Big Skyz
04-21-2016, 10:03 AM
Well this is something different for me anyway. Normally I focus mostly on catching trout. This day started off no different. However the trout fishing was really slow. By noon I had only caught two trout. Here's a photo of the biggest one and as you can see it's nothing to write home about.
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh113/Huntzz/Troy%20Adams%204-20-16A%20Ackley_zpsfijigume.jpg
So I decided to go to lunch at a café in a small town that was relatively near the lake. As a side note it was one of the worst lunches I've ever had, but that is a whole nuther story for a different thread. While eating lunch I decided I needed a change of scenery both in terms of lunch and fishing. So I left with my plate still half full, (which was half as much as I should have eaten), and jumped in my pick up and headed for new water.
There is a bass pond on private land that is stocked by MT FWP about an hour from my house. Because the fwp stocks the water it is a public access pond. I have never fished it because it is difficult to fish from the shore, and there are a few too many rattle snakes in the area for me to be comfortable messing around the shore. Plus I haven't caught a bass in 10 years or so, and I wanted to see if I still had the knack so to speak. I had my Watermaster raft in the back of my truck and decided that today would be a good day to explore the bass pond. I call it a pond but it is actually a small lake. In fact I've fished a few lakes that were smaller.
It didn't take long and I had my first fish. He wasn't big, but he broke the ice and it was game on.
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh113/Huntzz/Troy%20Adams%204-20-16B_zpslx1ohglz.jpg
The first bass ended up being one of the smaller fish that I caught. Most of the fish were around 12" to a little over 13". Montana just doesn't have a long productive growing season for warm water species like large mouth bass. So fish that are one to one and half pounds are very common. The bass in this pond fit right in with that. What they lack in size they make up for in attitude. They were feisty and fought hard. I also discovered that trying to take photos from a small raft proves challenging. There is not a lot of wiggle room in a small raft and fish wiggle a LOT!
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh113/Huntzz/Troy%20Adams%204-20-16D_zpsj6q0xngd.jpg
...and so it went over the next couple hours I managed to land and release around 20 bass like this. So I guess I can still manage to fool bass into biting as well. :)
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh113/Huntzz/Troy%20Adams%204-20-16C_zpsfukidcr7.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh113/Huntzz/Troy%20Adams%204-20-16E_zpscafueac0.jpg
One thing is for sure, I absolutely LOVE this Watermaster raft. It was absolutely perfect on both bodies of water I fished. My only regret is that I didn't buy one years ago. It is super comfortable with great back support for a full day of fishing. It helped make a good day an even better day by helping me reach places I otherwise could not reach in the past. It was good times!
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh113/Huntzz/Troy%20Adams%204-20-16G_zpsbc84khin.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh113/Huntzz/Troy%20Adams%204-20-16A%20Ackley_zpsfijigume.jpg
So I decided to go to lunch at a café in a small town that was relatively near the lake. As a side note it was one of the worst lunches I've ever had, but that is a whole nuther story for a different thread. While eating lunch I decided I needed a change of scenery both in terms of lunch and fishing. So I left with my plate still half full, (which was half as much as I should have eaten), and jumped in my pick up and headed for new water.
There is a bass pond on private land that is stocked by MT FWP about an hour from my house. Because the fwp stocks the water it is a public access pond. I have never fished it because it is difficult to fish from the shore, and there are a few too many rattle snakes in the area for me to be comfortable messing around the shore. Plus I haven't caught a bass in 10 years or so, and I wanted to see if I still had the knack so to speak. I had my Watermaster raft in the back of my truck and decided that today would be a good day to explore the bass pond. I call it a pond but it is actually a small lake. In fact I've fished a few lakes that were smaller.
It didn't take long and I had my first fish. He wasn't big, but he broke the ice and it was game on.
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh113/Huntzz/Troy%20Adams%204-20-16B_zpslx1ohglz.jpg
The first bass ended up being one of the smaller fish that I caught. Most of the fish were around 12" to a little over 13". Montana just doesn't have a long productive growing season for warm water species like large mouth bass. So fish that are one to one and half pounds are very common. The bass in this pond fit right in with that. What they lack in size they make up for in attitude. They were feisty and fought hard. I also discovered that trying to take photos from a small raft proves challenging. There is not a lot of wiggle room in a small raft and fish wiggle a LOT!
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh113/Huntzz/Troy%20Adams%204-20-16D_zpsj6q0xngd.jpg
...and so it went over the next couple hours I managed to land and release around 20 bass like this. So I guess I can still manage to fool bass into biting as well. :)
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh113/Huntzz/Troy%20Adams%204-20-16C_zpsfukidcr7.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh113/Huntzz/Troy%20Adams%204-20-16E_zpscafueac0.jpg
One thing is for sure, I absolutely LOVE this Watermaster raft. It was absolutely perfect on both bodies of water I fished. My only regret is that I didn't buy one years ago. It is super comfortable with great back support for a full day of fishing. It helped make a good day an even better day by helping me reach places I otherwise could not reach in the past. It was good times!
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh113/Huntzz/Troy%20Adams%204-20-16G_zpsbc84khin.jpg