THE JOYS OF EARLY SEASON BASSIN
I felt a light bump, then nothing. I set the hook anyway and a fish shoot off. I quickly turned the fish and a moment later it was splashing next the boat. It was my first largemouth bass of the 2017 fishing season. I looked at my watch and we had been on the lake about fifteen minutes. It was a good way to start the season.
I held the fish up with one hand and one finger up on the other hand to signify the first bass of the year as my wife, Becky took my photo. Becky and I were on Deer Lake in Polk County where we have started the last four fishing seasons.
Mike Yurk holds the first bass caught on the first day of the 2017 bass fishing season.
“They are hitting lightly,” I told her. “I felt just a light hit and then nothing so make sure to set the hook even if you think the fish is gone.” Ten minutes later she pulled back on her spinning rod and yelled “Got one.” Within a few moments she was hoisting her first bass of the season into the boat. We exchanged high fives. Getting the first bass in the first minutes of the first day of the new fishing season is always special.
It was a windy day with bright blue skies and puffy white clouds. It was chilly on the water. A couple of years ago Becky and I were in shorts and t-shirts in the afternoon on Opening Day. It would not get to be that warm this year but the weather we did have sure beats the snow flurries and rain we have had in previous years on Opening Day.
Biggest bass of the day, a sixteen incher.
After the first two fish we went another half an hour without a strike. We were fishing shallow water and figured it would hold fish since it should be warmer than the rest of the lake. However, it as looking like we were wrong.
We moved to a pocket of the lake where a couple of springs before we found actively feeding fish in deeper water there. We had been fishing sinking plastic worms but once we were in deeper water Becky and I switched to crankbaits which has worked in other years for us in this corner of the lake. Although we caught a couple bass the fishing still seemed slow.
USING DIFFERENT BAITS
I switched back to the sinking worm while Becky continued casting the crankbait once we started working a rocky bank with deeper water and lots of docks and boat lifts. I flipped my plastic worm just in front of the first dock we came to. I saw the line twitch and set the hook. I was solidly onto a nice bass. A few minutes later Becky cast her crankbait in the open water between two docks and pulled back to set the hook when a bass slammed her bait.
Becky Yurk, the author's wife, hold two fish she and Mike Yurk caught at the same time on the first day of the new fishng season.
Continuing to work along the bank, Becky was catching her bass in the water between the docks and I was getting my bass by dropping plastic worms close to docks and boat lifts. It was a strange phenomena that Becky and I were fishing two different areas with two different baits at the same time and both catching fish. Regardless of the different approach we were catching about the same numbers of fish.
I flipped my bait to the side of a boat lift and the line began to move off when I set the hook. There wasn’t any movement at first and then the fish exploded. My spinning rod was bent in half and the drag was letting out line. I saw a large flash in the water as the fish turned to race off. “Big fish,” I told my wife. A minute later I reached over and grabbed the fish, pulling it in the boat. It was a sixteen inch bass and would be our biggest fish of the day.
CATCHING A DOUBLE
Twenty minutes later Becky yelled she had a fish. I turned to look at her and the rod tip on her spinning road was plunging as her fish was tearing away. As I watched her I felt weight on my line and pulling back I felt the strain of a fish running off. A few moments later I brought my fish into the boat and then Becky flipped her fish in the boat. Both fish were fourteen inch largemouth bass. It was the first of three doubles we got that afternoon where we both caught a fish at the same time.
By later afternoon we caught over forty bass. Most of our fish measured from twelve to sixteen inches with a lot of fourteen inch bass. We had less than four or five fish shorter than a foot in length. It was one of the best opening days Becky and I could remember in the twenty years we have fished in northwestern Wisconsin.
Early season bass fishing has it’s share of challenges with the most predominate problems being bad weather and slow fishing. This was not the case this year. Both the weather was good and the fish were actively feeding and aggressive once we found them.
Our two choices in bait; Becky’s blue and silver Jointed Shad Rap and my sinking plastic worm in a watermelon candy color, both worked well. Over the years both of those baits are early season favorites of ours.
Especially in spring, it can at times be tough to find active fish. Becky and I had to search for our fish. Be willing to move around to find fish and try different baits and approaches until you find what is working then stick with it. We were fishing side by side, essentially fishing different waters with different baits. Although it isn’t often that works, it does show you that it pays to experiment a bit to find the best fishing.
It is hard to draw conclusions from the first days of a new fishing season, but it does seem to me that with the number and size of the fish we caught in this early season indicates 2017 might be a great year for bass fishing.
Editors Note: Mike Yurk’s column is sponsored by Warner’s Dock in New Richmond, Wisconsin. Warner’s Dock is the premier marine dealer in northwestern Wisconsin. They have a complete supply of new and used boats, motors, and trailers as well as other marine supplies plus a complete maintenance staff for all your boating needs. They can be contacted through their website at www.warnersdock.com or by telephone at 1-888-222-3625.