June Swimbait Adventures
I haven't had a chance to go out much in the last month or so, due to the arrival of Michael K The Younger, but I've managed a few trips out with Sam F and the occasional shore trip. For a lot of these trips I've been playing around with my newest toys, swimbaits and other large/obnoxious lures.
The most productive trip was a few weeks back, going out for a few hours in the morning rain and wind. The conditions were good for some noisy baits, and we obliged. I busted out some new lures for the first time, including a 7 inch Slammer and a Buzzjet. Maybe a handful of casts with the Slammer went by, and Sam and I are laughing a bit at how huge it looks when I get a solid bite waking it by some pads. The fish pulls us along in the inflatable boat, and after a nice fight I land my first Slammer fish, a 3 1/2 lb chunk. I add a 2 a bit later, working it through the pads to get a fish that had missed Sam's frog.
Later that trip I switched to try a Buzzjet, an unholy mix of a wakebait, crankbait, and buzzbait. The thing makes a serious ruccus, and I ended up getting a few vicious hits on it and landing a heavy 2 and a 1. Not bad for a first outing with the big lures.
I've since been out once with the Slammer and managed another awesome bite. The fish was an ambitious barely keeper that hit it near pads as well. The picture is amazing I think =)
June has only had one more nice fish: When testing out a new rod in a small local pond, I got a couple of big blowups on a Rage Eeliminator in pads but failed to hook up. After resting the area a bit, I finally managed to get bit and set the hook. Working a solid fish through pads on 17 lb fluoro is not as easy as I thought it would be! After getting stuck once and horsing it through as best I could, I managed to land another nice 3 1/2, a best for that pond.
So far June has been the month of trying out new baits. I am happy to report that I have not thrown a single cast with a Senko-style worm, which has significantly increased my level of entertainment =)