I waded a different part of the Dup in Shorewood yesterday, in search of smallies. Hit the water around 11am and picked up a nasty looking 12″ LM on my second cast. Made my way downstream and picked up a small rock bass casting next to a bridge piling! I’ve heard of rock bass being in the Dup, but had never caught any before yesterday, and the LM was my first from there also.
I must have fished a 1/2 mile stretch and picked up nothing BUT rock bass the rest of the afternoon. I’m not talking about a few rock bass, either. I lost count, but the numbers were in the 20+ range! The water was gin clear and a little chilly, but felt great on this 88 degree, bluebird sky day. I was using a 1/4oz swimjig…. (surprize, surprize) with a 4″ grub trailer. A smaller presentation would have brought the numbers up over 50!
All these fish were holding in about a foot of water, in shady areas. The biggest ones I caught were about 10″, with some beautiful markings.
Sure I was looking for their brown scaled cousins, but these little guys are a blast to catch, and made my wade well worth it!
Oh yeah……. I also found a very deep hole, that if you have your chest waders rolled down to your waist, will nicely cool your lower unit off as you slip trying to back away from!