I fished Yates' Place yesterday since it was the last day I could fish there until June without a partner. Hoping for that 'one bite,' I had high hopes for that 'big girl' we're always looking for. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Having spent the night on site, I walked outside the guest house when it was barely light enough to tell water from trees. There was not a breath of wind, and the temperature was in the high 50s. The rain that had been forecast had not materialized, but I had packed my rain suit just in case. It was under my arm in a ZipLok bag, just in case the thunderstorms in the forecast did come to pass. It was with more than a little excitement that I boarded my little pond boat and set off in search of a big bass or two.

At 6:45, I had my first hit. I had just cast a 3-trebled jerk bait and made two turns of the reel handle when it felt a little funny. I set the hook, and proceeded to bring a big bluegill to the boat. Probably weighed about 12-14 ounces. Almost 3 hours later, I finally boated my first bass of the day. It hit a weightless, wacky-rigged Senko (black/blue fleck) in about 2 feet of water, way in the back of the south arm. It was 15.5" long, so I gladly released it. Hmmmmm - not the one bite I had been hoping for. Nothing else until 11:54, when I pulled in a 13.5" bass that hit a black/orange, 5" Pit Boss in a downed treetop. After 5 hours, that was all the action I had seen. Under the full overcast, with an almost glassy lake surface, and with water temperature that was between 58.0 and 59.0 everywhere, I couldn't understand why I wasn't getting any action. 'Just have to keep chunking,' I thought. At 2:25, right after the sun finally came out, a light wind started rippling the surface. I immediately had a good hit on an old, Bass Buster Scorpion short-arm spinnerbait with a white/red rubber skirt and a large Colorado blade (Those old baits from the 1970s still catch a LOT of bass for me!). She hit hard on a shallow flat covered with downed timber. After a good fight, I boated her - 6 lbs, 10 oz, and just a tad longer than 22.5". Not the giant I had hoped for, but putting her in the net sure felt good after more than 5 hours of fishing. She had a huge head and plenty of girth, but was only 22.5 inches long. I got a photo or two, and decided to keep throwing the spinnerbait. Not a good decision - after being blanked for 2 more hours, I decided that with the warming water , they might hit on top. I decided to try a buzz bait, but it was another hour before I boated my next bass, a 3-00 that hit a green, single-bladed buzz bait with a clacker. Something must have awakened them, because from then until I quit fishing at sunset (5:59), I hooked and lost 3 more fish on buzz baits - the green one and a small, 1/4 oz. job with a purple skirt. One looked to be about 3 pounds when it jumped and threw the lure back at me. The other two were big - I don't know how big, but they were bigger than the 6-10 I had caught earlier. They were both very strong fish. I finally ended the day with a 6-05 that hit another black/blue fleck Senko in about 6 feet of water. By that time, the water temperature had warmed up to 64.2 at the north end of the lake.  Only five bass and a bluegill in just under 12 hours of fishing doesn't normally make for a great day on the water, but for my first trip this year - my first trip since last November, actually - I wasn't disappointed. I know that 'big girl' is still there, and who can be disappointed with two solid six-pounders? Not I - and it never did rain!

Here are 2 photos of the 6-10:

As always, Duwayne and Kay were the consummate host and hostess. I enjoyed sitting on their porch and just chatting with them in the evening calm. I can't wait to go back again.

Posted By: Tom Dillon