Mississippi Pool 8 Bass Report 7/12/09

With a full six gallon tank of gas and a 14 foot boat full of Bass tackle, the plan was to cover as much water in a search mode rather than hitting all the usual areas I like to fish, just trying to broaden my horizons and learn more about the Bass world. Good friends Blue Fleck and Chad have been my best source of information and for on water training while fishing these green fish. Listening and learning from these two has made flying solo a breeze, and I appreciate it a ton. As we all know….a lot of the Bass world is very tight lipped but, it is possible to catch them at a weak moment now and then, so I pay attention Don’t worry though, I am more than willing to spill the beans on what is working and what the fish are relating to

After looking at Google Earth and hot spots while using the knowledge gathered from the bass gurus, there was a game plan in place. The new areas to be targeted where back water narrow sloughs. These narrowed down sloughs have good current this time of year, I just needed to put an eye on them to see what had changed for cover or weed growth.

Pool 8 holds enough backwater lakes, sloughs, side channels along with the main channel, there is no way to cover it all in a years time. By the time you have made the rounds things have change to the point it all looks new again. This is only one of the reasons for my love of pool 8. A guy can feel like he is on new water almost every trip if he wants to get out and explore.

At first, baits were tossed on top of slop while working way towards the first slough. The slop held a good number of short fish that totally inhaled a horny toad, this was at least a good sign the fish were on a feed. Once arriving to the first running slough the area looked promising, clear water with eel grass swaying in the current, the sides lined with lily pads and pockets of slop, all good signs of healthy fish habitat. It wasn’t long and it was evident finding good flow was a good call. Lily pads and slop with good current pushing against them held some nice sized Large Mouth. The bigger toads were defiantly relating to the good flow of water.

A number of top water baits and swim jigs were tossed but it was a white horny toad stuck on a 5/0 hook that took honors for producing vicious strikes on this day. The picture here is a small guy just showing you how hungry they were, that plastic toad is inhaled!

If a cast back into the narrow edge of lily’s didn’t produce a top water slam, the toad was allowed to sink just as it cleared the pads, this did loosen the lips on some bonus fish. When a Bass decided to leave the edge of cover to eat the sinking frog the strike could be felt to the bone as they inhaled the bait and tried to hurry back for home. Freight train hits and fishing strong current made the battle between man and finned beast a hoot

A day that was anticipated to be more of a boat ride looking for bass waters turned into a boat ride and a great time catching. New to me sand bars and a zig where it use to be a zag kept the eyes peeled and the mind occupied, this makes for a good cleansing of the minds work week and puts a person in a better mood quick, heck I almost forgot I had to go back home

I hope to see you all out there sometime enjoying the resources and sights this part of the Mississippi has to offer

Good luck fishing people