Piedmont Bass 3-1-2008

[yak4fish]

Despite the strong and gusty winds, up to 20 mph, I decided to fish a lake North of Greensboro today. Arrived at 11 am to find two power boaters coming off the water with one saying “it’s too dang windy - we’re get n’ off”. With winds out of the North the best choice seemed to be the North edge of the lake, but it was mostly shallow, and no Bass were found that moving in to bed. Worked a couple of coves with the ultra-light and a 1/8 oz Panther Martin for awhile and finally got a solid strike. Poor little pole was bent completely over and the fish pulled the 4 lb line with ease, back and forth around the bow. Thinking it must be a nice Bass, I was surprised to find out it was about an 18” Muskie that came to the surface. Unprepared for teeth, the Muskie shook it’s head at the boat and threw the hook as I reached in the bag for the gripper - easy self release. Continued searching of the shallows produced nothing but sightings of shad - good Bass food. The wind finally let off enough to switch to the South, deeper edge of the lake, which contains lot’s of stumps, and blown downs. Since the Bass weren’t shallow, I switched to weighted plastics, first to a crayfish that produced a bite that came off, then to a jig-n-pig that produced this solid Bass that was fat and healthy, at around 4 lbs. Definitely gonna’ have to revisit this lake once the spawn kicks in.
Freshwater Fishing