(1808 posts)
Jul 3, 2016 3:07 pm
Smashfest 2016
We went to a small lake in southeastern Oklahoma back in April. My Dad and I drove down Monday afternoon, after getting a new axle installed on my boat trailer. That's a long story all by itself. We didn't fish Monday. My little brother and one of our friends from high school were still out fishing when we arrived. So I setup my hammock, enjoyed a cold beer and eagerly awaited a fishing report.Tuesday was an OK day. Nothing stellar. Fish were in various stages of the spawn, with some being on beds. I caught a few fish, but as the bite was dying that afternoon I switched gears. A cold front was supposed to pass through Tuesday night, so I switched to throwing a shakey head, caught a couple right before going in, and felt good.
Wednesday, I threw a shakey head all day. It was the only rod I pulled out of the locker. Feeling good! A Zoom Trick Worm in watermelon red flake with chartreuse tail, and a couple of different colors of Gene Larew Tattle Tail Worms were the game. A Jewel Baits Jeff Kriet Squirrel Head 1/8 ounce was the head of choice.
Thursday, I decided to keep working the shakey head. After about 3 hours, I put it away. The fish were no longer interested in that game. My brother was throwing a Junebug Yum Dinger and catching fish, just not a lot of size, until he whacked a 7 pound 3 ounce bass just before lunch. I played around with different baits, and never really found anything that I had confidence in. Later in the afternoon, I had a pretty good fish on a jig, which unfortunately came off at the boat. As we were going in, I told my dad I was going to live or die with the jig on Friday.
Friday came, and pulled my two Falcon jig rods out of the locker. I fished around with a green pumpkin jig, caught a 5+ pounder on it early. Felt pretty good. I decided to try a different color scheme (see attachment), and it was lights out. The best 5 fish of the day went just over 28 pounds, with a 7 pound 5 ouncer (3rd photo; 2nd fish photo) being the anchor fish.
I make my own jigs from scratch -- melt the lead, pour into the mold with the hook, powder coat paint, hand tied skirts, the whole enchilada. Had to, since a certain bait company stopped making the jigs I started fishing.