Tri-Fecta

Basketball fever is in the air with conference tournaments on the horizon and the national championship just around the corner.  Although I didn't get to watch much basketball this weekend, I did hit my own 3-pointer.

It's been an unusually warm winter and my friend Todd and I were in search of some active winter bass in one of many eastern NC mill ponds.  Turns out, I found a few other species as well.  I started by trolling a few shallow running suspending jerk baits.  One was a Rapala x-rap, and the other a Bomber Long-A. 

A short distance from the launch, I stopped paddling to throw a lipless crank bait toward a point.  I left the trolling lures in the water behind me and when I started to paddle again, the Bomber immediately got hit.  It was a small bass, but a fish none-the-less. 

I got setup again and paddled 20 ft or so and the Bomber got hit again after a pause, just like before.  This time it was a catfish!  Not sure if it's a channel cat or a bullhead, but I was surpised a small cat attempt to eat the 6" plug.

With two fish landed, I thought I may be onto something.  I started throwing the bomber in the general area with a slow retrieve and short pauses.  My next fish was an even bigger surprise.  This small crappie went after the bomber as well.  That made three species all on the same lure within the first 30 min of fishing.  I rarely have days like that!

I caught one other small bass in this area and we moved on.  I only caught one other bass on this trip on a lipless crank.  My friend Todd caught the best fish of the day just after lunch on a majestic minnow using his new rod and reel.  He just bought his first baistcaster and got the hang of it pretty quick. 

No bigguns today, but we had absolutely beautiful weather and a nice paddle.