Imagination Bassin Company Information

Submitted by George 4/30/05

The first thing that I have for you is a "POTENTIAL NAVIGATION WARNING"!!!!!

This sunken boat is located on the south side of (Ditch #7) which is the ditch that separates the Stick Marsh area from the Farm 13 area. It is approximately 1/2 way between the east and west end of the levy and presently as you can see is right against the levy. The boat is carrying Georgia registration numbers and appears to be abandoned as it has been there for a couple of weeks now. Presently it poses no threat, however if winds were to break it loose and it got into the ditch it could be a very serious threat as (ditch 7) is a main navigational transition ditch to the Farm. Keep a watchful eye out as this could be an extreme hazard.

Fishing, as was expected for April has been extremely good as long as the weather cooperated. However it is a heavily dependant on what the winds do in strength and direction. Thursday was a day where the wind simply didn't want to cooperate in both strength and direction. The wind blowing out of the north primarily, (not good for most of the lake areas) with gusts over 20, took out the entire south end of the Farm. The south end of the Farm has been out best producing area, but with strong north winds the abundance of wood can make that area not just uncomfortable, but also quite dangerous for both equipment and occupants of the boat. These conditions restricted Scott and his passengers Mike Gingerich and Leon Butler of York, PA. to working the north end of the Marsh, and only a couple of bass for the outing.

Yesterday was a complete flip with winds between 5-10 varying throughout the day from the east to the south-south east. The bass cooperated from almost the first cast hitting rattle traps with gusto. The was a real good mix in size throughout the day with Don Willis, (he pleaded to go and we took the chance that we could overcome his jinx), landing several nice bass including this gal.

Don was hoping for 10+ but the Boga Grip said 7 pounds. Actually, taking Don on these working forays that we do in between trips is extremely helpful, as Don is a pretty good stick and helps us keep track of where the fish are and there almost constant movements. His claim of being "the world's worst" has slipped away as far as we are concerned. We simply put a mask on him and once he has hooked the fish we remove the mask. You have to see the look of absolute surprise in the bass's eyes as Don (sans the mask), hauls them aboard. According to Don, that look is one of pure joy because it is he that is holding them, but to us it looks more like one of shear terror as the bass struggle to get back to their watery abode.

Big fish for the day also came on a rattle trap and yours truly, (did you really think it would have been someone else), hauled her out.

This lady tipped the scale at 9.25 pounds. She slammed the trap about 20 feet from the boat and did just about every trick in the book to get loose, but the hook set held, (which is always a question mark ? when using rattle traps. We, Scott, Don, and myself were working the traps in about 5 feet of water with medium speed retrieves. By the time we quit, (1:30), we boated 60 bass of various sizes.

As we move into the time of the year when the fishing is at its best the parking lot has less and less cars. Also, another factor for the drop in number of boats is the lack of weed to be found on the lake. However, if you can get past the mental block of not having a target to cast to and remember that the grass only led you to the wood that the fish were hanging around year after year you can have a really good day out here. The fish are exactly where there were this time last year with the only change being the bait that is working the best. Top water isn't quite as good yet but it is there in bits and pieces. When top water is working Chug Bugs and buzz baits have both produced, but for most periods of the day the baits need to be down. Rattle traps have been ruling as far as we can tell, but don't forget the plastic bite.

See you on the water. Say hi if you get the chance.

Submitted by Scott: 4/24/05

Probably the most often heard questions from those visiting the Marsh whether they live in Florida or elsewhere, is whether the alligator population is good sized and whether we have to worry about them. The answers are; the population is quite large and the alligator is very much afraid of man. Getting pictures of one that is good is quite difficult without have a telephoto lens but the one below Don Willis was able to capture. The gator was laying on that small patch of mud and Don came up from behind her surprising her before she could flee.

Don was able to snap several good pictures before she made a run.

4/21/2005 I met returning client Glen Miles of San Antonio, TX at the ramp at 6:30am. We headed to the south end of the Farm with hopes of starting the day with a Chug Bug bite. While giving Glen a demonstration on how to work the Chug Bug a bass hammered the bait and kept going. We worked are way toward the shore line forever hopeful another bass would hit. After what seemed like a 1000 casts I decided it was time to try Senkos. We worked are way around the dense wood and still could not get a bass to bite. I decided we need to start working our way off shore and try to find where the bass had moved to. Throwing rattle traps it did not take us long to locate the bass well offshore.

The rest of the day we never left the area and caught a total of 44 bass before calling it a day at 2:15pm.

4/22/2005 I meet Tommy Wilks and Mike Avery at 6:00am and we headed to the ramp. I told Tommy and Mike about the fishing we had the day before and they were very excited. We headed to the south end of the Farm and starting working rattle traps. It did not take them long to get the hang of things and the bass starting making there way to the boat immediately.

I lost count of how many bass were caught but I know it was at least 50.

The quality of bass that we caught was great with countless bass between 4 and 6 pounds and the biggest of the day weighing 7.75 pounds. The bite was better in the morning, but by continuing to stay in the same area and working the rattle traps non stop we managed to catch fish all day. There is no big trick to working the rattle trap right know just throw it out and burn it back.

Scott

I met Don (World’s Worst Fisherman) at the ramp at 6:30am for what would turn into an excellent morning of fishing. I figured the fishing has been so good that not even Don could stop the bass from eating. We started throwing Chug Bugs and Senkos in the south end of the Farm but to my surprise we did not even get a hit. I moved to the SW corner to see if we could find some bass willing to eat our rattle-traps. After a short while and still not a fish in the boat I decided we would go and check some spots on the Stick Marsh. We tried rattle-traps and Senkos working our way toward the NW corner of the Stick Marsh. At around 8:45am we still had yet to catch a single bass so I decide to head to the north end of the Marsh. Don started with Senkos and I started with a buzz bait. Within a few casts Don landed the first bass of the day. Don started catching bass consistently on the Senko and I still had yet to catch a fish on the buzz bait. I figured I would give Don a chance to get a lead before I would make the switch. I managed one 5lbs bass on the buzz bait before switching over to the Senko. We caught a total of 25 bass by 11:30am with the average bass weighing 3lbs. As always we had lot of fun this morning and I managed to come back from behind and beat Don by one.

Fishing continues to be strong in the south end of the Farm. Top water is there for the taking first thing in the AM but isn't holding throughout the day yet. Chug Bugs and buzz baits have been doing equally well. The rest of the day the producers have been Senkos and rattle traps with the toss up being equal between them. Water levels are dropping so caution is the word as the stumps are heavy and getting closer to the surface. A simple guide for safe water is to draw a diagonal line from the pump house wall on the west wall to the SE entrance to the spillway and idle if you are south of that line. If you fish the south end and it gets windy don't get too close to the south wall or you will probably damage your trolling motor on the many hard stumps down there.

Ten trips since the 9th have all been a series of excitement and good times. The weather has been fair with some wind but nothing to difficult to handle. Yesterday we had a bit of rain mixed with some wind but the bass were ready and willing to play with Senkos so the weather was easy to ignore.

April is a month that good fish are caught. The artificial bite is strong and the weather starts to stabilize. Top water will get better and better with full days of top water action just around the corner. Presently the south end of the Farm is where it is happening but any day the catching could break loose of the Stick Marsh so don't forget to check that NW corner and Twin Palms. Rattle Traps, spinner baits, and a variety of top water baits will produce, but the plastic will always be a strong fall back. Senkos are made for the Marsh/Farm with their cast-ability, and sink rate allowing you to work in the heavy wood without constantly snagging.

Keep an eye out for floaters and be careful where you run. The sun is getting stronger daily so don't forget the sun screen. Put the sun screen on before the sun shines and remember to renew it based on its rating. A 30 rating means recoat every 30 minutes so don't put it on in the morning and then forget it. Remember also that the mosquitoes here have the potential for passing some serious diseases about so remember the spray for that early morning launch. They are present at dawn and again at dusk so if you are going to be there at that time spray up. As we get into the warmer weather the gnats will reappear. Not much will affect them so catch bass and you won't notice them as much. Have a great time on the water.

Since my last report we have done 30 trips out on the Marsh and one to Garcia. Most have been with artificial bait and the one that shone above all others has been the 1/2 ounce rattle trap in chrome/blue with orange belly. Worked at a medium to fast retrieve this little gem has produced fish to 10 pounds with many that were in the 6 to 10 pound range. Several of the trips have had catches in excess of 100 bass including both live bait and artificial bait.

Most of the shiner trips have taken place in the spillway area. All of our artificial trips have been concentrated in the south end of the Farm where bass in various stages of spawn activity have been busy.

Weather continues to play a large factor in our success as the passage of fronts continues and windy days make for some difficult fishing. However, the windy days have lessened over the last three weeks and will continue to do so through this month. We are seeing some top water activity but there has been no consistent bite in that area. As I said above, the rattle trap has been very productive with the bite remaining solid on the trap all day long.

Water levels remain high and grass is just starting to grow in many of the areas. The Stick Marsh side we really had the opportunity to work but Twin Palms, the NW corner, and the middle west area have all been showing fish on the electronics as we have passed through. Again, I would think that the rattle trap would be best producer on the Marsh side.

We did have some success with Senkos, but with the fish on the move they aren't drawing anything close to the rattle trap. Spinner baits have been pretty much the same with some productivity but very slow compared to the trap. When the spinner bait is working slow rolling has been the best.

The area off the C54 is still producing some bass but it has quieted down considerably over the last couple of weeks. Also the spillway on the Farm has seen a reduction in the catch, which is to be expected with the pounding that it has taken. The water flow was stopped last week and even shiners were hard pressed to produce bites.

April promises to be an outstanding month which is quite usual with the top water expected to come on strong over the next couple of weeks. We are starting to see large balls of shad and expect the chug bug and buzz bait to become primary bait very soon. Give us a call! We have some dates open in April and would be glad to take you out for a day on this great lake.