Posts tagged Largemouth Bass

Those people who told us how much work it would be to have an infant were absolutely correct. It has been keeping my wife and I extremely busy in a very good way. This past weekend (July 11^th and 12^th), we finally were able to get up to our little place in Northeastern Wisconsin. This trip was a special one, because it was the first on with our 5-month old boy, Nathan. It will hopefully be the beginning of many trips I make up there with him, whether he likes fishing or something else to do up there. Fishing was not the primary focus of this trip, but we did tow the boat up there for a good reason.

The weekend trip began on a Friday, leaving Chicago at approximately 2:00 pm. There were various stops along the way, but the first big one was at the Gander Mountain, near Appleton. Here, I finally purchased my yearly Wisconsin fishing license and a few new lures for the arsenal. Terry, being a little less optimistic about our chances to get up North again, simply purchased a weekend pass. We finally pulled into our small summer home in Sobieski just after the sun had dipped down. I quickly raced to prepare the boat for the next day. The plan was to hit White Potato Lake, which has northern, bass, walleye, and the occasional ski. I was a bit nervous, as it had been almost a year since I started my motor. The motor is a little special to me, as I single handedly rebuilt it myself from other non-working motors.

The next morning, we arose, only to find out we had overslept. We never even heard the 4:30 am alarm we had set. Instead, it was 8:00. This was not good, as I had promised my wife we would be back from fishing at noon. Most the worthwhile places in the area are a good half hour drive. This had already limited us to less than 2 hours on the water. We quickly raced to get ready and headed off the White Potato Lake.

Upon arriving at White Potato Lake, we quickly realized a small problem. All the launches were shallow and sandy. In a tiny SUV, without 4-wheel drive, we did not want to take the risk.
We quickly made the decision to head over to Chute Pond. It was only 10 minutes away from the first lake, and I knew that it had a good launch. We finally had the boat on the water at 9:30, knowing we had to be off by 11:15. The motor immediately started up and we headed over to some lily pads, so I could throw some frogs and Terry could dunk worms.

It wasn’t long before the fish were taking shots at my lure. They would give it a quick pop as it hopped between pads, but no true takers. About an hour in my trip, I gave a toss back into some weeds on a point and then it happened. The loud explosion of water that is so sought after when throwing top water. I did everything right. I dropped my rod tip, let the fish inhale the bait, and set the hook hard. I felt the hooks drive into him, and the fish immediately plowed away in the other direction. I was throwing my good medium Abu-Garcia set-up with 30-lb Powerpro, so I was able to turn him around. However, in the process the weeds I was fighting through immediately broke and caused some e slack in my line. The fish was able to spit the hook. I did get a good look at its head, and while I am not going to guess at its size, it was a personal best.

Numerous short hits later, I was finally able to put a fish in the boat.

A topwater frog hooked this bass through the thick slop.

Terry was able to quickly follow up with one of the most beautiful panfish I have ever seen.

A beautiful panfish from Chute Pond.

Chute Pond is such a beautiful place to fish, I had to take some scenery pictures.

Terry in front of the impressive surroundings of Chute Pond.

On Sunday, we woke up again late and had even shorter amounts of time to fish.  We decided to hit Chute Pond again, but the fish were no where to be found.  It was a great time spent with family, and I look forward to heading up there again.