Golf Course Birthday

Today's my birthday! I'm finally 14. So I went fishing, naturally.

Visited the golf course with some YUM Dingers stuffed in my pocket and my rod. Was quite cold, though, so I wasn't expecting much.

First half an hour, things didn't look like they were gonna turn out too well. But I got a bite and fought a medium-sized bass.

Nice short, stocky bass. This is what I like: short head, fat belly. Hope to see a lot more bass with this body shape. 

After that, I missed a bite or two then hooked up into a solid fish. Lots of headshakes in this fight. Water was relatively clear, so I was able to see most of the fish's fight. 

 This was a nice fish, probably around 2 lbs with a big gut. It gave no indication whatsoever when it took the YUM Dinger. After that, I missed a bunch of fish. Didn't expect that much action. Maybe I set the hook too early?

Most aggravating was a huge fish that took my lure on the lift. I slammed it, then immediately ripped drag off my reel in a blistering run. It broke off before I knew what was happening. The whole thing took about ten seconds. Scary thing is, I was using 15 lb test braid. Next time...

8 fish strucj today, I landed 2. Pitiful. I got to rectify that later this spring.

The way I fish my soft stickbaits is by wacky-rigging: Here's my rig.

I put a little electrical tape on it so the hook holds. Otherwise one good hit and it's lights out. But a bass will hold on to that thing with a death grip. The reason I fish YUM Dingers instead of the more popular Senko is that its more durable, works just as well, and costs $2.99 for 8 at Dick's compared to $10.99 for a 10 pack of Senkos. 

When fishing, just le it drop. When it hits bottom, I usually count to five and lift it up again. Bites will usually be on the drop. When a bass hits, the line will twitch ever so slightly.

Can't wait for the water to get warmer... Then the real action starts!