This will be new to many of you but we call our annual Spring outing the Turkey Season Fishing Trip because we used to actually hunt. But over the years, we have gotten older, lazier and I would like to think wiser. So we only fish now. Typical year for us, our 7th, fishing Southwestern Indiana. My buddy Big Al and I started planning about New Years. We scheduled our time. We mapped out lakes. We debated delaying because of weather. All the same discussions that we have every single year. The goal was clear, 9 Lakes in 4.5 days. Our standard bet, the hat off your head to the person who caught the biggest fish of the week, signed by the loser. Ouch.

First things first, we got our schedules worked out. We worked half a day Weds. and were on the water by 3p. A lake we actually fished for the first time last year was our initial destination. Sugar Ridge strip pits, Twin Lake. Weather was almost perfect. Sunny, 80*, light/no wind. We both packed 6000 different baits, most of which we bought in the last 2 days leading up to the trip. We caught all of our fish for the week on exactly 4 lures but it never hurts to be prepared.


Sugar Ridge

Twin Lake was a little slow, but we did catch fish. Always a goal for the first stop. A Case Frog, with Parasite Clip, and CB's HawgSauce Garlic was the ticket. Luckily I had a few extra Case frogs, they were not a part of Big Al's repertoire. I'm guessing they will be next year. I took an early lead on the big fish of the week challenge with a nice 17.5" largemouth. Totals - Brian/WAR 7, Big Al 5. Off we go.


Big Al, Lunker Lake.

Lunker Lake was just around the corner. Tons of stick ups, laydowns and just plain timber. It was my suggestion to throw buzzbaits through, over and basically all around and piece of wood we could reach. A funny thing happened. Big Al and I both tied on the exact same 3 blade Strike King buzzbait. We both sprayed CB's Garlic on them, from the same bottle even, and we chucked them out into the water. Alan proceeded to catch 16 awesome bass. Including the new leader in the clubhouse, 18.25". I caught one. I believe you refer to that as a spanking. I decided I needed a beerverage as soon as the boat reached the ramp. What an evening. Daily Total - Big Al 21, Brian/WAR 7. Not the start I was looking for.


The Champ? For the moment.

Just like every year, we planned to rise with the sun and take advantage of the hot morning bite. For once, we managed to do just that. The schedule read Holland Lakes, new water to us both. We'd have to make up our mind which lake to fish when we got there. My suggestion was to fish the first one we came to and that is exactly what we did. The morning was clear, a little cool, and awesome. We shoved off from the ramp and headed for the far bank where the sun was warming the water. I made the comment that it looked like a lizard bank to me. After catching a couple little bass on an X-Rap, I switched to a Yum Zellamander and it was like ringing a dinner bell. The action was hot. Just about any stump, log, cover of any kind had a bass on it. As we made the turn around the far end of the lake and came back up the bank to the ramp, the bite finally slowed. I went back to my big bass bait, Case Frog. Toss it up on the bank, slight twitch into the water, start cranking and hold on. Alan tied on a Popper. I had some boils, and caught a fish or 2, but the popper looked to be the key. I threw one onto my spinning set up. The fishing continued a steady pace. We caught our first of many doubles of the week. Totals - Brian/WAR 35, Big Al 31.


Double.

We were both excited about the next lake. The Honey Hole. A lake we have fished, and had success on for years. We ate a quick lunch at the local greasy spoon, Fleig's, and got a little warning about the Honey Hole. It's real mossy the bartender told us. I thought that was awesome. Keeps the amateurs off the water and should be perfect for my Case Frogs. I was sadly disappointed. The lake was very high, sluggish, slimy, and just not the lake we have fished in the past. We gave it the old college try. I did hit 3 largemouth. All on my Case Frog. They were waaaay back in the trash and if you did get a strike it was a nasty battle to get them to the boat. My Sufix braid proved it's strength unlike Al's who lost his only chance with broken line, and was blanked on the lake. We decided to find some new water. We went... Off Schedule. Totals from the Honey Hole - Brian/WAR 3, Alan 0


Big Al

We headed to the Other lake in Holland that we didn't fish in the morning. As we blew by the hotel, we had a brief chat about the darkening sky and should we grab the rain gear from the hotel or not. My suggestion was that I would rather get the time in on the water than waste it screwing around at the room. I explained in detail the theory of "scattered showers." We launched the boat while the wind picked up. But just as soon as it started whipping, it stopped. Aaahh. Spring in Indiana. Again, a lizard bank. So I tied one on. We had the occasional bite. I picked up a very nice largemouth on a downed log along the dam, and that started my payback on Big Al for the night before. To make things perfect, a nice squall worked up as we approached the far side of the lake. We hightailed it to the ramp and loaded the boat in a down pour. Totals - Brian/WAR 15, Al 3. Daily totals - WAR 50, Alan 34


Dam fish. Yum Zellamander.

Friday was to be our second day of fishing the Strip Pits of Sugar Ridge. Alan had a huge ending to the last trip to Sugar and was looking forward to clearing his good name from the beating he took Thursday. We hit a bump when we arrived. Trucks with trailers parked at the first two lakes on our list. We settled for an old standby. A lake we have hit for years, Bethel Pit. Alan wanted to prove his point and caught a little bass while standing at the ramp. The cold front had done a little to slow the bite, but hadn't shut it off completely. Normally a senko lake, the clear cold lake did not warm up to a slow dropping stick bait today. But my Case Frog did produce a few, while Alan's go to Popper produced as well. Depending on the spot they both worked about the same. We saw a couple of cruising bass in the 20+" range, but could not work up a strike. Totals - WAR 16, Alan 12.

After a quick ham sandwich at the Country Junction, we headed back to our initial lakes from the morning. Nobody at Barrett Pit, so we threw the boat in. I had to throw some new line on my pole, and Alan beat the bank while I wasted valuable fishing time. Alan had a nice largemouth blow up on a floating frog and he was on the board while I didn't even have a lure tied on yet. We shoved off and I got to work. Barrett Pit started off fine, we popped a few fish here and there. Same buzzbait, popper, frog, lizard bite that we had seen the rest of the week. The daylight started to fade, and the fish disappeared. We fished the next hour with absolutely NO action. Alan threw in the towel and started heading us back to the ramp in failing light. I kept chucking my frog as we zipped past awesome looking cover. I actually got 4 strikes and caught 2 fish. Totals - WAR 13, Al 10. Daily Totals - WAR 29, Al 22.

We enjoyed a great meal at the Mexican restaurant in the hotel and got to bed early so we could head out first thing Saturday morning. The schedule read Saddle Lake. Our farthest point South and not new water really, but not a lake we fish often. We packed our bags and when I opened the door of the hotel room I was greeted by much cooler temps. The front had come through apparently, and with a vengeance. I sulked back into the room, unpacked my rain pants and threw them on. Our great weather had taken its first down turn. I needed a fish bigger than 18.25" to win the bet and I did NOT want to give up my WarEagle hat. But I felt I had missed my chance with the high temp. for the day expected 15* lower than the day before.

We arrived at Saddle to find 3 trucks with trailers. Well, we had driven all that way, so we put in anyway. We should have just turned around and headed for the next lake on the list. No bites. Not one. Hell, we didn't even see a fish in the water. 2 hrs. was my limit, I made an executive decision and we loaded up and moved on. The next lake on tap was over towards South Eastern Indiana, Elk Creek Lake, just outside the booming metropolis of Salem, IN. We checked into the Salem Inn, or as we call it, the Hilton. Your typical old time one row of rooms along the former main road. $40 and perfect for a fishing trip. Off to Elk Creek. Once again, trucks and trailers greeted us at the ramp. It looked to me that most of the boats were fishing for panfish however, so we launched and hoped. I picked up a Booyah Pond Magic buzzbait, white on white and started chucking. It was the ticket. I was working Alan over so badly that I had to give him an identical lure to use. And it worked. He actually stayed close after that. I drilled a couple nice largemouth, 16" and 17" but not big enough to keep my hat. We fished every inch of the place and it was only 3p. We decided to hop out and get an early jump on a private lake we scheduled for Sunday a.m. Totals for Elk Creek - WAR 17, Big Al 11.


BooYah!

We had been warned that the entry road to our little secret lake had been washed away a bit and that we might have to get creative. A bit? The road had 4' deep ruts running down it. So we hopped out and evaluated the situation. It was a 2 beer discussion, but we finally decided we would just have to drag our Bass Hunter back to the lake if we wanted to fish it. And it looked to good to pass up. We kept the battery charging in the car and took the trolling motor off to lighten the load, and started dragging. It was uphill for awhile, flat for a little while, and then downhill to the lake. We decided to go eat dinner and let the battery charge, then come back out for some evening and hopefully awesome fishing. This was our first time on the lake, we had deer hunted all around it in December, but had not fished it. Until now. I mentioned that we needed to name it, if for no other reason than to make scheduling easier. We felt it would be appropriate to wait until after we fished to come up with a name.

We got back out and on the water about 7:15p. I started with my Case Frog and Alan his popper of course. We both caught fish. And then the far bank, which was in the shade, slowed tremendously. We hit a couple here and there, and Alan even hit 2 at once on his trusty popper.


Big Al's Double.

The sun set and it started to get dark quick. I suggested that we throw on our head lights and fish our way in. I just kept bombing my Case Frog at the bank. We were about halfway to the ramp when the water exploded around my frog. It was a nice fish. 19.5" and the big bass of the week to be exact. We fumbled to find the camera in almost dark conditions and I was instantly blinded by the flash. I turned my head to shine my light on Al and the camera and he was cussing it. The batteries were low and the flash had shut down because of it. We ended up with a surprise shot and 5 pictures of pure black nothingness. Just my luck. But I would rather have no pictures and the Big Bass Challenge win than vice versa. Totals - WAR 11, Big Al 11. Daily Totals - WAR 28, Al 22.


As bad as it is, the Champ!

Sunday morning. The last day of our trip. Good news/Bad news. We had a fantastic lake on the schedule for the day, but our trip was over when we were done. We arrived at the lake 7:45a. And it started off slow. I went with a popper and a lizard, Alan went with popper and buzzbait. We caught the occasional fish here and there, but it wasn't crazy by any stretch. By about 9a. we had worked our way to the far end of the lake in some shallow water with nice grass and a few stumps and laydowns. I tied on the BooYah buzzbait. And bingo. It was on. We had about and hours worth of area where we caught bass on almost every cast. Nothing big, but fun. And then our buzzbait area ended. Thankfully, it became popper territory. We beat the bank clear back to the boat ramp with poppers with constant action. Alan took advantage of a uhm, bathroom break by myself to fire his popper parallel to the bank. It was perfect and he got bit big time. We had a contender. I grabbed the net and brought the big boy into the boat. "He's Short" I said. And I was right. 18.5". I have to admit that I was sweating. It was a great fish. 4.3lbs. We reached the ramp and just kept right on going around the lake again. I can't remember the count when we completed our first circuit, but it was up there. And then it shut off in the exact same place it was slow the first time around. We obviously just didn't have the right lure for the area. I'm sure there were fish there. We worked our way back to the shallow area in the rear of the lake and I figured there was no way we could have as much success as the first time we came through there. But I was wrong. We chucked and chucked our buzzbaits with the totals climbing the entire time. We came to the popper bank, switched and kept right on catching fish. I remember the count hitting WAR 50, Alan 41. Then I tossed my popper in along the bank and it was blown up on big time. I had the big fish of the trip on. No question. He swam by the boat and we both held our breath. Only the rear hooks in his mouth. I played him around to the right side of the boat and Alan dropped the net into the water. I started to say it before he even moved his hand, but it still wasn't fast enough. "Don't knock him off with the neeeeeeeeeet." Gone. The one that got away. I was unhappy of course, but it happens and we were having a freaking killer day. I started catching fish and quickly got over my doldrums. We hadn't gone 50 yards when I chucked my popper a little too far and was preparing to remove trash from the hooks but as soon as it hit the water, before I could even click the handle and start my retrieve, the water boiled. Not an explosion really, just a boil, what I would call a big big fish hit. And I was right. The largemouth jumped out of the water and it was unquestionably the largest bass I had ever seen in person. No way it would go into the little net we brought with us, I told Al we were going to have to try and lip her. She ran under the boat and I was sweating and praying. She came up quick and tail walked past the boat. I couldn't believe how big her mouth was. I told Alan I was afraid of her jumping again and I dipped my rod tip into the water to try and keep her down. She was almost within reach. I leaned over and moved my hand towards the water. I felt her head for the surface. I yelled "Nooo" and she broke the surface. My popper splashed down in front of me into the water. She turned and bolted under the water. I couldn't speak. Alan was trying to make me feel better. "That was a monster". "Biggest bass I ever saw man". "That was the no doubt winner. Not even close". I know he meant well, but it didn't help a lot. We moved along. It was twice as bad being the end of the last day of the trip. I could see the ramp which meant that our day was close to an end, and so was work Monday and my mood grew blacker. Alan was stuck on 45 fish for the day and so we actually passed the ramp up and worked towards him getting 50 fish. I kept chucking my popper although not with as much gusto, and I kept nailing fish. At 2:45p we knew we had to go. Alan gave up on his goal of 50. He ended with 47 for the day. I had been nailing fish all day and ended up with 67 including 2 bluegills and my annual Crappie caught on a popper. 114 fish, 7 hours. Over 16 fish an hour. What an ending to our annual trip.

I have heard stories, it's the cliche' in a lot of movies, the one that got away. I can honestly say that I now understand. I've lost fish before, even really nice fish. But I have never lost such a possible once in a lifetime trophy as I did on this trip. And she was right at my finger tips for a couple seconds.

We also seem to have misplaced the camera between the lake and the van. So we don't have any of the pictures from our awesome day. I might have to go look for it where we dragged the boat out, and who knows... I just might have to fish a little while down there.


WAR

Alan has since found the camera. And when you see his largemouth, you will know why he was freaking out when he couldn't find it.

Big Al preparing to launch.

Cmon already.

Great Bass 18.5 inches. I want the record to show that I won Big Bass however.

My annual crappie on a popper.

WAR

Tags: Turkey Season Fishing

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