Bass Fishing at Sunrise

Talk about frustration! I've now gone four fishing outings without catching a bass (or anything, for that matter!) I took Thursday, April 10 off from work and went fishing at Farrington Lake with buddy Rick. If you know Farrington, you know that when it's really cold or really hot, the fish are on wood. There's no grass except lily pads so no where else for them to hide. And the most consistent way to catch them, especially bigger fish, is with a jig. I threw several different jigs until my arm was ready to fall off. No bites, taps, nibbles, no nothing. It was an absolutely gorgeous day with temperatures in the low 70s, and I'm thankful that I was outside to enjoy it. But I fish to catch fish, and get frustrated when I can't make that happen.

I have a BSX sound unit, which is supposed to activate the fish and make them more likely to bite. I can honestly say after 1 1/2 years of using it that you shouldn't waste your money. All last year I used it, and it had little or no effect. In fact, my fishing performance last year was worse than the year before and I was beginning to think it was scaring the fish, though Biosonix says that doesn't happen. After a long talk with them (they are very nice people and very supportive), they sent me a new BSX unit and settings for it based on their pro staff's recommendation. Since their pro staff includes Mike Iaconelli, one of my favorite bass pros, I was anxious to try it out. I've had it running non-stop on one of the three different settings they sent me while I fished on my first three outings this year. On April 10, however, I turned it off half way through the trip because of my concern that it might be spooking the fish. It made no difference on or off.

Then yesterday, April 13 Nicky, Danny and I went to Weston Mills Pond. I left the BSX unit off the entire time. A pickerel bit me off with a Senko, and a bluegill picked up my Senko and ran with but must not have had the hook in its mouth, because there was nothing there when I set the hook. Of course, Danny and Nicky both caught bass, including four fish between them over 15 inches. Danny and I fished together on the way back, only a few yards apart. We were both throwing wacky-rigged 5 inch Senkos, since Danny had already caught several bass this way. I would cast to a spot and nothing would happen. Danny would cast to exactly the same spot after me, and rip out a bass. Same lure, same spot, same presentation. (Well, he pointed out one very small thing he was doing differently, and I started to do the same thing. Since he took bass from my spot two more times after than, I'm thinking that's not the difference.) One interesting point is that while I go to great lengths to get a quiet entry, Danny, who is one of the best fishermen I know, doesn't. He thinks that, especially in stained water, it attracts the curious bass. So I tried not feathering my casts, too. In the end, Danny had a limit of bass, some pickerel, and some crappie, and I had... nothing. Again.

We're talking about trying Cranberry Lake next week. If I don't catch something, I don't know what I'm going to do. My wife says I'm losing my excitement for fishing because of this... I hope she's wrong.

posted by NJFishRGuy @ 4:09 AM