Bush league

Well, last night I wouldn't say I had the opportunity of a lifetime, but
I probably lost a fish that would have kept me smiling for a few weeks
at least. I stopped at one of my better smallmouth spots on Winnebago.
The wind was dead calm, so the normal pattern wasn't on at all. I was
originally throwing a DT10 in silver/black in about 8' of water, all
rock. I hooked a nice fish, and instantly, bang, my line snaps. Now
this is 10lb XL I had used as backing under power pro. The power pro
went south on me, and I removed it, but continued to use the line.
Mistake number one. I thought maybe it was the zebra mussels freyed the
line, so I noticed fish surfacing about 10' away. So I grab a fast
action avid (mistake #2) and throw on a Husky Jerk, cast towards the
pack, and 3 jerks.. WHAM! Big fish, I started thinking about what it
could be when all of a sudden it jumps, 4lb+ smallie, probably could
have been 5 but I was trying to be conservative. After it lands it
heads right for me, and then turns, and the husky jerk pulls right out.

I did end up landing a legal finally, but it was all nothing compared to
the bigger one. I was angry at myself for letting a thing like laziness
about replacing line cost me a big fish like that. Reason being the
rod with the crappy line was my jerkbait rod, soft, and way more
forgiving than the fast action avid. Though not a guarantee, but would
have given me a better chance.

Oh well, that is fishing I guess. The fall is right around the corner,
and maybe more of those fish will be available. Some walleye guy told
me at the dock (a couple weeks ago) he had about a 7lb smallie up to the
side of the boat and it got off. Even if his estimate was generous (he
seemed pretty legit) I could still put the fish around 5lbs. So they
are definitely on this system now. The smallmouth population is just
amazing. I maybe posted this in the past, and Steve can confirm this,
but to even catch a smallmouth 10 years ago on this lake was a feat in
itself, you would think they didn't even exist. Now the walleye guys
hate them, because they are on every piece of traditional walleye cover.
3 years ago you would have never saw a tournament on Winnebago won with
all smallmouth, the winning weight at the spring open was 17lbs, all
smallies. I weighed in about 12lbs, and had my limit by 10:30a.

It is becoming an amazing bass fishery!

Chris