I had never fished for smallmouth in January before Saturday, but since I had caught my first December smallmouth 3 weeks earlier I figured I should give it a try. When I got to the Columbia I was a little dismayed. The forecast called for winds to be light and variable but it was blowing pretty good out of the East. I looked at the whitecaps and was doubting the wisdom of heading out. To further dampen my spirits the water near shore was pretty muddy. It had been quite clear a few weeks back and cold, muddy water is a tough nut to crack.
"Oh well, I might as well give it the old college try" I said to myself and I was on the water around 8am. The day started out as I was anticipating it would. The wind was cold and biting and trying to fish delicately in the whitecaps and waves was extremely difficult. After 3 and half hours I had not had a bite and it had been raining for an hour or so by that point. I was cold, wet and dis-spirited and I was seriously thinking about calling it a day. I was already write the report in my head with things like "it is good to get that first skunking of the season out of the way on the first trip" and other similar phrases.
I decided I would make one more pass through the general area where I had spent most of the day (and where I had caught all my fish in December). It was 11:30am and I told myself that I would fish until noon and then slink home with my tail between my legs. I really had give up emotionally and spiritually. I wasn't too cold except for my hands but my gloves felt like they weighed 2lbs each as they were completely saturated. It was indeed a pretty low point.
Maybe the bass started to feel bad for me because on that supposed last drift as I was dragging my Ned rig along the bottom I felt a little "pop" on the line. I set the hook and there was a fish!!! I could not believe it. I carefully played and slid the net under a 2lb bass. I am not sure I have ever been so excited to catch a fish. The day went from disaster to awesome with one swing of the rod. You all know that one fish is like infinitely more fish than no fish and I felt that deep in my bones. It was all I could do not to pull up on shore and dance a jig!
My wife had got me a new Bubba scale for Christmas and I was out there thinking that I would not get to use it (or even worse that it had bad mojo) soI was beside myself with joy when I got to weigh that first fish of the year. It was a solid 2lb smallmouth.
The interesting thing is that the fish were a bit shallower than the previous trip. That fish came out of ~32'. I had tried to fish that shallow a little bit earlier in the day but had spent most of the day fishing deeper (35-60'). Well, I figured if lightning can strike once, why not twice. I went back up to where I started that drift and made another pass and caught another bass.
The bite was not on fire but on most drifts I at least hooked a fish. However with each pass my hands grew number and colder. I had to watch myself grab the jighead when I unhooked the fish since I could not feel myself grabbing it, but it is a small price to pay to catch a bass in January. Finally, after two drifts that produced nothing I told myself I would make one last drift. By that point I had 6 bass and I was just walking on air.
I started that last drift and went through the productive area without a sniff but I just kept the drift going past where I caught my fish. It was the last drift so i was going to milk it for all it was worth. I was just starting to think about reeling up when I felt a "thunk" and I lifted up to set the hook and was met with some really solid resistance. Just a short while earlier I had retied (which I am usually lazy about) and man and I glad that I did. I could tell right away that this was a better fish. I would lift it up a bit and then it would rip out drag as dove down. Back and forth we went until I finally got that brute up to the surface and was able to slip my net under it.
I could not believe it! I had caught quite a few nice fish but this one dwarfed the others. I weighed it and it first it registered as 3lb 13oz, but I noticed it's tail was touching the deck so re-weighed and it settled at 3lb 15oz. I wish it would have gone 4lbs but I won't be ungrateful. It measured at 20" on the dot. What a great fish to end the day on! I decided that was enough after that beast. I thought it was cool to end the day on such a beauty.
Well, what started out so terribly ended up being wonderful. Not a sniff for 3.5 hours, then 7 bass in the last 2.5 hours. My best 5 went 2lb, 2lb, 2lb 5oz, 2lb 11oz and 3lb 15 oz (the other two were a 1lb 7oz and 1lb 9oz). It was just amazing to me to catch bass in January, and then to have such good quality was just shocking beyond belief.
Water temp was 45F and there was probably only a foot and a half of visibility (near shore it was like 6"). Not sure how many more trips I will make this winter but this one will keep me smiling for quite a while.
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