The second outing to the golf course occurred a couple weeks after the first one. School has been taking a huge toll on fishing, but I got out that Sunday for some fall bassing.
It was a beautiful day, bluebird skies, trees turning colored, and a fresh fall breeze.
I tied on a crawfish trailer on a small finesse jig, and hopped it around, hoping for some eager biters. The water was fairly cold, so my intentions were to pick off fish here and there, not to have a great numbers day.
Right away I got started with some very small bass, but the action lulled after a while.
As the day grew older, I was a bit nervous about the situation. I hadn't had a bit of action in over an hour, and in a small, shallow pond like this, that wasn't a good sign. I bombed a cast with the jig to the center of the pond, where a fallen tree laid. I gave it three hops and it got crushed.
Right away I could tell this fish was of a higher caliber. It jumped, and then I knew it was nice. The fight was actually pretty decent with my light gear, with the bass giving all of its effort to shake the hook. However, it was over soon enough, and I reached down to grab it.
It measured out at 17" and three pounds. I don't know if it was my golf course pb, but it had to be close.
The fish was pretty skinny and had a huge head. You can tell this fish was old by the size of the head, but the small body shows the slow growth rate in these cold, shallow waters of the northeast.
Satisfied, I decided to push my luck and walked over to the end of the pond when I was confident all the golfers were gone. The sun was near setting, and I tossed my jig around, and picked at some teeny bass.
On one cast, I pitched my jig out no more than 10 feet out in front of a patch a reeds, and when I hopped the jig a couple of times, I felt resistance and thought I had hooked some weeds. I pulled up in annoyance, but the "weeds" shot off for deeper water. I tightened my drag and fought the fish, shocked with how lethargically he hit it. As it neared, it flashed its flank and I saw that it was bigger than the last one.
My heart rate spiked, and I grabbed it desperately once it hit the bank.
This fish was a tubby one. 18" and 3.5 lbs. Definitely a new golf course pb. Again, big head, small body. That's how it goes for these fish up here. Still looking for that 4 lber golf course fish, but this'll do for now.
To catch some nice golf course bass felt nice. The search for one that breakes the 4 lb mark continues...
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