Cool water bass fishing

I've stayed off the water for the past several days, waiting for the temperatures to get back to normal. That hasn't happened, so I figured I might as well go out and see if I could get any bass to bite at the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Area.   The water temperature has dropped from the high 70's to the mid 60's in the past six days or so, a change in environment which usually gives fish lockjaw.  But you never know, until you give it a try.

Since yesterday was a national holiday, I thought the place would be pretty crowded with people off from work.  But I was pretty much alone when I arrived at 9:30, except for two people I saw paddling through the entrance of the canoe trail.

I started out trolling a streamer behind my kayak along the west bank of the canal.  After half an hour or so of no action whatsoever, I switched to a plastic worm.  Before too long I brought a small bass to the boat and then a second one.  A few minutes later I hooked something quite a bit larger.  I thought it might be a bowfin, or "mudfish," as they're disdainfully known down here, and so it turned out to be.  I guess bowfin are to the fresh water what Jack Crevalle are to salt:  dogged fighters but lacking respect from anglers.  Bowfin do tend to destroy hooks and lures.  They have large mouths that are circular like a catfish's and rimmed with small, needle-like teeth.  They've also got long and powerful tails that will cause havoc if you make the mistake of sliding them up into the boat with you.  I tend to be wary of both their mouths and their tails.  In trying to extricate the hook from the mouth of the one who ate my plastic worm yesterday the shank of the hook actually broke off.  I'm pretty sure that the end left in that fish's mouth will quickly rot away and cause it no permanent damage.

After that flurry of action I switched back to the fly rod, this time with the largest and heaviest streamer in my flybox attached to the leader.  The fish weren't interested.  If I could find a fly that worked as well as a plastic worm does on spinning tackle I'd fly fish for bass exclusively.  So far, I've not found any fly that has the same action as a six inch plastic worm.  I own a couple flies that are supposed to act like plastic worms but they've never produced for me.  If anyone knows of such a fly, I'd sure like to hear about it!

When I went back to spinning tackle for the final time there was a bit of a lull.  Eventually I did catch a couple more small bass and a second bowfin.

There was strong sun throughout the morning and virtually no wind, both of which made it pleasant to be out on the water.  I was back at the boat ramp around one o'clock.   By then, the parking lot was quite crowded.  A couple of folks stopped to ask me about my Hobie Pro Angler kayak, as often happens as I'm re-trailering it.

All in all, not a bad day after all.

See you on the water.

Here's a link to my video:
http://youtu.be/yzcEylly3uw