B
boychick
Member
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2010
- Messages
- 910
I fished a couple of local farm ponds last week. When I fished the first pond, I decided to fish a mouse pattern for bass for the first time. I tried to land the mouse a few inches from the bank and swim it back with 1” strips to create a wake; I tried to mimic the speed I’ve seen rodents move as they swim.
I caught a bunch of bass in a two hour period, if I had to guess I would say 15+ fish, but I lost count. They ranged in size from small to medium, with two big fish (for this pond). The biggest fish came from casting the mouse near downed trees and other structure. No surprise here, as these are the best lies in the pond and I would expect the big alpha fish to be here anyway. I lost almost as many as I caught and I had a HUGE bass follow, but it didn’t commit. Those old and wise big guys didn’t get that big by being careless!
I caught one bass that I saw cruising the shoreline heading my way, I crouched down and plopped the mouse next the bank about one foot in front of the fish and began swimming it away from the fish. The fish took an instant interest, and sped up and followed from a moment before inhaling the mouse. The water exploded when the fish turned and I set the hook! The fish jumped, tail walked, and dove for the deep water, and it did everything it could to flee. It was not a small fish, but it fought like it was much bigger than it was. That fish was the most memorable of the day because of the sight casting and the fight it put on.
I fished the mouse the whole time until I lost it. I posted that story in another thread, but I’ll repeat it here. “A fish hit the mouse and the line went limp. When I reeled in to see what happened, the mouse was gone; the tippet broke below the knot! The knot held, but the small section of tippet that went through the hook eye broke.” That was a first for me; I’ve had flies break off at or above the knot, but never like this. When I lost the mouse I packed it in since I had fished the whole pond hard and I was out of time anyway.
A day or two later I headed to another pond that is within walking distance of my house. I wanted to fish, but the sky was turning black and I could hear thunder off in the distance. I was determined to squeeze in a few minutes of fishing before it stormed. I fished a popper dropper combo with a bead head hares ear. I managed to land several bass and panfish in the small window of time I had before it began to rain. I even caught a surprise perch. I headed out when the first drops of rain began to fall.
I caught a bunch of bass in a two hour period, if I had to guess I would say 15+ fish, but I lost count. They ranged in size from small to medium, with two big fish (for this pond). The biggest fish came from casting the mouse near downed trees and other structure. No surprise here, as these are the best lies in the pond and I would expect the big alpha fish to be here anyway. I lost almost as many as I caught and I had a HUGE bass follow, but it didn’t commit. Those old and wise big guys didn’t get that big by being careless!
I caught one bass that I saw cruising the shoreline heading my way, I crouched down and plopped the mouse next the bank about one foot in front of the fish and began swimming it away from the fish. The fish took an instant interest, and sped up and followed from a moment before inhaling the mouse. The water exploded when the fish turned and I set the hook! The fish jumped, tail walked, and dove for the deep water, and it did everything it could to flee. It was not a small fish, but it fought like it was much bigger than it was. That fish was the most memorable of the day because of the sight casting and the fight it put on.
I fished the mouse the whole time until I lost it. I posted that story in another thread, but I’ll repeat it here. “A fish hit the mouse and the line went limp. When I reeled in to see what happened, the mouse was gone; the tippet broke below the knot! The knot held, but the small section of tippet that went through the hook eye broke.” That was a first for me; I’ve had flies break off at or above the knot, but never like this. When I lost the mouse I packed it in since I had fished the whole pond hard and I was out of time anyway.
A day or two later I headed to another pond that is within walking distance of my house. I wanted to fish, but the sky was turning black and I could hear thunder off in the distance. I was determined to squeeze in a few minutes of fishing before it stormed. I fished a popper dropper combo with a bead head hares ear. I managed to land several bass and panfish in the small window of time I had before it began to rain. I even caught a surprise perch. I headed out when the first drops of rain began to fall.
