There’s a lake 20 minutes from my house that I rarely fish due to the fact that it’s the most pressured water in the state. It has big fish but due to the pressure they are hard to catch. I call this lake the cursed lake because I’ve never caught a bass over 5lbs here despite catching a handful in the 21-22” range that should have hit the mark.

On this particular day I decided to go, figuring that it being mid week and pouring rain would keep the hordes at bay. I could not have been more wrong. As soon as I got on the water I could see five shiny, decked out bass boats. As I tried to get away from them I kept running into more boats around every corner. I counted fifteen in my corner of this not very big lake.

At this point I was seriously considering aborting the mission but decided to stick it out long enough to at least check out this one little spot I had in mind. Luckily it seemed the boats managed to overlook this spot and I was able to capitalize on a nice fish. I thought this one was for sure the one to break the curse but to my dismay, despite her large head and 22” frame, she came in at just 4.62lbs.

Pretty soon after, the sun came out and I decided to quit while I was ahead. On the way out I could see three boats sitting on the spot I had caught this fish on.

Took a 9 yr old boy fishing today.

He's never been on a boat and fell in love.

We had a great day and even brought the wife a couple of bluegill to eat.

Bird is the word and the word is good.

Went to my recent favorite and location of my new PB 3 weeks ago. Last time there the grass was almost matted out in 6’ or less which is 1/2of the lake. I had planned to punch it all night but when I got to the lake there was a heavy algal bloom which must have been there for a while because all the grass in 3-6’ was dead. The grass in < 3’ was spotty in places too. On top of that, the duckweed was in full bloom which when mixed with the dead strands of milfoil made for some challenges. Alas, the bass were still chewing. Ended up with 19 for the evening with a 5-fish limit of 15-17” fish. Nothing big tonight, but a few decent ones. Not the night I was expecting, but I’ll take it any day. A thumper of a spinnerbait did all the heavy lifting tonight.

I also found a new way to be injured by a lure. Hooks in the hand are a dime a dozen. Snagged hook ricochet to the shin? Been there done that. How about boat flipping a bass and as you’re reaching for the line to catch it, the bass flops off the hook and the jig you’re throwing wraps around your wrist, accelerating as it swings around, and smacks you right on the bone of a finger with the tungsten head of the bait. I thought I broke the bone it hurt so bad.