Changing Times

[Ketchup]

Just a quick recap of my last 2 weeks on Como:

 

Ive only fished the lake 1 other time, and that was last June, with zero bass caught.  We had a club tourney there this past Sat. so I figured I had better get a grip on what I was going to do tourney day. I spent a total of 23 hours pre-fishing the 10 days prior to tourney day. All of those hours were spent in Bull Creek. I never fished anywhere else, as I had heard great things about that area.  

 

Not doing my homework like I normally do, I didn't know the lake size limit was 12" for bass.  I was pretty confident in my pre-fishing adventures, as I had caught at least 4 keepers "over 15" each time out. With the 12" limit I couldn't begin to tell you how many 12" + fish I caught each outing.  

 

Fast forward to this past Saturday. Our tourney was 5:30am to 1:30pm, the times I had been spending on that water. I friend in the club had sold his boat a few days earlier, so I had him fishing with me.  We started out in the dark, on a cool, beautiful morning with no breeze at all "different than my last outings". We started fishing the areas I had caught fish, with the same baits I had been using, and nothing.  We pulled up to one of the docks in Bull and I hooked a toad, and when I say a toad, I mean that G.Loomis was bent in half, with the fish twice pulling the rod into the water as she swam under the boat to the other side. My partner had the net ready, and on the 2nd attempt to get her up so we could net her, the line went slack.  My heart dropped.  That was around 9:30 before we got our first bite. The pre-fishing days I would have had several keepers "15 or better" by this time.  

 

Fished to the far back and nothing but a few short 9" fish.  Around noon we worked our way out to the lake across from Rockaway "where we launched" and my partner caught 2 over 15" keepers in pretty short order.  Besides those 2 keepers he caught, nothing else was weighed in.  

 

I beat my brain that entire day thinking about what was different than the past days I had spent on the water, and no wind was all I could think of that was different. Overall the lake has a very healthy population of bass, and some of great quality.  I will be back, and will be scheduling another summer tourney there next year.  

[Moswimb8slinger]

You sore lipped all your fish...lol

[likinmo]

Makes me wonder how big that Bass was you lost...I talked to a guy down there the last time I was there and he swears the next LM state record will come from Taney. I dunno about that but he sure was convinced of it!

Have any of you regulars that fish taney tried a rainbow swimbait with any luck? I would think you could catch a giant with one down there.

[Flysmallie]

26 minutes ago, likinmo said:

Makes me wonder how big that Bass was you lost.

Or if it was a bass at all. Did you see it? It could have been a big brown. 

[Gavin]

Thinking big brown too...Largemouth tend to jump in the boat...Brown trout have more stamina.

 

 

[Fish24/7]

14 hours ago, richy611 said:

You sore lipped all your fish...lol

been there,

done that,

will never do it again

 

[Ketchup]

16 hours ago, richy611 said:

You sore lipped all your fish...lol

Always a possibility. Been doing this almost 30 years, and the update be the first time I overfished an area prior to tournament day. I was pretty careful about not fishing the same area twice. 

[Ketchup]

6 hours ago, Flysmallie said:

Or if it was a bass at all. Did you see it? It could have been a big brown. 

Never seen the fish. I've caught a lot of 6lb plus bass along with hundreds of trout. I'm pretty convinced it was a bass due to the head shake and the pure power, which I have never felt with a trout.  I know Taney is a hush hush lake for the locals, but I'm not to shy about sharing info. The lake is doing very well, and has a lot of quality fish.  As far as throwing a rainbow colored bait, one never knows until tried. I know it works well out west.  Closest thing to a rainbow colored bait is the one I found floating that jolicious painted. Guess I should have tried that. That topwater has caught a lot of fish in local lakes as well as Lake Fork. 

[ckjacks]

I'm not convinced that the bass in Taney can be compared to those in CA. Those lakes out west got (I think CA stocking program is on hold) weekly plants of bows throughout the lake. Taney does get a continuous stream of hatchers but most/all are from the one spot and the coldest part of the lake. I think the big browns have most of the dumb ones thinned out before they get to the bass territory. Yes, I know bass are all over the lake and bass definitely do eat trout. But, it's not the exact same situation as they have in CA.

[Ketchup]

Agreed, our lakes, du to strain of bass and yearly growth will never get to what it is out west. But, the trout do help the bass in Taney more than the forage have in other area lakes. It's all in the protein.