Bass Report 5/11 And 5/12

[MOsmallies]

My wife and I headed down to the lake house (Midlake Section near Tan-Tar-A) Friday night to spend Mother's Day weekend with her family. We recently had our first child back in December, so this was my wife's first Mother's Day as well. With the birth of our son, I haven't fished since November, so she knew I was wanting to go bad... but I also knew I shouldn't be on the water all weekend neglecting her and the baby. I took the overnight feed so that I could fish the morning guilt free. I ended up fishing from 6 am - 11 am on Saturday and then snuck out for another hour on Sunday from 11:30 am - 12:30 pm. Saturday I caught 10 with 3 keepers and lost 2 more keepers due to me not paying attention. All fish were caught in 1-4 feet of water. I caught about half on a weightless 5" green pumpkin Senko while it was calm and the other half on a 3/8 oz. chartreuse & white War Eagle spinnerbait when the wind was howling. Biggest was pushing 4 lbs that absolutely crushed the spinnerbait. On Sunday, I didn't stay out long because we had to get on the road, but I had my eye on a couple bedding fish I had been watching all weekend. I rigged up my spinning gear with a small circle hook and a wacky rigged Missile Baits Fuse 4.4 (craw worm). To add weight and the right falling action, I screwed a 3/4" drywall screw into the tail end (basically like a nail weight). This is a killer little sight-fishing rig. The first bedding fish was pushing 3 lbs and was up against a seawall, under a dock walk way, and behind cables. It wasn't an easy cast to make, but luckily this fish was locked on so I was able to make multiple pitches without scaring her off. I finally put it in the sweet spot, watched her go nose down and her gills flare. I reared back to set the hook and my drag was set way to loose. I got her next to the boat, she jumped and spit the hook. Oh well... It was still pretty cool to watch. On to the next one.... This one had me shaking a little. I crept in with the trolling motor on low and got the boat positioned perfectly about 25 feet away. I watched her for a bit and could tell she was locked on as well. Again it took me about 15 minutes before I finally hit the right spot and she nailed it. I set the hook, this time with my drag set properly. Got her in the net, and my hook fell out easily from her top lip. I had my wife snap a few quick pictures for me and release her right back to her nest. I'm thinking she was pushing 5 lbs. I messed around with a few smaller males on beds and landed a couple more around 13-14" before calling it quits. I really wish I was spending this whole week down there chasing them, because I think it's gonna be on fire. Here's a few pics of the better fish... Enjoy and get out there!

Paul

MOsmallies

[Riverwhy]

_{Spinner bait bite was fantastic on Saturday. The biggest bass was 23 inches long and had a girth over 15 inches. Several nice fish over 3 pounds. The harder the wind blew the better the spinner bait bite. We were in the Gravois area out of PB2.}

[MOsmallies]

Nice Riverwhy! The few I caught on the blade crushed it. Was that fish about 7 lbs? You get a pic of it? I wish I could have fished harder both days because the fish were definitely active!

[Riverwhy]

I do have a picture but I have a hard time putting it on the site. I'm not the best with technology. My guess on the weight is around 7.60 pounds based on length and girth. I swear it looked bigger than that but that is what both my poor scale said and what standard length and girth estimates for bass indicate.