July 11, Big M area

[Quillback]

First time out on the lake since June 26.  Cool temps to begin, I think I saw 67 on the truck when I pulled in to the ramp at 0530, I even felt a little cold running down the lake.  It warmed up quickly.

Fishing started off pretty slow, I think I caught 8 or so and a walleye by 8 AM.  One here and there kind of thing.

A few weeks ago I caught a bunch of fish off of a brush pile that sits in 15 FOW.  Gave it a try again today, not really expecting much, but they were still there.  Caught 20 in and around that pile, a bite every cast deal.  Most of them came on a Yamamoto Hula Grub on a 3/8 oz head slowly dragged through the pile.  A few also came on a drop shot around the periphery of the pile.  Eventually they stopped biting, and I moved to another pile I knew about that was similar as to being off a gravel bank and without any other cover nearby.

The 2nd pile only produced 3 bass, but 2 of them were chunky keeper largemouth.  Both of them had a buddy that followed them to the boat.  One of those buddies was a big bass that dwarfed the 16" fish I had on the line.  I fished around that pile for a while trying to get big mama but she wasn't having anything to do with me.

There were some random topwater outbreaks, I caught 4 on top, none of them of any size.  

Final result was 32 bass and a walleye, 6 of the bass were keepers.  

I used a Gamakatsu weedless ballhead for the Hula Grub, I dragged that thing through brush all morning and never broke one off by getting snagged.  Here's a link if anyone is interested:

Gamakatsu 26R Weedless Ball Head Jig 3pk - Tackle Warehouse

WT 87, boat traffic was not too bad today.

 

[BilletHead]

        Way to go Jeffester!

[cheesemaster]

Congratulations. - great trip and report. 
Spendy little jig heads - but if a guy can throw them in brush piles all day without breaking one off - they are probably worth it. Might have to get a few.

[rps]

4 hours ago, cheesemaster said:

Congratulations. - great trip and report. 
Spendy little jig heads - but if a guy can throw them in brush piles all day without breaking one off - they are probably worth it. Might have to get a few.

QB does not skimp on gear.

[Johnsfolly]

@Quillback another day living the great life buddy. Congrats on some nice bass and the walleye!

[Quillback]

11 hours ago, cheesemaster said:

Congratulations. - great trip and report. 
Spendy little jig heads - but if a guy can throw them in brush piles all day without breaking one off - they are probably worth it. Might have to get a few.

Basically the same principle as the NuTech design, except it is a wire weed guard instead of plastic.  Really sharp and stout hook.

Getting hung up less also keeps me from going in and getting over the hang trying to retrieve it and spooking the fish.  The fish are tough to find right now, I sure don't want to find some and then spook them.

 

[MarkG52]

Excellent report Jeff! I've got a football clinic this weekend so another fishless weekend for me. : ( 

[Quillback]

37 minutes ago, MarkG52 said:

Excellent report Jeff! I've got a football clinic this weekend so another fishless weekend for me. : ( 

Once your busy schedule clears up, we need to get out and chase them.

[big c]

Thanks for the report and link!