The balance of March, from the 23rd on saw moderately successful trips, with all our time being spent on the Stick Marsh. March went out with winds roaring like a lion, so we plied the waters of the back lot casting more often than not the now first line bait, Gary Yamamoto's venerable SwimSenko.
I closed out the month with old friends Dave Wasdahl and Randy Bergman. Fishing for three days produced enough action to satisfy the yearning after being locked out with the frigid days of winter. Dave hails from Portland, Maine, and soft water hasn't been seen up there for quite some time now. Randy hails from Arizona and although they have soft water there, his last fishing ventures there hadn't produced much to talk about. Both guys headed home with yet more good memories from the lake that time and again produces both quantity and quality bass.
Joe O'Brien made the drive from Columbus, Ohio with a stop in Atlanta to pick up his ex-fishing partner Karen in Atlanta. Joe and Karen have been out several times with me and each time is for me a pleasure. Joe worked with SwimSenkos as Karen worked shiners off the back of the boat. Their trip with me was to be followed by a week of fishing on their own.
Unfortunately the shiner bite was tough as the bass are quite spread out during this period of spawn activity. However Karen did manage several bass to the boat.
Primarily our fishing location has been dictated by the winds that have whipped the Marsh/Farm into a choppy mess most days of the month. Working the back lot has produced a lot of action however and proved to be and good place to be. Our primary producer has been the SwimSenko Texas rigged, with a 1/4 ounce weight to get to the depth we wanted with the retrieval speed the bass wanted. Rigging this bait is a bit different than the normal Senko. When threading the worm we Tex-pose and skin hook the point. It pulls through the brush we were fishing with minimal times getting stuck in the wood. If you haven't tried this bait you certainly need to.
The upcoming month is going to be the beginning of that magical top-water period we see each year. Give us a shout. We have a few openings left in April and would be glad to show you this fantastic fishery.
See you out there - swing by and say hi if you get the chance.
