The great fishing continues as the morning warms. Several surprisingly large bass are caught and placed into the live well.
not what I expected for the morning and somewhat of a vindication that I CAN catch fish with a pole! Jesse was ready with the net and brought the fish into the boat. I posed for pictures, the bass went into the live well and I went back to fishing, determined to catch another. With me this morning, as I tried in vain to look like I knew what I was doing, was my wife, Lindsey, who of- fered to help with photography on my promise of sunshine and a beautiful lake morning. As the sun continued to rise, offer- ing the first sensations of warmth in the cool morning, the three of us talked about everything bass-relat- ed, from their life cycle and common ages of smallmouth in Lake Coeur d’Alene, to the varying methods of catching them. Jesse shared with us
his thoughts on integrity in guiding on Lake Coeur d’Alene. Lindsey was excited to learn we would be releasing all the bass we caught as Jesse firmly stood on the belief that releasing the fish, which grew slowly in our cold wa - ter and could range in ages up to 20 years old, was being a good steward of the lake he loved and grew up on. Slowly, I began to get the feel for fishing with the crawfish lure, and then we moved onto another lure that mimicked a sculpin, which is a fresh- water fish that bass feed upon. Some - how, I continued to bring in large fish, and I was getting better at dis - tinguishing the feel of a rock to that of a bass taking the bait. Then, Jesse had me switch to a jerk-bait. The method for using this lure was completely different and in- volved jerking the lure forward in
short movements within the water column and mimicking a fish swim - ming above the bass. There’s a very specific jerking motion that makes this lure effective, which at first I was not achieving. Jesse warned me that if conditions were right the bass would absolute- ly hammer the lure, and he wasn’t wrong. The first hit surprised me, and I didn’t set the hook correctly. The second time I was ready, or at least more ready, as I was still in dis- belief. But I was able to set the hook and bring the fish into the boat. We were catching enough bass that the live well was filling up. Every time a large fish was landed, the smallest of the bass in the live well was released, so that only the largest of our day’s catch remained in the live well. Other fishermen began to move
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