Hellish Heat, Heartless Bass, and the Mojo Rig

 

I got done with work, and popped over to the neighborhood pond. It was about 4:45pm, the sun was high and the temperature was 96 degrees. Not a cloud in the sky and a tiny breeze was taking the current to the east banks of the pond.

I'll tell you right now the first 30 minutes wasn't going good. I was recently at this pond over the weekend and had a little success on a plastic worm. But the pattern had changed. The worm wasn't doing it. I tried some moving bait stuff...no dice.

A spawn definitely occurred again and there continue to be many minnows on the banks. I could still see some bass striking the banks for the minnows, but I also understood that the bass were finicky. I had a couple "play" with the bait instead of violently attacking it which I so love. The bass on this day were heartless, LOL.

In times like these...I might pull out the Mojo Rig. I am glad I did. One of my "Go To's" in situations where bass are really, really finicky. The Mojo Rig is nothing more than a sinker up the line, kind of like a Carolina Rig. You use bobber stoppers to keep the sinker in place so it is adjustable to where you would like the sinker to be.

Sure enough...as soon as I slowed down and dragged my fluke on the bottom with a few twitches here and there, the bass started to gulp my Houdini Zoom Super Fluke. I caught 5 in in a matter of 20 minutes. I love when a plan comes together! Once I caught 5, I had enough. I got into the truck and cranked up the AC! Stay Committed, Stay Driven.  Until next time.

End of August Fishing Log 2024

 

Today was a fun little session before I needed to pick up my dude from football practice. They had their Blue and Gold game last night and this morning was just film sessions. So I dropped him off and headed over to Da Neighborhood Pond. 

I haven't been to this pond in about a month. Conditions had definitely changed! In this pond there is definitely a species of fish that are doing a later summer spawn. There are an abundance of minnows on the banks right now. There are two things I see the bass doing:

1. Chasing the minnows in the middle of the pond. I see the swirls. When I am able to cast my lure into the swirls, I get the bass bite.

2. Bass are come up to the bank and crushing the minnows. I witnessed the violent water splashes at the bank.

So what about the lures on this day?

What got it done was a good ol' Zoom Junebug Trick Worm. I caught all my fish on this. I did try to use a little swim bait, but really no takers on the moving baits. Caught 5 in an hour. Then off to pick my guy! Stay committed, Stay Driven.

End of July 2024, Sunday morning session at the Pond

 

We didn't make it to championship Sunday baseball this time...so we woke up, backed up the boat, and headed out to a familiar pond that is just down the road from us.

The morning air was thick with moisture, a heavy blanket of humidity clinging to the skin. Some rain persisted last night and into the early morning hours saturating the earth and infusing the atmosphere with a damp, earthy scent. As dawn approached, the sky remained overcast, with a thick layer of clouds blocking out the sun. 

Many times when we go to this particular pond in these types of conditions there is an undeniable magic. The fish, it seemed, were sensing the impending heat and the post-storm bounty. They were on the move, and they were ferocious eaters on this day. It was a morning tailor-made for fishing, a perfect storm of conditions that produced some really nice bass. We caught 2-3 dinks, but all of the other bass were bigger bass on average of 2-3 pounds and very healthy.

I have noticed this year that the pond had a considerably less amount of grass and foliage in the water compared to other years. I was able to drive our little Bass Raider all over this pond without getting the trolling motor jammed up with grass.  Normally, during this time of year there are thick grass mats that have formed and they have been so thick in the past that you cannot even punch through them with a 2 oz sinker.

The Strategy That Won:
Zoom Super Flukes in the baby bass color, and even white color were getting it done on this day. The bass were chasing minnows to the surface, but they were also deeper on this day. Lil'Shaka, who is not little anymore and I were experimenting with different weight (gauge) hooks. The bass seemed to hit on the drop, and they wanted a faster drop, hence the heavier, thicker gauge hooks that we were having success with. ShakaJR caught all his bass with the Flukes on this day.

I was also having a lot of success using the Googan Krackin' Craws in the 4 inch Okeechobee Craw color in the Texas Rig scenario as well. I was using a very light sinker (around 1/16 or 1/8 of oz). The idea is to keep everything weedless in a grass pond or lake, and let it create the falling effect. I caught several nice bass with this rig on this day.

Summer Tactics:
I did catch a nice one with a Zoom Trick worm in the Green Pumpkin-Chartreuse color running in Texas-Rig mode. I think worms would have worked just fine on this day as well. I was dragging, and shaking these worms off the bottom and the bass were slurping them. But I decided to more to a craw in the Texas-Rig mode instead. I am glad I did because the bass were really going after the craw. I MISSED a really big bass that caused the drag on my bait caster to rip through! We never got a look at it. Buried itself into the bottom grass and I only pulled gobs of grass back.

Final Notes, Don't Do This:
Been a long while since this happened to me, but from time to time...the dreaded rats nest backlash of the bait caster happened. It was a double whammy where you break off your bait at the tip of the pole on the cast and your reel backlashes itself even more, rendering your rod and reel done for the day.

Holiday Hustle: Father & Son Forge Iron (and Memories)

 

Put the Turkey Legs down! This holiday season has been about iron and gains! Lil' Shaka and I, have turned the gingerbread house into a house of sweat. We're swapping sleigh bells for dumbbells and eggnog for protein shakes. We've stayed on the workouts and have stayed consistent during the holidays. It isn't easy to do once his baseball seasons or football seasons get moving. So, it is a special time to workout together, to make gains together, and to just focus on the pump.

I know we are more consistent because we get to all of our workouts. There are certain lifts and body parts that we always hit, and then there are those that fall off because of time. Shoulders!!! You should obviously not neglect them, but in our case they are not hit as much as the other major body parts like biceps, triceps, chest, back, and legs.

I haven't forgotten the gingerbread house either. His girlfriend came over and they attempted to make a gingerbread house together. But, for whatever reason they didn't realize you need to heat up the frosting that comes in the package...LOL. Like I said 14 year olds 😆

We've had some great times this holiday season. I hope we continue on the grind for years to come.

Day after Christmas 2023 biting bass

 

The day after Christmas, most folks are still recovering from sugar comas and fruitcake hangovers. Me? I decided to trade in the tryptophan for adrenaline and chase some green ghosts in the lake. Now, I'm no ice-fisherman, but the sun was surprisingly high, the thermometer inched its way up to a balmy (well, for December) 45 degrees, and the itch to try and catch a few green fellers was too strong to resist.

I started out with an underspin with a nice Strike King Rage Swimmer 3 inch swimbait in the three inch flavor. I would consider this a fairly big lure when you consider the size of the underspin and the swimbait together. Now, I know what you're thinking: "Dude, there is no way they are biting that lure." But hey, desperate times (and freezing fingers) call for desperate measures. And guess what? It worked! One of the bass slurped up the bait near the bottom and closer to the bank. I feel like the bass was following it from the deep and decided to slurp. I had a very slow retrieve on this one. i hoisted him to the bank – a beauty, his scales shimmering like Christmas ornaments. I got a really good picture that you can see above.

The second underspin catch I was mimicking a dying fish or dying shad. I was popping the underspin up off the bottom and letting it float back down. The nice bass hit the bait of the float back to the bottom. Again, I have to believe that this bass was also deeper and came closer to the bank to eat.

My final bass catch of the day came when I casted out an H20 Academy jerkbait. I casted into a well known spot...definitely a high percentage of fish I have caught in that area (near a drain). Very slow retrieval, basically deadsticking...Nothing. Then, BAM! A tug that jolted me back to reality. I set the hook, and brought the greenie weenie to the shore. He was chunky largemouth, glistening in the winter sun. Score one for the crazy Christmas fisherman!

As I released the magnificent bass back into the water, I couldn't help but laugh. Who needs Christmas cookies when you can catch fish like these? The post-Christmas chill may have nipped at my fingers, but the bass-catching thrill warmed me from the inside out. I always have a sense of greatfulness when I catch and release these beautiful creatures. Have a great rest of the Holiday Season! I definitely am!