After I caught a bass and kept fishing for a while, I found my wood Lucky 13 broken. It chipped the lower lip and wood grain became exposed. It was one of my favorite wood Lucky 13's, and I was a little shocked.
I decided to repair it last last night using a chunk of wood. As it is a used lure with a lot of scratches and paint-offs, I roughly painted and varnished the lip, but I think it's not bad. I'd like to catch some more fish with this nice bait.
Appendix: I went fishing again early this morning, but due to unseasonably low temperature I got skunked.
Today's tackle:ABU Ultra Mag II, Phillipson Stream Knight SK64LS w/ STTS grip, Stren Clear Blue 12lb,
Original Zara Spook, Wounded Spook, Crab Wiggler, etc.
It was rainy today, and I went fishing again. I visited three ponds, and had a good time to catch multiple bass.
At first, I caught a big carp with a favorite lure of mine, Pico Pop (silver flash with black back and scale). I saw my bait disappear with no blow-up, so I thought it would be a big bass. I never thought of other species, as most catfish (as well as snakehead) bite on baits with big splash (you know, they behave badly) and my lures are too big for carp to bite. I must say fight with a big carp is much harder than that of bass, but they never try to jump and tail-walk, which makes carp fishing uninteresting to me.
After I caught this carp, it began to rain harder. I changed lures to Lucky 13 (SS), I gave a little harder actions than usual with slightly longer pauses. I caught two bass in a row with the same bait.
Bass Oreno also worked fine. This bass flicked my Bass Oreno a couple of times, and at last when I saw it go underwater, I set a hook hard.
I thought I could find one of the best patterns of today. Lively, but slow-and-steady actions with darting type poppers (darters) was it. I cast this Lucky 13 (JRH) into a small spot between floating weeds and shore, and irritated this bass, too.
This bass was the largest among the bass I caught today. I gave the same actions to a wood Lucky 13 (L). The blow-up and fight this bass showed were perfect, and I felt greatly pleased to catch it.
I need to go to Kyoto today, but before it I decided to fishing in a big hurry. I got a bite with my Zara Spook (MG), but I could not hook it up. I cast a Zig Wag, SOS, and others, but there were so many withered petals floating on the water surface that I felt difficulties to fish with them. Then I changed lures to Chugger Spook, and this fish swallowed it in one go. Nice fish, isn't it?
Today's tackle:ABU Ambassadeur 5000 De Luxe, Phillipson Stream Knight SK64LS w/ STTS grip, Daiwa Sight Surf #4,
Original Zara Spook, Zig Wag, SOS, Chugger Spook, Lucky 13, etc.
Wood lures are not as homogenous as plastic lures, so I believe collecting "my own type" is more important.
Regarding Heddon Basser, my favorite ones are 'Heddon (not Head-on) Basser' with a little rounded body. Most of these have so-called heavy duty rigs and come with a shorter jaw.
I pay much attention to glass eyes, too. I like large-pupilled eyes. They look mischievous buttender. Like Jennifer Beals or Phoebe Cates (I was a big fan of both when I was a teenager).
Of course, this kind of the earlier models are premium.
I have some errands today and took a day off. Just in the early part of the day, I went for a short-time fishing. It's been raining calmly since yesterday morning, and it's getting warmer than early this week. I supposed it would be the best condition for bass fishing.
I didn't have much time to spare, so I decided to go to the same pond as the last time. I browsed to check good spots, and when I cast Heddon Lucky 13 (RH) to the deepest point near a small inlet and gave a couple of actions, this fish came up to the water surface with a big blow-up. I immediately found it would be the biggest one in this season. I could successfully caught it, took some pictures, and released it as soon as possible, as it was a spawning female bass.
Today's tackle:ABU Ambassadeur F.I.V.E., Smith Super Striker GO-103 w/ STTS grip, Daiwa Sight Surf #5,
Original Zara Spook, Chugger Spook, Lucky 13, etc.
My favorite line is, definitely, Stren mono-filament. I use both Hi-Vis Gold andClear Blue, but it's a little difficult to get the former color when I want it. I'm afraid not so many fishers like this highly visible lines as they may suppose fish can easily recognize the line. In any event, yellow lines works fine when you fish under low light condition. I wanted to buy more Stren spools during this winter, but when I visited a fishing tackle shop near my house, I found this Daiwa's line and I decided to try it.
The color is perfect for topwater fishing. It is easy to handle and very smooth due to the surface coating. I like a littler harder line (this line is too soft), but not so bad. The price is reasonable for a 1000m spool. As a whole, I strongly recommend this line if you like mono-filament lines for topwater bass fishing.
In the midnight, I felt an earthquake and awoke. In a short time, I felt again. I could not get a good night's sleep, and got up very early. Then, I decided to go fishing.
Out of regret that I fished in wrong ponds yesterday, I visited one that has no big inlets. I didn't want to fish in muddy ponds with low water temperature. Today, I also decided to catch a bass with one of my favorite pencil baits, Original Zara Spook.
Moments later after I started, I got a short bite. Then, I took a deep breath and cast my Zara Spook again in the same spot (but a little bid more accurately). While I was giving it a few dog-walks, the water exploded and my bait disappeared. I set a hook hard and enjoyed fight with the fish.
I kept fishing with the same bait. When I fished near a very small inlet, another nice fish grabbed it while I took a long pause. It was lucky for me to catch this fish, too. This bass suggests spawning season comes shortly.
It beyond myself, as I caught two bass! After I caught this fish, I went home before my other family members got up.
Today's tackle:ABU Ambassadeur 5500C
(BLK), Smith Super Striker GO-103 w/ STTS grip, Daiwa Sight Surf #4, Original Zara Spook and Crab Wiggler (I used only two today).
I went to a nearby pond where I found bass swimming when I was jogging. Due to the heavy rain on Thursday-Friday, the water level got high compared to that of before. I totally got skunked.
Then I visited another pond, but the water was too muddy there. I cast several times, but I got no vital sighs of creatures. I felt the water temperature there cold, and I gave up fishing soon.
Today's tackle:ABU Ambassadeur 5500C
(BLK), Smith Super Striker GO-103 w/ STTS grip, Daiwa Sight Surf #4, 2nd Zara Spook, Chugger Spook, etc.
I purchased a new paddle (Harmony Far Tortuga Featherlok) the other day, and I used it for the first time yesterday. It is a US made paddle and I happened to find it for sale (almost 60% off) in a shop. I'm impressed with the stiff and light carbon fiber shaft, which extends to the tips of the blades. The blades are made of wood (cedar) overlaid with fiberglass and graphite. You can adjust the total length with the center ferrule (featherlok system), from 84-1/2to 89-1/4 inches (215-227cm).
After comparing it to my other two paddles, I find it can't improve the maximum speed of the kayak but can surely reduce fatigue. Moreover, I can handle it in one hand due to its light weight (only 1lb-8oz, 670g), and I expect this will work fine when I want to slightly change the position of the kayak, for example, when I give actions to topwater lures. I love this beautiful paddle very much, though I have to handle it with more care.
Today, I tried kayaking for the first time in my life. I've been enjoying Canadian canoeing for years, but kayaking is a little different from canoeing. Before I get on it in the sea, I just tried it in a small pond near our place.
I took my wife (I had her take photos) and our dog. I've enjoyed canoeing with him, but I was wondering if he could stand or sit on front small space of a sit-on-top kayak.
He seemed to be happy on it, but I'm afraid I can't fish with him on a kayak. It is too unstable and I can't pay attention to both my rod and him. Anyway, paddling was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to going out in the sea next time.
Last night, my daughter said to me, " I'm going to USJ (Universal Studio Japan) with my friends tomorrow and decide to get up very early. But, please wake me up if I won't get out of my bed."
When I got up at 04:00 today, it was warm and raining calmly. How lucky I am today, it's the best condition for fishing! I made up my mind to go one-hour fishing before going to work.
As I expected, fish were active.I caught the first bass with a Pico Pop. This bass was trying to swallow my bait from the head part.
This year as well as recent three years, I've caught the first bass in the year with Pico Pop's.
I could catch two more bass with Heddon Basser lures. Both were good fighters, and three fish for only one-hour fishing was just too good for me. I wanted to keep fishing longer, but had to quit unwillingly.
Today's tackle:ABU Record 5000
(BLK), Phillipson 3M B7L1 custom, Stren 14lb (Clear/Blue
Fluorescent), Pico Pop, Heddon Basser, etc.
