Pitching the Shadow Line for Largemouth Bass

Finally caught some fish after going skunked since that big bass, besides a seven-inch white perch fishing stripers on the Hudson. I tried Round Valley Monday and yesterday. On Monday it was 52 degrees at 2:00 pm, way too cold for reservoir bass and not a hit in the pond either. Yesterday I went to Beher's and bought shiners to try for brown trout. Sky overcast with light showers, I hoped this would hold out. But once I got to the reservoir, skies cleared. I put a shiner down 20 to 30 feet deep twice for trout, two spots in Ranger Cove, but having noticed a bass fisherman catch one on a minnow plug after telling me he had caught three. So bass are active. I tried live lining the shiners shallow and had a pickerel cut off. But I spotted a smallmouth bass--the largest I've ever seen--six pounds to my estimate. The notion that I had just the right bait to tempt a hit wasn't convincing. I figured this bass would ignore persistent offering and did.

Today I pitched a bright blue Chompers worm to the sunny sides of Mount Hope shadow lines--and well outside in the sun too, which is where I caught both bass associated with fallen timber. (Could have been under the logs, but the logs were about eight inches in diameter.) The idea behind fishing the shadow line by placing a worm in the sunlight near the shadow edge is that sunlight highlights the worm, particularly if brightly colored. Bass in shade rush out and take.

I had to persist like a pro today. My last bass, 14 inches, I caught on my last cast. But I was up for fishing hard. Some days energy fits like hand in glove and whatever means are at my disposal get used well with an effortless feeling. I felt a little critical of my pitching. Every cast or pitch counts. I fished some complicated sticks and getting the worm right on the spot can make all the difference. But those pitches and casts that didn't fall right I just ignored once I noted them and tried again.