retention pond in illinois 3-23

[Norm M]

shore fished a triangular shaped retention pond, east -west axis, widest and deepest on the east end . main input culverts on north shore at east end . some emergent vegetation that comes to the surface otherwise mostly sand grass . a few other input culverts on east and south shore, outtake culvert at west end .

partly cloudy , winds blowing at good clip from the east, rain/t storms predicted for evening and tomorrow .

I walked west to east on the high ground saw no sign of emergent vegetation either by sight[wearing polarized sun glasses] or by the way it would have affected the surface currents caused by the wind . Ok , sandgrass beds are the main target .

I was using a 3/8 oz spinnerbait cast across or slightly downwind as I worked my way from east to west on the north side . I choose the north side because it gets the better angle of the sun early in the year and can be warmer than the south side . Also the culverts are there so that is the first spot I check. I got a couple small bass there .

When I cast to the sandgrass beds I counted the lure down until I felt it hit bottom to check for depth changes . I also deliberately tried to snag some sand grass to make sure it's green. Most of it was green, when I found some that wasn't I moved down.

After the initial check for depth/green weeds , I counted the spinnerbait down to just above the bottom and slow rolled it back in .

7 more largemouth off the sand grass beds , all took the spinnerbait with no doubt about it hits .

Of the nine bass , eight were in the 10 to 14 inch range , which is the usual size for this pond in my experience . One was 17 inches, caught him when the spinnerbait got hit at a two count instead of the five count that I had been having. After I released it, cast back and got a 3 count when it hit bottom. A hump I didn't know about, triangulated it for future fishing