Report From Thursday, 5-31-12

[Champ188]

Donna and I got to the "H" ramp at Baxter around 7:30. A bit later than we'd have liked but had to doctor sick cats before leaving. Nothing like a 4 a.m. cat rodeo to start the day.

At any rate, it was cloudy with a light breeze for most of the morning, putting me in a major topwater frame of mind. It was not to be. I threw a Fin for nearly two hours while Donna followed with a Spook and neither of us ever got so much as a single bite. Fished some prime places, they just weren't feeding "up" on this day.

So, to borrow a favorite phrase of workplace consulting firms, we "redeployed" and visited a favorite dock, where a dropshot in 25 feet of water produced a 3.5-pound LM. Lost another apparent keeper, then moved around the corner to another good-sized dock, where we found a school of keeper K's and scored three or four of them and lost a couple more on the same green pumpkin drop-shot worm.

Next stop was a main-lake chunk-rock point that gave up a couple of easily keeper LM's on a football jig and hula grub, and the pattern was set. From then til 6 p.m., we visited about two dozen more chunk-rock points and bluff ends, along with a few choice docks, and were in fish all day. In fact, I commented to Donna near the end of the day that nothing is quite as rewarding for the "guide" as catching fish off every place you visit.

We ended the day with around 35 fish total, of which 18 were keepers. Best five would go about 17 pounds and included the darn fine smallmouth pictured below that Donna wrangled on a football jig.

On the windy areas, the fish were 8-15 feet. In calmer water and when the sun busted through in the afternoon, they were 15-25. Best football jig color was PB&J with a green pumpkin double-tail trailer. Best hula grub color was green pumpkin/purple and it was fished on the new 5/8-ounce Yum Pumpkin Ed stand-up head. Gotta say I really like that head ... doesn't hang bad in the rocks and has a helluva hook in it. Dock jig was a 5/16ths Bass-X in Beaver Craw Purple (see bassxlures.com) dressed with a green pumpkin Lil Critter Craw.

Have fun out there.

[Smalliebigs]

Thanks for the very nice report Champ and sweet Smallie Donna. It seems like the Baxter Area is fishing good right now, I had good sucess over Memorial Day there. I can't wait to get back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dwiebenga]

Excellent Report....wish I was heading South instead of north!!

[kyled]

Man that is an awesome day! Thanks for the report! Can you help me out and give me some tips on what to look for on drop-shot fishing around docks??? Is there a depth to look for or size of dock or bottom structure? That type of fishing sounds like a blast but just have never had any success doing it.

[Jason Essary]

Nothing to ask on that report, its already in it. awesome champ.

[Chunk Rock]

fantastic report !! thumbs up on the smallie,great catch..must have pulled like a freight train...

[Champ188]

Man that is an awesome day! Thanks for the report! Can you help me out and give me some tips on what to look for on drop-shot fishing around docks??? Is there a depth to look for or size of dock or bottom structure? That type of fishing sounds like a blast but just have never had any success doing it.

Kyle,

Boy, not sure I'm the guy you want drop-shotting advice from. I do know a thing or two about dock fishing though, so I'll give it a quick try.

Not every dock holds fish. For my money, the best ones are the bigger docks with 10-20 slips on each side that have 50-60 feet of water under the deep end. If they sit on a point or in a creek channel swing, all the better. If you catch fish on a dock one time, chances are they'll be there again. If you fish one a couple of times and don't catch anything, I'd write that one off.

For the most part, I pitch a finesse jig or shaky head worm into the shallower slips ... the ones from 8 to 25 feet. I catch 75 percent of my dock fish in the slips that have 15-25 feet of water in them. In the really hot summer, that depth range may change to 20-30 feet.

When I get out to about 25 feet, I go to a drop shot and really watch my front graph for balls of bait and/or hooks representing bass. You don't need a really expensive graph for this ... just one that will show bait and fish. Also, don't be afraid to pitch that drop shot way back into the slips. You don't have to fish it straight up and down. Pitch it back as close to the walkway as you can and let it fall with the bail on your spinning reel open. When you see your line go slack meaning it's on the bottom, pick it up carefully and check for a fish. Lots of times they'll be on there immediately.

I might also add that whether you're pitching a jig, shaky head or drop shot into these slips, you can't be afraid to lose your junk. If there's a lift in a slip with a boat on it and enough of a crack for me to pitch my bait in, I'm going in. That's not to advocate harming anyone's property. Practice your pitching technique so that you don't bang your bait off people's boats. That's just not nice. But the tighter the places you get into, the better your chances of catching fish. The twofold reason for that is (1) bass and especially big bass seek out the darkest, shadiest places they can find to hang out and (2) not many people even attempt to get a bait into these places.

Hope this helps. You might also want to search for old posts on here about drop-shotting and see what turns up. Should be some really good stuff from folks who are far more proficient at it than me.

[denjac]

Champ aint fibbing about his dock prowless. Seen him flip a jig in a 3 inch crack. When I asked him, how the hell you going to get em to the boat if you catch one, he replied " we will worry about it when the time comes ! Going to try to find some smallmouth this morning.

[Quillback]

Thanks for those great reports Champ!

[Champ188]

Champ aint fibbing about his dock prowless. Seen him flip a jig in a 3 inch crack. When I asked him, how the hell you going to get em to the boat if you catch one, he replied " we will worry about it when the time comes ! Going to try to find some smallmouth this morning.

Denny, my dad always taught me not to borrow trouble. Gotta get em on before you can worry about gettin' em in the boat. It's the ultimate "we'll cross that bridge when we get there" situation.