We got our usual late start so we decided to go to the Lotus Garden close to our house. That way when Paul had hit his limit it would be an easy, quick trip back to the house. We launched a lot easier than I expected. We ran into a buddy from work that said the fishing was less than stellar. That worried me, but we pressed on anyway. Getting mom out of the house was the bigger goal of the day.
As we made our way down the creek we both tossed Texas-rigged craw imitations and swim baits. The water temperature was a little on the high side I thought. I hovered around 84-85 degrees in the upper creek, but dropped as far as 82 degrees a little farther down. When we got to the cove with the dock we both started targeting fallen trees on both sides. Nothing. After a while Paul was getting restless so he and mom started making their way down the creek. That is when my first Largemouth Bass hit my Zoom Speed Craw as I was picking it up out of the water. She nearly yanked the rod out of my hand and went straight under my kayak from left to right. She was pulling hard, too! After a short fight I got her into the boat and quickly noticed that she still had a belly full of eggs. Odd I thought since the spawn should be over. Plus the fact that the water temperature was so high struck me as odd. She was the only fish caught in there so we all moved on. I realized, though, right after I released her that I forgot to take a photo. Oh well. It was a much better decision to get her back in the water so she could make her contribution to Mother Nature.
Mom told me that there were fish breaking the surface all around her in the outside of a bend, but she could not get any of them to bite. I saw them chasing bait fish and tossed my swim bait in there, but no one wanted what I was offering. Paul was on the frayed edge of his limit as was mom. Especially since she had not caught any fish yet. I suggested that we head down creek to a huge fallen tree that I know holds fish no matter what the conditions are.
As we neared the tree I told mom to pick her spot and I would get out of her way. She chose the right side so I chose to sit across the creek and cast into the top of the tree. First cast, my Zoom Speed Craw hits the water and never hits the bottom. This little guy was swinging WAY outside of his weight class…
Still nothing for mom. I threw the craw some more, but nothing more than some bumps. I knew they were fish because the craw was pushed down around the bend in the hook. Then, on a whim, I tried a Zoom four inch ribbed worm that is black with a blue curly tail. I had it Texas-rigged on a 1/8th ounce Slider head. I tossed that a good ways back into the tree. It hit the water, I hopped it once, twice, then BAM! A drag-stripping run, and fight, that lasted a lot longer than I expected it to. Here I am thinking I have a toad on the line and I was getting a little excited! But, once I got this little guy to the boat...
…I realized that he, too, was fighting way outside his weight class. But, they both pulled hard so who am I to complain?!
Nothing more off of that tree, but I did mark a LOT of fish on it so that is some good information for another trip. Paul, and mom, had reached their limit for sure by now so it was time to head back. I took Paul into my boat so he could watch my Lowrance for fish. Anything to occupy him for the return trip I thought. It worked pretty well especially since I had a used Speed Craw in the bottom of the boat. He spent his time playing with that and watching the Lowrance. That made the trip go by faster and before we knew it we were at the launch waiting on a couple to get all of their stuff squared away. Sadly, that took longer than we would have liked due to their obvious inexperience. Not only did they linger at the launch site itself, but they left their vehicle parked in the loading area far too long. But if that was the only “issue” we had on the day then I will take it. The only other thing that I could have hoped for would be that mom caught a fish or three. I guess that just means there is another trip there in our future!
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