Bass, Raspberries and Beagles

Up before dawn, I was, Monday morning. Falling barometer and rain moving in might be the perfect storm to catch a big bass I surmised. Armed with a new Whopper Stopper, TRD and Bomber crankbait, I slid the two-man bass boat, minus one seat, into the water.

A few bluegill were still bedding and there was a big predator chasing them through the weeds. I lined the boat to make a perfect cast along the face of the weeds. Water erupted when my top water bait gurgled past an opening.

The bass could have been the seven-pounder I caught and released last year, regardless, my light spinning tackle was no match. On the third run, old moss back took me into the weeds and was able to shake free when the exposed treble hook snagged. A few more casts and another big based boiled on my lure but got off.

The Z-Man TRD was up next. I tossed it under a dock, but it didn’t stay there. My line was cutting a wake headed for deep water. No problem on this hook set.

A light rain began falling so I put the crankbait to work. I caught four bass on it. However, this lure gave me fits with the “O” ring continually wedging between the lure eye and the diving bill. A size smaller ring is in order or maybe just replacing it with a hook snap.

The hot producer was the Whopper Stopper. I fished it like a buzzbait, with a pause and twitched it like I was fishing an old twin prop lure. The bass seemed to follow and then hit when I killed the retrieve.

A falling barometer is a good time to fish reaction top water lures like a Whopper Plopper or buzzbait. The bait is a new concept that the bass seem to like, but on a bluebird day I will be pitching a grub or worm into the shadows.

The lure has a couple of flaws. The body needs to be slightly longer to keep the back trebles from catching the rudder prop. Once that happens or the prop gets clogged with weeds, the lure roles and begins twisting the line.

I do not like using a snap swivel, but one is in order here.

Another problem, my bad, is you need a stiff rod, at least six-foot, to set the hook and you must use low stretch line. I was using crappie gear.

The small Whopper is good for smallies on White River, but I need to plop down another $18 for a much larger size that I can throw with a casting outfit.

My hope is to exchange pleasantries again with that mega-bass only this time the deck will be stacked in my favor.

Tramp, one of my beagles, has a propensity to dig holes. I trimmed his toe nails and put hot sauce in the digs. All is now calm in my south Madison retreat and the digging has stopped at just under two feet.

If you haven’t been picking wild raspberries time is running out. Recent rains has put juice in the fruit and made the berries bigger. A pie just came out of the oven.