Back to Buckets…well almost

(Above: This would be a better shot if I weren’t really looking forward to blue skies and a high temp of

As soon as the ice lid comes off the metro ponds I start thinking about bass fishing. It makes no sense as the water can barely be above 45 degrees and here I am loading up the tooner to search for some largemouth bass in a state that may or may not want them sometimes.

The trip started early with a heavy fog laying down on everything like a fat lazy cat as big as half the county. Being a cold water species more accustomed to water temps above 70-degrees is not going to make the largemouth bass a prime-time bait smacker in February. This cold fog wasn’t going to help. The “thick” held back the sun’s rays allowing the night’s frost to linger. Temperatures dropped instead of rose as I chattered my teeth in a spring-like two layer garb.

A slow go bottom-bouncing jig dressed up with a black skirt and curly tail grub that got a knock on the door. Only had to soak half my tackle box before going back to the one thing I could thump on the bottom to find fish at the pace of someone driving Miss Daisy.

(Above: A bad picture of what I hope does not become a string of bad photos like last year. What is it about some of my shots that are less than well…good. Oh and also check out the overly aggressive forward hold on a 13-inch bass.)

Around 9AM the fog began to break with hints of blue in the distance. Then the blue would fade. By 10AM we had clearing skies and hints of wind. My body began to thaw out and search casting was the norm. If I weren’t slow rolling a spinnerbait up and down through the water column I was slow jigging what looked to be the hot structure spots. The bite was nil throughout the day.

(Above: A nice chunk on the quick grab. It really helps your summer fishing to go easy on these bass early in the season. By June most of these fish will be hammered!)

Probably would have been a better day for anything but bucketmouth bass. But for some reason my mind always has thoughts of fish looming in the background. Even if that is the last thing I should be throwing for.

My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic.