By By Mike Giles / outdoors writer
March 19, 2004
With the arrival of warmer temperatures our annual spring bloom has begun. This past week many trees have suddenly burst into a dazzling array of colors. This usually signals all die hard fishermen to head for the waters. Whether you are fishing small ponds or big reservoirs and rivers, the time is now to join in on perhaps the best fishing of the year. On successive days, we caught crappie on the reservoir and bass at a small lake. The action was hot and heavy during both trips. The only thing limiting the crappie fishing right now on Okatibbee is the falling water.
Usually the bass will hit just about anything in the spring. On a recent bass fishing trip I found out how finicky bass can be in extremely clear water conditions, right after a cold front has come through. My daughter Chandler came along and really showed me how to do it. I had not fished this lake in the spring before and was surprised at the amount of slime that we encountered. You just couldn't fish a standard Texas rigged worm or small crankbait or spinnerbait.
After surveying the conditions, I quickly put a Kinami Flash on Chandler's line. Now there's one thing good about fishing a Kinami Flash, you just can't fish it wrong. You may be able to catch more on some techniques, but you will still catch fish regardless. Only two things are needed when you fish this bait, bass and clear water. Of course we had plenty of both on this day.
After fishing with FLW pro Ken Murphy I was tuned in to the perhaps the best way to fish the popular bait. The bait is rigged Texas style without a weight. Murphy simply casts the lure out and lets it fall. The amount of the action in the bait's freefall is unbelievable and irresistible to the bass. After letting the bait fall a bit, he just slowly picks his rod up in a sweeping motion and lets it fall again. Most of the strikes will come on the fall and you can detect them by watching your line. If the line jumps, or starts moving to the side, just rare back and "lay the wood" to him.
It wasn't long before a feisty bass crushed Chandler's lure and the fight was on. After a prolonged battle, the lunker finally wore down and we boated him. After a little celebration and picture taking we released the bass to fight another day.
Now bear in mind that I said I put a Kinami Flash on her line. As it turns out, I only had one of those in the boat with us. I had inadvertently left most of mine in another box back on dry land. To be honest, I really hadn't intended to use them on this day. I didn't even know that I would need them.
Bass after bass struck the bait and fell victim to Chandler. Finally, her biggest bass of the day took the bait and vaulted skyward in a series of acrobatic jumps. We finally landed the bass and discovered that he had disposed of our only Kinami Flash. Of course we tried a few other baits, but to no avail. There was only one thing to do, head to the nearest bait shop and find some more of those hot baits. I did find a store that had a few and I was back in business that afternoon, catching and releasing more of those mean bigmouth bass!