June 4th 2011

Started off this morning on the bad side, sort of. My intention was not to catch fish but rather take the new baitcaster out for a whirl. It wasn't until i noticed jumps in the water and shadows are large bass swimming rather close to the shore that i decided to grab the spinning reels and give it a shot to land some good fish. They ignored pretty much everything that i casted their way. After about an hours of trying and the wind picking up, i called it a day and went over to Cabelas to take a look around and pick up some new gear (new spinnerbait, slip-line bobbers and jig heads).

With the wind picking up around noon, i shot over to Wehrspan lake took a new swimbait i got out for a test drive on the baitcaster, i took the treble hook since i was going through a lot weeds, i managed to get the spool so backlashed that i had to cut the line. So once again i contemplated about going to Cabelas for another spool of line, preferably mono, but i changed my mind and went back home to straighten out the tackle box. Headed out again around 4pm to the Offutt Lake to squeeze some more fishing, and boy was it packed. I first tried on the west side of the lake but the wind was a major problem, so i opted to the south side of the lake where the wind was not too bad.

After an hour of jerking the spinnerbaits on the southern shore, i found a sweet spot on a rock overshooting a pretty good dropoff in the water, figured some bass could be lurking down there. I was right, there was a good deal of them, some were swimming in pairs making rounds in the same spot over and over again. But yet they weren't interested in the spinnerbaits. So i opted to change to crankbaits, this got their attention not enough to bit. There was one particular bass that kept very close to the shore, i could almost reach out and grab him if i wanted to, I went to get the biggest minnow stickbait i had and plopped it a few feet from him, he looked at but didn't go after it until after i jerked it a few times and paused it for 30 seconds, he finally grabbed it and i pulled him up. As i stepped onto the higher ledge to grab the camera from my car, my foot slipped and the rod fell out of my hands, I quickly grabbed the rod before it landed in the water. I guess the sudden drop of the fishing and my upward grab of the pole was too much for the 10 lb braided line. It broke and the bass, plus my $10 Rapala X-Rap lure, got away.

I quickly rigged up another crankbait with the same colors, just slightly smaller and whipped that thing in all directions trying to see if i could catch him again (despite the astronomical odds of landing the same fish twice). After an hour of trying with several lures, i called it quits of ever catching him again. Another bass came to the same spot, but smaller, i tried to catch that one but he was uninterested altogether.

So today, I will mark it down and the day the big one got away.

ATTENTION NEBRASKA ANGLERS!
IF YOU CATCH A LARGEMOUTH BASS IN THE OFFUTT LAKE WITH A BLACK/ORANGE 4" STICKBAIT STUCK IN ITS MOUTH, PLEASE CONTACT ME. YOU CAN KEEP THE FISH, I JUST WANT THE LURE BACK. :)

Part 2: Another one bits the dust. Remember the second bass that came up after i lost the first one? He was back again in the same spot. But just like yesterday, he was uninterested in any of the crankbaits that i threw his way. Took a can of unsalted corn and began carp fishing (not chumming the place first) There were some real monster carp swimming early in the morning in that spot but not interested in the corn on the line. After striking out in the morning, i had a few afternoon things to do before i headed back out again for a second attempt at carp fishing (this time i threw half the can to chum the area where the carp were earlier, plus with a south breeze, the current would take the smell outwards to deeper waters), but alas no such luck on carp fishing, didn't see them either so i called it a day for that. But i was bound and determine to catch that largemouth that kept hanging out so close to the shore. Man i tried everything in the tackle box; jigs, spinnerbaits, inline spinners, shad and minnow crankbaits, buzzbaits, swimbaits, and spoons. Nothing. The best i could do was with the crankbait, when i jerked it and paused for a good 10 seconds he would open his mouth like he was ready to strike but then bolt off only to come back yet again and be uninterested in the lure. How aggravating is that? I went as far to take my grandmothers old fishing net and put it in the water and when he got real close i would scoop him up out of the water, haha. Didn't work though, never got close enough with the net in the water.

Finally i decided to just watch him and take some pictures, that is when i noticed that when he darted off, there were smaller fish darting away from him, then it hit me. The crankbaits i was using was too big for him (X-rap size 10 4" minnow), so i decided to step down to the size 8 and 6 and see if that would provoke him. Once again i got the same reaction from every lure in the box. Fast and slow retrieve accomplished no looks, while small and subtle jerks prompted looks and opening his mouth, but no interest to even touch it or swim near it. After realizing he wasn't going after the crankbaits, i switch the jigheads and tried to catch some of the small perchs (what they looked like) to try and use for bait for the big guy. Alas they were so deep and hiding under the rocks i got no hits from them either.

After that i packed up and went to Walnut Creek and fish off the pier with a box of worms i bought. Caught 5 small rock bass and pretty good size smallmouth. Least i can count on those fish to bite. Maybe they bite too much, some of them really had their mouths tore up for attacking other baits in the past. The smallmouth was missing half his lower jaw. Yeeesh!

That's why it's called fishing instead of catching.:o Still, sounds like you was entertained those two days so that is what it's all about. The fish is a bonus.;):)