Saturday, June 16, 2007

Lake Norman NC, Bass Fishing Tales

It was a fantastic 2 day bass fishing trip with my favorite brother.We were fired up and ready to put a hook in the "Big bass of the day"!Simple techniques that included top water,Carolina rig and my favorite crank baits.

As you can see from the prior post this is fact not fiction.We started the day out early 6:00 Am on the water.It was May 28-29 of 2007 still a few fish bedding and plenty of Bluegill bedding.It depended what coves you decided to go in and not to forget White Bass everywhere.

Lake Norman has been known for gin clear water and as many peers as the eye could see.This is man made cover for bass not to mention structure.I noticed as soon as we got to the first destination on the lake it was going to be a Great Day on the water.It was time to wet the line and ,I was ready to go!So we started by using some top water baits like Pop-r's and propbaits around peers.

These techniques are simple to do for any new bass fisherman including my brother the power fisherman.He's all in for the reaction stikes but sometime's this just is not eneough.I told my brother several time you need to be versitile when it come's to bass fishing.Also to be aware of what is in the water what type of forage and prey fish bass love to eat.Mostly shad!

Except up in the creeks where crayfish and local bait fish run out of the creeks like chubs and small minnows.But since we concentrated on the main lake points and peers we had plenty of techniques we could use to catch the elusive predator the bass.

So in a nutshell we caught several on topwater about 5-10 1-2 lbs bass first thing in the morning nothing to get all excited about but action non the less.After the morning bite slowed.We had to change the pattern this was about 10:30 am.

I tied on a Bill Dance Crankbait Fat free Shad it covers water depths to 8-10 ft.This is my favorite Crank Bait during the late spring when bass start leaving their beds from the spawn.

By this time bass are ready to start feeding.Believe me it a powerful strike when the bass nearly yank the pole from your hand.This technique requires mostly long cast in order to get your crankbait to the desired depth level.

Which with mostly cast around peers you neeed to bump every pole coming back if all possible.I usually try the front of the peer first only because some of my biggest bass caught are here in the deeper water.Then move on with different angles and depths all the way to the bank ,being as thorough as possible.

I landed 3 keeper bass in the first 30 minutes weighing about 3-4 lbs a piece.I was happy!This trip for me is turning out to be a Fantastic bass fishing trip!

In the meantime my brother Jim has come to a standstill with his bass fishing.Not wanting to make a pattern change.He's crying about no stikes,no bites and no nibbles.I know you have heard this before on your own boat.Except,I was on his this time.Go figure the man in the back catching the most fish.Either it's knowledge or luck you can decide for yourself.

By this time we are getting closer to the lunch hour and Jim still has'nt caught any more bass.So after ragging him a little about his bass fishing skills.He finally gave in to me and said "Mike what do you suggest"I fish with!

Since the sun was getting higher in the sky and the clear blue was present.I knew the fish would be looking for some shade or deeper water.By the way we had no wind at this time about 86 degress air temp,water temp about 82 degrees and crystal clear water.

Naturally bass don't like the light penetrating into the water.So I suggested he either use a jig,Texas rig or Carolina rig.He finally decided to take my advice and use Carolina Rig.

Now most of the time people use lizards and worms.So we decided to add a ZOOM Green Pumkin 6" lizard with a chartreuse tail.Something that JIM had alot of so if he did establish a Pattern he had plenty to continue to catch bass with.Now you have to understand this is the very first time he's has tried this bass fishing technique.

So he was very greenhorned from the start.So to help Jim ,I decided the best way to teach him was to show him how,I would present the bait to the fish and to work it slowly on the bottom.Making long cast around peers to cover the whole peer.

So within about the first 3 cast Jim already had another bass on weighing about 2.5 lbs.I could not explain how excited he was to catch this bass.Finally he listened!For he started to catch bass again.This lasted him to about the 2:00 pm hr.Which he had plenty of stikes and bass to show for his efforts.

Finally, we had established a small pattern for us to catch some decent bass with out beating our brains out trying to catch this elusive predator.

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