After spending most of the previous week in a cooler than normal and wind blown Florida, it was nice to get back home where the temps were higher than the norm and the wind wasn’t much of an issue. Until Saturday night…. 
There certainly is something to be said about being home and on comfort of well known waters.
Saturday morning, I peered out my front window and watched a white Ford hawling a Triton Bass Boat pull into my driveway. That can only mean one thing. There’s going to be some Bass out on pool 7 with some sore lips. 
This was my first time out Bass fishing for the year and I expected things to go a little slow due to that fact. The first place we stopped to try was a small bay that year after year produces nice fish. The lure of choice at our first stop was a spinnerbait, one of the most effective search lures for the type of water we were targeting. I say that based on the fact that the low water conditions for this time of the year combined with the higher than normal temps has spurred the vegetation and it would have been frustrating to pull shallow cranks through the weeds.
After thoroughly seining the water with spinnerbaits slow rolled and ripped through the prime areas yeilding nothing, we opted for the slower paced offering of Bass jigs tipped with plastic trailers. Once again, we came up short of any bites. This happened to be the precursor of the day. Almost every bay we tried was a bust. A few more warmer days might trigger the fish into feeding better, today wasn’t going to be the day.
From there we ran north towards the Trempealeau dam and tried a small bay that was probably the most entertaining part of the day. Jeremy and I started casting lipless cranks to a rip rap bank hoping to find some smallies on the move. What Jeremy found was a dandy Sheepshead weighing at least 5lbs. I thought I would do jeremy a favor and reach down and unhook his fish. Well, that ornery Sheepie had other plans. One good flop and the other unoccupied treble found a home in my left index finger. 
After carefully removing the Sheepie from the crankbait, I could tell this wasn’t something I had hoped for. At one time I saw the point of the hook sticking out of my finger about 3/8 of an inch from its entry point. By the time I got the fish off and the crank cut from the treble, it had slipped back inside my finger. From there it was pretty obvious this was not going to go all that well.
I asked Jeremy to cut me a piece of line about 2 feet long and while he did that, I cut the remaining 2 hooks off the treble. I have to say, this method of hook removal has to be the slickest and best way I have tried. Last year I watched a guy used the grunt and pull method. I don’t recommend that in any way, shape or form. So, back to the task at hand…err……umm….finger. With the crank removed and the other 2 hooks cut off for safety reasons, I looped the length of line over the hook embedded in my finger. From there I had Jeremy press down on the shaft of the hook and prepared to pull. Keep in mind I had Jeremy press down on the hook to open the hole the hook had created so the barb will pass back through in reverse. The actual pulling of the hook should consist of a sharp jerk. With that being said, I gave it a jerk and that was the last we saw of that hook. Thankfully….. I was however prepared to do that 2 or 3 more times. Going to the ER wasn’t an option I was considering. After that little senario, we got back to fishing and quickly boated a chunky Smallmouth and 6 nice sized Northern.
After finding more Northern than we really wanted to fish for, or offer our tackle to, we headed south to try a small closing dam that can hold some really nice fish once in a while. The current there was stronger than we had anticipated but the fish were there and hungry too! Here is a pic of a fat smallie that hammered Jeremy’s crankbait. After a few more casts and catching more toothy critters, we were back in motion heading south.
This was our last spot of the day and out most productive, The wind was blowing across a rock bar located near some deep water. A great place to find some early season bass action. All of our fish here came on cranks pulled across the rock flat into the deeper water. Speed of the lure wasn’t an issue these fish were hungry and absolutely hammered out baits. On a side note, all of our nicer fish came on fast moving baits around rock or rock and mud mix. Jigs and plastics were a bust for us. Dont’ be afraid to try faster moving water either! Those nice sized smallies are very close to it and sometimes right in it.
It was a great day to be out, and I thank Jeremy for spending the day on the water with me.
One last thing, Gamakastu treble hooks are incredibly sharp! I look forward to seeing you all on the water!
-td
Sweet post but next time you need to photoshop my picture to inclued huge muscles and a smaller belly. -grin-
It was nice to finally enjoy a day on the water. Today my face and next are burt and I am actually enjoying the pain.
jc
That’s why I wear baggy clothes.
People can’t see me sporting a half barrel behind a 3x sweatshirt. 
Here’s a
for you Tom……Hope the finger heals quickly 
….
Good job though JC and Blue….Glad you got on fish.
As far as pictures, try to get more of the background in the pics…for future reference
I’ll keep that in mind next time.
NIce job on that hook technique BF!! More guts than I got!
Well done guys…Nice hook removal too !!
I was also out on Saturday on Pool 7. Also tried the spawning/shallow bays with little luck Maybe BF and JC already were there before me!!
All the fish I caught were on wood/weedline with access to nearby deep water (Over 5 feet). Think the green bass are still in transition heading to there spring love homes. I only got 3 legals in 4 hours, so I wasn’t too successful, all on spinnerbaits. Tried cranks, plastics, and jigs too. The cranks got some bites, but I couldn’t get hit on the slow stuff. Should have probably looked for brown bass.
Anyway, here are two pics, the first is my first bass of the year, a fat 2.3 pounder, and the 2nd is one that was 4.2 on the digital.
Oops, got the order reversed.
Nice Fish Dan….
Here you go…. move a little of that belly from JC to the SB.. yep…that’s it.
Hey Tom ! I know what those trble hooks feel like and how sharp they are.
Had one go clear threw an index finger of mine last spring. Happened to be with a fishing partner at the time. After I carefully removed the too small of a walleye I let him do the surgery. Asked if I had a needle nose plier, which I did. Handed it to him. Said he wanted to cut the hook to pull it on thru. Well not enough room. Said what he needed was a side cutter. Which I just happened to have. Only put it in my tackle a couple days earlier. I turned my head away and I sat there waiting for the pain to begin. He was starting to fish again and laughing. I asked, did you get it cut? Said of course, better put a bandaide on if you have one. Which I did. 
And back to fishing with no sore finger. Was healed in a couple of days.
So all you fella’s out there should carry something like that as it can happen any time to anyone. Saves a trip to the emergency room too.
In case you are reading this, Thanks again Beav
Hey guys:
I happened to be out on 7 also that day. Fresh from a turkey hunt that had an unusual twist to it. I see Slop is back and wonder if any of you guys went by me. I will have to look at my maps, but I had to have been halfway down to Onalaska fishing wingies for walleyes. We managed a couple of sauger and one huge sheepie also. I bet our sheepie was an easy three pounds. The current was strong enough on the outside of that dam to make that sheepie pull some string with its side to the current.
Mark