/0 from Gamakatsu that fits very niceless as a weedless option. The hook seems to be almost a perfect fit and does not look too big for the presentation.  I through this on one of my baitcasters with a medium power pole that works well with "jerkbait" type presentations.  This is exactly how I was presenting the fluke.  The fish weren't really biting on a fast "walk-the-dog" type action.  Instead, I was allowing the fluke to float and sink a bit and did more of a jerk, jerk, pause.  Bam!  They were biting, and I now have caught fish on a new lure. It was fun! Stay Committed, Stay Driven!

Spring 2021 Fishing Check In

I have not posted in some time. I've been very busy at work, with the family, and of course with fishing. This is the time of the year during spawn and post-spawn that the fish are biting like crazy. So, I am taking full advantage of the situation! 

I picked up the wacky rig method for this spring and I am absolutely loving it. I have been fishing the Yum Dingers and Senkos in the weightless wacky rig method and the fish are absolutely destroying these lures.

In the picture, you cannot even see the Yum Dinger because this fish absolutely choked it down. I wish you all luck in your fishin' adventures. Stay Committed, Stay Driven.