Kenny Talbert and I recently backed the boat in the water about an hour after daylight and headed to a spot that had proved productive during the past several excursions.
But a couple of weeks had transpired since I had been fishing, and things had changed drastically. We had experienced our fair share of success floating a worm, but the spawn was behind us now. And heavy rains had raised the water level significantly.
But I had a plan. It was nearing that time of the year when the fish notoriously feed on shad at the surface. So one rod would be rigged with my favorite topwater lure that had proven effective on breaking fish time and time again throughout the years.
I would have a jerkbait tied to another rig, as there were also several points which I suspected would hold walleyes, during the early weeks of May. I had a buzzbait tied to yet another rig with anticipation that bass would be feeding along the shoreline amongst the partially submerged buckbrush.
I was geared up and prepared for several scenarios. I was confident that at least one of the presentations would lead to success. And with a little luck, each presentation would prove effective during various times of the day.
Well, we had not taken into account that it was steadily growing daylight earlier as the spring season progressed. In turn, we pretty well missed any early-morning breaking action that might have transpired.
There was always a slight chance that we would happen upon a few schools of fish that were still chasing shad in open water. But the sky was barren of any cloud cover, which lessened our chances of catching breaking fish even more.
That in mind, I laid my topwater-rigged rod and reel to the side and began tossing the buzzbait into the buckbrush. But each and every cast appeared to go unnoticed. And after about an hour of casting in vain, I opted to lay this rig to the side as well.
Retrieving the jerkbait over a point I grew excited upon noticing a hit. But the excitement was short lived as I retrieved a spotted bass that would have been lucky to measure eight inches long. And to top it all off, the fish shook the hook loose just before reaching the boat.
We covered several more locations during the next hour or so with no success. And in turn, my anticipation of an action-packed outing was beginning to dwindle. Every presentation that I had suspected would work had failed. It was due time to back up and take yet another approach.
Cutting the buzzbait from my line, I began browsing through my tackle box. And within a few minutes I had a rod rigged with a Texas-rigged worm. Tossing the presentation at the shoreline's edge, I eventually managed to coax a bass into biting. And although I did manage to land the Kentucky, it was far too small to keep.
After several more casts, I eventually noticed a slight tension on the line. Easing my rod tip toward the surface, I slowly wound the slack from my line and set the hook. Hey, this one appeared to be a better fish. But stature mattered not, as it managed to shake loose before I got it in the boat.
We fished for another hour or so before I finally coaxed another bass into biting. It, too, was a more acceptable sized fish, but luck simply was not on my side on this particular day, as it also managed to shake loose before reaching the boat.
As the morning progressed and the sun grew more intense, we finally opted to cut our losses and call it a day. I couldn't help but ponder how this particular spring day was comparable to what the angler usually faces during the brunt of summer under a blue-bird sky.
But I was also aware that there are simply days, during all seasons, when the fish refuse to bite. And I was confident that our next outing would be much different. In fact, it might just prove one of the most action-packed outings that we would experience throughout the entire year.
Sports on 05/23/2019