When I got the text from my good friend David Colgin asking if I wanted to go fishing a few weeks ago I knew in my head that we had a good chance at having a really good day. Little did I know at that time just how good of a day we were going to have! Now if you know anything about fishing with David he is adamant about not having a net in the boat, but luckily I was able to talk him into bringing a net with us for the day.
As we backed the boat down the ramp, and into the lake, my anticipation was growing. Mid-March, with a warming trend, and some significant wind was in the forecast for the day. A quick look at the fish finder showed mid to low 50’s for water temperatures, but only a few inches of visibility.
We started off fishing one of the shallower banks on the lake, working around some bulkheads and a pocket but after 20 to 30 minutes we had nothing to show for it. We then made a move across the lake to fish a main lake point, and worked our way down a deeper channel bank but still hadn’t even gotten a bite. My once high hopes for the day were slowly starting to fade, and I was wondering if we would even get a bite at this point.
David and I decided it was time to make a move to the lower end of the lake so I fired up his 9 hp motor and we “raced” down the lake. By this time the wind had picked up substantially, and we started to work around a few coves I assumed would serve as spawning pockets once the fish decided it was time to pull up.
I was mixing it up with a Chatterbait and spinnerbait given the windy conditions and the water visibility, and David was sticking to his guns with a Megabass Vision 110+1. Finally, as we worked a secondary point between two of the coves I heard David say “got one” and “it’s a good” one so I dropped my rod and picked up the net. David worked the fish to the boat and just like that our first fish of the day was in the boat, a solid seven pounder start the day. A few pictures and fist bumps were exchanged and the day was now a success.
Just a few minutes later we were working some wind- blown rip- rap leading into the spawning coves when David hooked into another giant on the 110+1. Another short fight, and a fine net job by his co-angler, and David had put another seven pounder in the boat! At this point I’m thinking man we have 14 pounds with two fish maybe we can get to 20 pounds. I would be lying if I wasn’t also thinking: “Man, he has two fish for 14 pounds and I haven’t caught a fish yet.” I fired up the motor again, and we decided head to the upper end of the lake to see what was going on up there.
Now at this point, even though David had caught two big fish on the jerkbait, I just did not have confidence to continue throwing the jerkbait due to the limited water visibility. I dug into my bag and pulled out a Megabass Flapslap that I had never even thrown before, but I felt more confident with it due to it being a red/yellow color, and I thought it would stand out better in the water clarity. To be honest, I wasn’t even really sure how to work the dang bait, but I just threw it out there and gave it a slow, steady retrieve.
We had started on another main lake point, and we working our way around into a little pocket when it felt like my lure had been hit by a freight train! I told David that I had another good fish on my line, and after the fished pulled from one side of the boat to the other we had another seven pounder in the boat!
At this point all I could think was that we have three fish in the boat, and they are all seven pounders…this is insane. We continued working the shallow pocket and a few minutes later I caught another small keeper on the Flapslap so now I’m thinking I might be onto something with this lure.
We headed to the other side of the lake to try another main lake point with some rock on it and worked our way back into another pocket. As we fished around the pocket I fired a few casts off at some visible chunk rock on the bank, and after the third cast, I felt that hard “thump” again and set the hook.
After getting the fish to the boat and putting it on the scale it weighed in at four pounds so now we are looking at 25 pounds and I’m thinking, “Man, if we can just get one more keeper bite we might be able to hit 30 pounds.”
We bounced around a few areas that we had hit earlier in the day, and then decided to come back to the main lake point with the rock. I fired out the Flapslap to the point and was retrieving it back when I felt that hard “thump” and set the hook. After a quick second or two the fish pulled off. I was pretty disappointed because I could feel that the fish had some significant weight to it.
We worked around the point, and were working the transition area from the point to the back of the cove and I decide to try the 110+1 again. A few casts into working the 110+1 and I felt the subtle tick that you often do when throwing the jerkbaits and after a short fight we had a five-pounder in the boat.
I never in my wildest dreams thought that it would be possible to weigh 30 pounds here in central Virginia, but man what an incredible feeling. To be able to spend that time on the water with a friend and to have memories that will last a lifetime is what fishing really is all about to me. I paired my 110+1 and Flapslap up on a JB Custom Dog Rod with 10 pounder Seagur fluro-carbon. To me, that is a perfect combination for throwing jerkbaits and smaller treble hook baits.
