A Big Bass
Sundown: Home of the Trophy Fish"I fished for about an hour with a buzz-bait, and only managed to attract one 2 ½-pound largemouth to my surface commotion. The riprap on the dam was good cover and the conditions seemed right for a topwater bite. There was no wind and the overcast skies had set-in for the day.
At about 7:30 a.m. I decided to switch to a 10-inch green and black plastic worm. For a change, I guessed right. I moved out from the bank onto a shallow, stick-up covered ridge. I was fishing in about six feet with water between 15 feet and 18 feet on both sides. I thought this would be a good spot to find bass feeding.
On my second cast I felt a bump. I gave the fish time to "mouth" the bait. I had it in my mind that this was a good bass. I knew the fish picked-up the worm, but she didn't run with it. She just laid there, chewing.It has been my experience that smaller bass. Less than two pounds, tend to grab a plastic bait and run. The bigger the bass, the more likely they are to stay put. Small fish seldom challenge a "hawg" for their meal. This fish did not run for deep water. I felt my line go taut and then felt another tap.
As I leaned into the hook-set, I felt another substantial weight on the end of my line. The weight wasted no time in making her first run. As she headed out through the stick-ups, it was all I could do to keep her from wrapping my line around one of them. On her second run she went for deep water.
I finally tugged and wenched her to the top. My green worm had been knocked a foot up my line by the fight. She tired and as I pulled her to the boat I could see the hook was not well set. As I thumbed her and lifted her into the boat, the hook fell out. She weighed 6 pounds and was a great way to start the day.
Where did all this take place? I knew that you would ask. On this day I was fishing my new "honeyhole," Sundown Lake.
Privately constructed in the early 1970's, Sundown Lake has had 20 years to develop into the prime fishery that it is today. Being fished for so long has given this impoundment more than its share of trophy-sized fish.
As I continued to fish my plastic 10-inch garlic worm, the light steadily increased in the gray sky. At about 9 a.m., I moved to the east bank of the lake and began pitching and flipping into both standing cover and downed tree-tops. The bass were very receptive and 3-pounders and 4-pounders were not uncommon.
As I completed one of the most productive mornings of bass fishing I've ever had….26 pounds in three hours…..I decided to end the trip by finding some Crappie for the grill for supper. Bill Shoop assured me that good Crappie were not hard to find at Sundown. He said that 2-pounders were common and that last year an angler there caught a white Crappie that missed the Iowa state record by only a couple of ounces. He was right. Within 30 minutes, I had all the 12-inch to 14-inch Crappie I needed for a meal."
