Feelin' Lucky: June 2016

Feelin' Lucky: June 2016

     "Feelin' Lucky" is a series of blogs posted on a monthly basis with the help of the folks at Lucky Tackle Box.  The point of these posts are two-fold; I'll be discussing a bit about Lucky Tackle Box, a great company that sends out subscription boxes filled with tackle each month from established tackle makers, along with some up and coming small businesses making their way into the fishing industry.  Secondly these posts act as in-depth fishing reports for the particular lake I go to each month.  Hopefully you and I will each learn something new along this endeavor.

Lake Havasu:  I was extra excited for June's Feelin' Lucky project.  This month I met up with a great group of U.S. Veterans for a kayak fishing event put on by Heroes on the Water Arizona Chapter.  HOW is a fantastic non-profit who's mission is to relax, rehabilitate, and reintegrate veterans through kayak fishing and the outdoors.  Last week, the HOW Arizona Chapter, based in the Phoenix area, made its way west to Lake Havasu City to fish with a group of veterans interested in starting a new chapter in western Arizona. 

     June's Lucky Tackle Box was packed with topwater baits making for a potentially exciting month of top water blowups.  The Bass XL box contained three walking baits of all different sizes, meaning you'll be covered for all your top water shad imitations from this year's spawn throughout fall and into winter when the bigger shad begin to die off.

     In addition to the topwater baits, June's box had three baits to cover deep water as well.  With this one box you'll be able to chase the early morning topwater bite, then back off to the cool deep water and chase those big lethargic bass with a spoon and creature baits.

Throwback Lure's Walkin' Paycheck:

      The Walkin' Paycheck is the smallest of the three walking baits in this month's box.  Ideally, I would rig this up on a 6' 6" medium spinning rod.  The lure is just too small to cast with much accuracy or distance on a bait caster, and with water as crystal clear as Havasu, that long cast is the most important key to catching fish.  The reason I would choose such a short rod is because I fish from a kayak and am so close to the water.  With a longer rod it's difficult to get the downward popping motion to walk this bait across the surface without splashing the rod tip into the water.  You'll see later on that whenever I'm fishing topwater, or other presentations with a downward popping motion of the rod (jerkbaits) I always opt for something shorter than 7 feet.  (It also doesn't help that I'm only 5' 6".) 

     Havasu is filled with these chunky little Redear Sunfish.  The quagga mussels in Havasu (a rapidly spreading invasive species) mean two things for the lake: water clarity up to 30 feet, and crazy big sunfish!  This time of year the Redear and Bluegill are spawning.  Walking this lure overtop a field of spawners resulted in a catch every time.  The Redears specifically are one of the most aggressive and hardest fighting fish per pound I've yet to run across.

     Unfortunately this paycheck came to a sudden end when an absolute monster, possibly three pounds worth of sunfish, grabbed the lure and took off for the weeds.  My eight pound line snapped as soon as it hit the weed edge.  Although the lure floats (as most topwaters do), snagged in the thick weeds, he was a goner.

Castaic BD Series Walking Bait: 

     This bait is really more of a hybrid lure.  The long skinny body is reminiscent of a standard walking bait, but the flat nose of this bait gives it the splashing action of a popper.  The rear treble is dressed with one of the most life-like "tails" I've seen in a topwater lure.

     Because of the flat nose, this bait makes a lot of noise in the water to draw fish in from a long way away.  This is the perfect bait to use when you find shallow active fish in low light conditions, or when the wind is moving and putting a chop on the water.  While it's fairly difficult to walk back and fourth compared to other walking baits, the Castaic BD Series lure doesn't need that side to side action to be effective.  Tossing it out and giving it a few random jerks and pops like a floating minnow was enough to draw vicious strikes from the schooling stripers we found in Havasu.

     Like other topwater presentations I throw this on a 6' 6" medium-fast rod.  As I said before, the shorter rod length is easier to work with in the low profile situation of kayak fishing.  A medium power rod is mandatory anytime you're fighting a fish on small treble hooks.  Too much backbone will rip those hooks right out of any bass's mouth.  Finally, the fast tip is needed to impart the right action on topwater lures.  When you pop that rod tip down, you need to rebound immediately, as if you're striking a drum.  As you rebound, that fast tip will kick slack back into the line quickly which allows that bait to glide freely side to side.

Livingston Lure's Pro Sizzle: 

     This is the big boy.  When you've put a limit in the boat and you're looking for that big kicker fish, look no further than the Pro Sizzle by Livingston Lures.  The large size of this lure may spook small timid fish, but it makes a big easy meal for a big spawned out female looking to feed up and gain strength after a tiring spawn.

     Like other Livingston Lures, the Pro Sizzle is tricked out with EBS, which stands for "electronic baitfish sounds".  EBS is basically like having a small HydroWave built right into the lure calling out to the fish like a dinner bell.  In addition to the baitfish sounds, there is a small light in the tail of this bait that subtlety flashes on and off in the water that calls out for just a little extra attention.  Now, I know there are anglers out there that may call this a gimmick, saying things like it's made to catch the fisherman, not the fish.  But the Pro Sizzle is rooted in deep fish catching history from the Livingston Lure company.  These lures catch fish just as well as they catch the fisherman!

Johnson Slama Spoon: 

     Despite the piece of garbage that resembles a treble hook, this is a great little spoon.  The wide, ribbed body gives it a much wider wobble when retrieved slow and steady, and a slower flutter when jigged vertically.  This is going to be a killer lure in November after the lakes turn over and shad begin to die off.  I'm a bit puzzled as to why LTB would put this in a post-spawn box, but I'm sure there's anglers out there that fish spoons all year long, just not me.

     You may have noticed I have this spoon rigged up on hi-vis braid and a fluorocarbon leader.  When fishing a spoon, I typically vertically jig it.  I position my boat over deep structure, usually a point or hump in about 30 feet of water (or wherever the baitfish are).  I drop it straight down to the bottom.  When it stops falling, I'll crank the handle once to bring the lure about a foot off the bottom.  As I slowly drift, all I do is raise the rod tip up about five feet and let it flutter back down on slack line.  Most of the bites will one on the fall, which is where the hi-vis line comes into play.  As it's falling, any kind of jump in the line means a fish has taken it.  With slack line, you'll see it, but you won't feel it.  If you wait until that line is tight to feel the bite, it will be too late.  A fish isn't going to bite and hold onto a chunk of metal like he will a soft plastic, so you've got to be quick in setting the hook.

Bruiser Bait's and Buddha Bait's Creatures:

     I was excited to try out these Bruiser Baits.  I had heard good things from the YouTube guys and others on various forums across the Internet but hadn't got my hands on them yet.  Being purple was an extra plus!  I can't explain it, but for whatever reason I have a lot of confidence in purple soft plastics.  I don't put much thought into my color selection anymore, if I have purple available, I'm throwing it at least to start off. 

     I rigged both of these baits up on the Mustad wide gap hooks that came in the box.  I started off Texas rigging them but quickly changed my approach as the baits kept sliding down the hook.  There's no bend in the hook or barb of any kind to hold the bait in place.  I usually use smaller versions (1/0 or smaller) of this hook for dropshot, but the 3/0 and 5/0 this box came with are just too large for that approach.

     The long, slim body of the Buddha Bait's creature bait is ideal for pitching into heavy cover.  As the water warms up this summer, bass are going to go to where there is cool, oxygenated water; either deep, or into the thick matted grass.  The sale of this bait is perfect when rigged up on a punching set up to get through that matted grass and into the Forrest of shallow grass where many bass will take up residency this summer.  Later this summer I'll be posting another blog all about flipping, pitching, and punching into that nasty stuff! 

     Eventually I rigged up a Jika Rig using a couple of split rings and a dropshot weight.  You can learn more about that HERE.  It paid off!  Within the first few cast, I had finally hooked up my first Havasu Largemouth!  Not very big, but after two days I was pumped to finally boat one of those green beauties.

     Two day's on Havasu didn't yield many fish, but it was still a great trip.  We had eight veterans come out for the Heroes on the Water event and all had a good time.  One of the vets caught two five pound largemouth on day one when everyone else was skunking it up!  For more info on the HOW organization, check them out HERE.  There are chapters nation wide and the organization continues to grow, in fact we may soon have one in Havasu!  For more pictures from the event, and information on future events, follow the HOW Arizona Chapter on Facebook, HERE.

     As of today, you still have a few more days to order your Lucky Tackle Box to receive July's box, but if you're late don't worry, because August is right around the corner.  Remember to use coupon code SAVE10 to get your first box for just five bucks!

     And as always, tight lines!