Baby Possum Slumpbuster

[FishDr]

I've been in a serious slump with regards to catching bass (or walleye, or northern pike) on swimbaits, a slump that has lasted since last fall.  Granted, a big reason for the lack of a swimbait fish is that I've been dealing with some serious health issues (now under control and headed towards a permanent and favorable resolution, thankfully), so I haven't been fishing nearly as much as I normally do.  Nevertheless, when I had been getting out, I wasn't getting bit - I think I put in 3 - 4 night walleye trips during the prime fall and spring periods and had nothing to show for it, and also made a couple of night bass trips that should have been productive, but weren't/  It wasn't that I was seeing fish or getting hits and just farming them, I just wasn't getting any action.

 

Gladly, that's now over, though, for a few hours, I was beginning to wonder.  I headed out at o'dark thirty, which was supposed to be just o'dark, but I fumbled around for about 30 minutes trying to get my enthusiasm together.  Still, I got to the first lake around 0330 h and launched the 'toon.  I was armed with my "go-to" arsenal of wake baits - the Baby Possum on the XH Okuma, the 9" original MS Slammer on the H Okuma, and the G2 Shellcracker on the MH Okuma.  I'd fished this lake extensively for 5+ years and have a regular and normally reliable milk-run that normally gets fish.  Still, given my past success, or, rather, lack thereof, I decided to dispense with the milk run and just hit everything.  I fairly peppered the strike zone with casts, and made a 3/4 circumnavigation of the lake...and had one half-hearted strike on the G2 that sputtered water just being the lure, but never connected.  My enthusiasm was flagging and I was beginning to wonder whether I'd somehow been cursed to live in swimbait limbo.

 

I had a plan B, though.  A second lake the I've had a lot of success at was only about 30 minutes away and it had better conditions - clear water, just as many fish, and, hopefully, at least a willing fish or two.  I loaded the 'toon, hopped in the truck, and cranked her hard to the east, arriving at the second lake a little after sunrise.  The water, as expected, was very clear, and there were bluegills in the shallows - I had high hopes for the classic bass-on-bluegill bite, and with both the G2 and OG shellcracker in the 'toon, I was ready for it.  I started off hitting a small stream inflow that normally spits out a fish or two.  Nothing.  Then I hit a steep bank that normally has a couple of fish on it, normally ones that are willing to swamp the Slammer or pound the Possum.  Nothing.  Then I made my way to an area where the bluegills bed and alternated creeping the G2 and OG Shellcrackers off the bank, past the first weed edge to where the bass would be waiting to exact their horrible revenge on the nest-raiding bluegills.  It's worked year in and year out.  Nothing.  I was beginning to get really discouraged - the sun was getting higher in the sky, the temperature was rising, and the 0230 wakeup was taking its toll.  I didn't want to give up, quite yet, but I wasn't far from throwing in the towel.

 

As I kicked the 'toon rather aimlessly along the shoreline, I spotted a downed tree.  Interesting.  I kept my distance and examined the tree from multiple angles - most casts weren't going to work but there was one angle where I could cast through the tree, get the lure about 10' beyond, and then make it swim through the branches, hopefully enticing something to hit.  I decided that I'd throw the Baby Possum - no reason to be subtle and I figured that it would be something the fish probably haven't seen before.  I got into position, fired off the cast, and then let the Baby Possum sit for about 30 seconds after it splashed down, non-too-subtly.  Then I started the retrieve, and, just as the doctor ordered, when the Baby Possum was in the middle of the trees branches, it got blasted.

 

I'd like to say that the fish was a the bass equivalent of a ballistic missile submarine, a veritable wallowing tub of a fish that would bottom out all scales, but I'd be lying.  The fish was frisky, the fish was furious, and, after I lipped it and avoided the rotating trebles on the Baby Possum, the fish was mine.  Slump busted!  I didn't get another strike that morning (I fished for another hour after that), nor did I find another downed tree to fish, but now the slump is over.  I'm headed out again this week, somewhere, and hopefully I can start adding numbers to my bass tally again.

Not a big fish, but a very welcome one...

[bassbass]

Nice fish and Glade your health is on a better track for you. Good luck with that.

[Willluvstafish]

Glad you're feeling better and getting that slump out of the way

[JeepFisher]

Awesome! ...i have yet to catch anything on my possum.

[Texasfishn]

Glad to hear your health is back. Wack em and stack em!

[FishDr]

Thanks everyone, and sorry for the long post...I didn’t realize I’d rambled on so long. Hopefully I’ll be able replace text with pictures of more bass from now on.

[JoshPerkins802]

Nice fish. Happy to hear your feeling well!

[danthefisherman]

There ya go! Always a good feeling!