ABA Candlewood Recap 6-3-17
I am currently sitting and writing this while in Plano IL as I came here to visit family and to take care of some business. Two cool things about Plano - 1. This is where they shot Superman. 2. This is where Plano Molding is located. Pretty cool to go into their outlet store. Other then that, there isn’t much going on in Plano.
This past event was at Candlewood Lake which is one of the top lakes in the country for the past few years. The spring/spawn here is amazing but it’s a very fickle beast. Most CT waterways are not like other bodies of water around the country. It’s very hard to pattern CT fish and myself nor anyone else really knows why this is. It’s more about a particular spot then necessarily what they are relating to which makes it tough against guys who have fished these bodies of water for 30 years. These guys know about that rock pile half the size of the front deck, in 20ft of water, in the middle of nowhere, that always holds fish. However if you were to take those select guys and throw them on a body of water where you had to pattern fish, they would do terrible. Nonetheless, it is what it is and it’s a challenge I admire.
Practice was interesting. I’m a grass fisherman at heart; it’s what I love. I figured most of the spawn was over since back in early May the spawn was on. So I decided to fish some more post spawn fish either right at the inside weed edge or in the thick of the grass in 8-10 fow. I managed to catch a few fish doing this but a buddy of mine told me the day prior “The Largemouth are all over rock. They are right on the chunk rock I heard. No weeds at all and very shallow”. I thought this was odd and took it with a grain of salt at first. However he’s a CT native.
Halfway through the day, I said screw it, i’m gonna go see if these fish are on rock and as shallow as some have been saying. I figured I would be doing my friend Rich who is kind enough to let me stay at his place all the time, the honor of taking his word and exploring. Low and behold I found the mother-load. Ironically enough, I found a bunch of big Largemouth on beds between 5-7lbs. It must have been the second wave of fish coming up. I wanted to see how aggressive these fish were so I decided to cut the hook off my tube, pitch it into the beds, and see how they reacted.
Now i’m no bed fishing expert but I know enough to do it well. There are three types of bedding fish that I like to categorize: 1. Roamers - Not on the bed, just lurking around the area and very skittish. 2. Bed Makers - Either just starting or just finishing making the bed. They will look like they are locked onto the beds but really, they are just creating/finishing and will not bite. 3. Locked on - These fish are parked right in the middle or corner of the bed, as soon as you put a lure into the bed, they will react and either pick it up and carry it out of the bed or aggressively swipe at it. Another tip I would like to add is this - Most anglers see a bed, and throw right into the center. You will end up catching a lot less fish doing it this way. The key is to throw past the bed, and drag it into either the center, top corner, or bottom corner. Now why so specific you ask? Well you are looking to make it seem like your bait is sneaking into the bed and looking to eat their babies. Fish don’t fly so something coming from straight above into their nest when they are shallow enough to see you as much as you can see them, not gonna work. There is always a sweet spot to the bed. My personal experience, it’s either the bottom corners mostly or the top corners. Rarely dead in the middle for me personally but all fish are different. I’m not sure why this is exactly. My opinion on it is fish have a preferred side to them or just something that makes them tick. Almost like how humans are lefty, righty, or both. Maybe they have more vision or sense on one side compared to the other. Or put it this way - You build a house. At the end of the build, there will always be a certain section or room that is your favorite or you just seem to look at/admire the most. Maybe you won’t even know why. Now picture a bass creating their bed or their “home”.
So I threw my tube into these beds with no hook and these fish were carrying it out into open water away from the beds; i’m talking holding my bait in their mouth for over 20 seconds. This is a great sign. Now if you play it right, you can actually slowly reel the fish up to the boat and get a look at it without ever hooking it. It truly is an amazing thing. So I did this multiple times and these fish were GIANT. I was very excited about this but also very nervous. I don’t like relying on this pattern solely because it’s VERY dependent on the weather. If one thing changes with the weather, it shuts the fish completely off. Plan B was I saw bluegill and sunfish everywhere. It was amazing how many there were. So I decided why not throw a small Fishing Bait Club squarebill in a sunfish pattern and see if I can get these fish to eat it. I was able to catch a few fish off this, still on rock so I decided to completely abandon the grass and go this route.
Tournament day comes, and of course a cold front rolls through. I was nervous about what was gonna happen with the bedding fish. I run to my first spot, and the fish is still there; great! I worked this fish for a half hour at least and it wouldn’t react AT ALL. Next bed, there’s the fish, no reaction. They were completely shut off from the weather. I spent the first half of the day trying for these fish. I was staring at 25lbs plus in fish. It was so demoralizing to sit there, know they are right there, and they won’t bite like they did before the front. So I put my head down, picked up the crankbait and ran all over the place. I was able to scrape up a limit which I was happy about because I worked hard for it. Most people think it must be so easy to go out there and catch 5 fish; you have no idea how hard it can be if you’ve never experienced it.
The lake overall was fishing pretty terribly. Out of the 3 tournaments ran out of our launch that day, winning weights were 12lbs, 10lbs, and 9lbs. All these events had 15+ boats. One was a team event! That’s terrible for this place. I was happy with my 5th place finish. I had 5 good bites all day and I didn’t miss any. I also am still leading the Angler Of The Year standings which i’m pumped about!! Oh how did the top 3 catch their fish you ask? Fishing the weeds in 10ft of water either flipping it or using a swimbait LOL. Of course that put a thorn in the backside because that’s what I wanted to do from the start. However cranking is always a great time. Nothing like the anticipation of a good strike while throwing one. Below is the tackle and equipment I used this week. Isn’t much since I used one bait to catch all my fish:
Fishing Bait Club Squarebill:
Sunfish pattern. This little crankbait has done wonders for me this year and I am very happy with their products. You need to go get yourself some of their stuff if you haven’t already. Visit them here
Equipment - 7’ M Micro Guide Big Bear Rod, Lew’s Tournament Pro G Speed Spool (5.4:1), 10lb HI-Seas Fluorocarbon
Well I certainly wish I could have had the chance to catch those giant fish I was looking at the whole day during practice and the event. But I would have rather not caught them at all then have hooked a few and had them come off. That would have really spun me out. But hey, I can’t complain about being in the top five every single event so far this year. I’ve had a limit each event, one tournament win thus far, and am in first place in AOY for the ABA as well as third place in AOY for the TBF which puts me in good shape to qualify for the state team. Official article from this event can be found here. I hope to keep this streak going for as long as I possibly can. Until next time everyone, Tight Lines!
