So I stayed up 'til midnight last night rigging my Huddlestons and Savage Gear trouts for this morning's fishing trip. My plan was to bring minimal gear, mostly big swimbaits, and do some real damage. I was up at 4:30 and at the pond by 5:00.
Miller's is a small pond in Durham CT. It maxes out at about 20 feet deep. The shoreline is fairly shallow but has some good dropoffs. Bass fishing at Miller's pond is, honestly, about quality, not quantity; I haven't caught a lot of bass there, but I've caught some BIG bass there and seen plenty haunting the shallows in the early mornings.
Last fall I went out with my buddy Sharkey and caught what I estimated to be about an eight pound largemouth, my current personal best, with a KVD shad in baby bass. With no scale, I had no way to weigh this monster. I've returned to Miller's pond many times since, and only caught one comparable bass.
I was hoping today would be the day that I would realize my goal and drag in a solid swimbait bass. Ever the optimist I brought the scale I'd purchased at Bass Pro Shops, the spring loaded one that lips your fish with a set of pincers.
I have thrown large swimbaits here a few times before, but wasn't very confident or proficient, and have never caught anything on them. I was unaware that a slow and steady retrieve was key.
My setup is an eight foot Bass Pro Shops heavy action rod with a matching bait casting reel spooled with 80 pound Berkley pro braid line, no leader or swivel. This rod is set for 1/2 oz to 3 oz weight range, but I can get away with a little heavier than that if I am careful with my casts.
My first spot was a rocky shoreline along the old dam edge with a weed bed that starts just beyond the neighboring point. I started out with an 8" savage gear 3D trout, and after a few SLOW retrieves, I felt a light tap then a jostle at the end of my line;
I set the hook hard and began to reel. I got him to about five feet in front of me when he unhooked himself. I continued to cast to the same spot in an effort to repeat my experience, but to no results. Eventually, I snagged my 3D trout on the bottom and was forced to cut my line. This is why they say swimbait fishing is "high risk, high reward" fishing.
I moved to a nearby rock ledge with a steep drop off and changed to a six inch Huddleston in rainbow trout. By slowly dragging it along the bottom I felt every rock and weed bed, and after a few casts this lure snagged too. I attempted to remove it and *snap* my line breaks off AT THE REEL. I somehow managed to jostle my line loose and retrieve my Huddleston, though I'd lost a lot of line.
I concluded that I needed to cut away some line on the surface of my reel in order to find a solid end to tie to. By the end of this cutting process I had a PILE of perfectly unusable line at my feet.
I tied on another savage gear trout in the hopes that I could coerce another bass to bite. After a few casts and dragging it along the bottom, I snagged YET AGAIN, losing my swimbait and another twenty feet of line or so. I tied on yet another swimbait, and when I cast it, the lure jerked back hard mid air and dropped to the water. It was then that I realized my reel had almost no line left, certainly not enought to be throwing these big baits. My replacement spool of mono was in the car, about a 15 minute walk away, and I was on a time limit, so that was not an option.
I moved to the opposite side of Miller's pond to the area where I caught the big guy last year and cast out to about the same spot in the water with the spinning setup I'd brought. I started with a 10" yum mightee worm in green, but switched over to the KVD shads, and I added a worm weight to the setup to gain some extra distance.
After a few casts into the weeds, I felt a very faint tap, and as I took in the slack of the line I saw movement. I set the hook hard and eased in a bass I estimated to be between three and four pounds. I put him on my scale, which said he was two pounds, which leads me to determine that I need a digital scale. I unhooked him and released what would be my only catch that day, and headed home shortly after that.
(PS: fish selfies are hard!)
So I lost two big swimbaits today and a whole lot of braided line, and that shit ain't cheap. People wonder why I chose this asinine name for my Blog, and I couldn't have illustrated it any better today if I tried. My friend Sharkey and I have a tendency to lose very expensive tackle on a regular basis. The snag hag strikes again, and she always seems to take the expensive ones! Regardless, with a rewarding hit on one of the eight inchers, I fully intend to replace my lost lures and return to Miller's Pond as soon as possible before the bite dries up.
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