A Slow Start....

The day started off with hitting the water at 7am as the sun crested the horizon here in Richmond, VA.  I had family commitments that required me to stay close to home today, so I opted for the local neighborhood pond again.  As I pedaled out across the pond looking for signs of life, I started seeing shad busting everywhere and a few top water strikes.  Armed and ready with my Bull Bay Rods and PowerTeam Lures, this had the makings of a stellar day.  Unfortunately, the bite was nowhere to be found for some odd reason.  I was in search mode and was swimming/twitching a JP Hammershad,  twitching a weightless Sick Stick as a topwater wake/slash bait and even wacky rigged one - no dice save for one hard swipe at the Hammershad but it didn't come tight.

I worked every lay down, overhang and brush pile I knew of in this pond and nary a bite was to be found.  I knew a storm front was fast approaching, plus the start of the full moon cycle was in effect, so I was going to have to work for this one today.  After five hours of no action, I took a quick pit stop to recharge with a bite to eat then back at it.  I decided to change tactics and slow down and revisit the spots I had already powered through previously.  The tactic worked.

I switched over to flipping and pitching a PowerTeam Lures 4.5" Food Chain Tube Texas rigged and started covering every nook and cranny I could find.  Basically, I staked out using my trusty YakAttack Parknpole, then proceeded to pick apart every inch of a brush pile or overhang.It was painfully slow for my tastes, but it worked.  I made repeated flips into the deeper pockets tucked closer to shore and there was where the fish were lying in wait.  After 15 minutes, I was rewarded with a smallish bass of 14", quickly followed by a fat 19.75" chunk that weighed in over 4lbs using my new EGO Grips.

When that side of the pond failed to produce any more bites, I moved over to the opposite side and repeated the same approach.  I landed three more in the next hour of fishing - a 15" bass was first up on this side followed by a couple of fat 17" feisty bass who were none too pleased to have a 5/0 Gammy EWG buried in their lips.....

 

All in all a decent day, albeit long.......Total seat time was right at 9 hours, but it was worth it to get on some fish.  I also was pleased to break in my new Bull Bay Rods custom flipping stick.  It was broken in properly as you can see!

Tight lines!