Barrett 5/11

[Harry Hill]

Originally Posted by steveooo

2 day old report…

About a month ago Andy shoots me a text saying he scored tickets to fish Barrett. He also says that Steve Green is also planning on coming. No brainer that I wanted to clear my schedule and be there for this one

The Gate opens at 4:30 am. Andy and Steve drove down the night before so they could get a few hours of sleep in the car. Gabe and I carpooled down together the morning of. Barrett is a little over 2 hours from my place, so we met up at 2am and got to the gate at about 4:10, putting us about 10th in line.

Andy and Steve launched at Pigs point. Gabe and I missed the turn and ended up launching over by the boat docks. The water level looked about the same as last year, but the lake looked a lot different this year because the vegetation had grown from the hillside right to the edge of the water. Last year they dropped the water so fast that the vegetation hadn’t had a chance to make it to the waters edge yet. Water this year was very brown and murky.

We were on the water just as it was turning grey light. Saw a bass get pulled up right as we were pulling past the docks, and hoped that would be a good sign.

Shad started boiling, and at about 5:45 I hear Steve Green yell “Yeah! I’m on!” I head over for a pic and he’s got the biggest crappie I’ve ever seen.



I started by fishing a plastic worm, but kept missing bites. I don’t fish bass much, and am not good at it. Had no problem getting bit, but I was slow every time in setting the hook. Missed about 10 bites right off the bat. My first fish came on the purple roboworm at about 6:30 am, and I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I didn’t even notice the bite, started to reel it in only to find out I had a fish on. Fish bass of 2016 was a nice little chunker.



Then it got slow. Painfully slow. Barrett can kick out 100 fish days, and we were going through some long stretches without any of us getting a bite.

I switched over to a crankbait, same one as I fished last year and picked up a couple fish. I was fishing straight braid to the crankbait.







Then I went 2 hours without a bite, but I was in good company…



I switched back to the plastic worm to see if I could find success there. One bluegill and about 20 missed bites to show for my effort.



The breeze started to kick up, and Andy told me “the breeze is good for the crankbait bite”. I believed him and switched back to the crankbait, and started to pick up a few fish here and there. All were caught by burning the crankbait super tight to the shoreline. 49 out of 50 casts I would get fouled in the weeks or sticks. The 1 out of 50 that I didn’t get fouled I would pick up a bass. Slow by Barrett standards, but I was scratching out a few fish.



Our plan was to leave by noon to beat some traffic. I went into a back cove about 11 am, and drifted the shoreline in. Either the bite was turning on, or I had started to cast better, but I picked up a quick 6 fish in about 30 minutes on the drift in, all on the crankbait. They were not shy about hitting it. Notice how tight I am to the bank in each picture. Thats where the fish were.







Turned the corner to the main body of the lake, and the wind was blowing decent so I headed back in. Saw Andy and Steve had just got off the water, and I met Gabe about halfway in.

Total for me was 2 bass on the worm, 13 on the crankbait, and one nice bluegill on the worm. I was highstick for our group of 4. Last year my beat up bargain bin lure did the trick too, so I might just bring one rod next time…

Biggest highlight of the day for me was seeing Steve back on the yak. Worth the drive just for that.

Other highlights were the wildlife. We saw deer, coyote, bald eagle, and even chased a wild turkey on our way out.



Thanks for Andy for organizing. Thanks to Gabe for company on the ride there and back. Thanks to Steve for kicking cancers ass. It was great to see you back in the saddle. Lets do it again soon.

great report, Amish Ed and I fished Hodges and didn't do near that good.

[Zed]

Good report.

[rossman]

I should have given you the secret to catching these bass. You let them take the bait til they choke and float to the surface but Zed told me you already know that trick.

[kayakfisherman]

Love the report Steveoo. I really think you outta stick
with the fresh water deal for a few years. Looks like you've
got a knack for it. Oh, your friend Andy should stick with
you too!!