Imagination Bassin Company Information

Things are doing well on the Marsh despite the early blast of heat that we are getting. Mid-day temperatures are hitting the mid-90s. The bass are scattered but perseverance can get you some nice fish. Both reports below come from regulars that fish the lake frequently so locations are only hinted at so as to not impose on their findings.

I love fishing alone. With no witnesses the fish are bigger and more plentiful. Today was a case in point.

It was pretty windy from the NW when I got to the Farm. I tried working a couple of ditches but it was a pain in the ass. Most of you know how I feel about wind. To get out of the wind I opted to go to the west wall of the Stick Marsh just across the divider ditch. I found a nice school and took about 7-8 out of there including a nice 5 pounder. I worked the wall all the way north to the heavy wood that juts out and then back again. I worked several areas and got a few here and there. I had 17 when the wind went calm and the lake went flat. I hit the heavy outside group of wood east of the cove. One cast to a stump with a swim senko and it was ON!! I felt a pull and slammed the hook home. When it took off I thought it was a gator. At first she just pulled but didn't fight hard. Then she hauled ass and took drag. I thought I would lose her in the wood but she made it to the boat. 11.2 oz. on my digital scale. I didn't have a camera, just the cell phone. That picture sucks. I called Steve to see if he was close enough to come over but got no answer. I put her back in and she swam away. I worked the area good and hit another big one that got off. She came up once and looked to be maybe 7 or 8. I saw a shad bust and went that way. When I got there they were busting all around the boat. I dropped anchor and picked up another 12 in the boat in about 30 minutes. I missed about 6 or so. All in all 30 fish made it to the boat. I have been waiting 3 years to get another one over 10. By the way. This was in the same "general" area where Bucky got his big ones and George hit one over 9 last week.

The water levels are up and still rising due to all the recent rains. That usually means the fish are spread out. It also means there is enough water to get back to 'em. Now we can 'neak up on 'em. And provide a breakfast full of hooks.

I have ventured out into the treacherous waters of the "world famous" Stick Marsh twice, so far, this week - Sunday and
Tuesday.

Sunday, I took my good buddy and softball teammate, Marc. We tried several places and finally found fish back in the wood of Farm 13. FYI: Farm 13 is the southern half of Stick Marsh. We boated 19 bass. 5 of them were over 4 pounds. No BIG fish but lots of fun. Marc caught 11 (4 of the 4-pounders) and I landed 8 (1 4-pounder). He is still crowing about out fishing me. He won't be going anymore, he just doesn't know it yet.

Today, Tuesday, I fulfilled a promised trip with the young man who performed the wind abatement inspection on our house a couple months back. Cody flies motorized parachutes and offered to trade a flight for a Stick Marsh fishin' trip. There's no pressure there - strap yourself into a parachute with a guy whom you didn't put on fish!!!! Riiiight!!!!

So I burned incense to several pagan gods that he would catch a memory. I prayed at my in-house shrine to Bill Dance. I consulted "The World's Worst Fisherman" (My buddy, Don). I checked 4 different astrological charts. I studied the weather reports. I noted the moon phase. I researched the wind prognostications. Then I went to sleep reading back issues of Bassmaster's magazines. And I dreamed of finding fish. Ya gotta cover all the angles.

Dawn. A quick stop for coffee and ice. At the ramp at 6:15AM. I told Cody I would give him the geographical tour so he would know how to navigate the lake and avoid most stumps. He said, "Later, let's go fishin'!". My kindda guy. On plane. 45 MPH. Rippin' across slick water. Stopped at the pump house for 15 minutes. And he caught one!!! Hooray!!!! No skunks in the back of the boat. No more fish there. I noticed a lot of floating debris so we ran to the spillway. The pipes were flowing. Good current but a lot of junk in the water. No fish. I had visions of being dropped into a gator infested swamp from a parachute and decided to look elsewhere.

Roared off to find fish in some timber. Now we are getting somewhere. He threw a Senko worm. I started throwing a rattletrap. And started catching fish. Cody switched off the worm and tied on a rattle trap I have had in the box for 15 years. Business picked up quick. 2 pounders. 3+ pounders. 4 pounders. No dinks. Then my 'trap stopped. And my rod started to throb. My heard started to pound. I heard myself use a fisherman's favorite line: "You better get the net!" After a nervous couple minutes and a couple laps under the boat I had me a 7 pounder!!!! 30 minutes later the same song was sung. This time it was a fat 8 pounds of happiness for the "Old Hooker". I was grinnin' and feelin' good.

Then Cody hooked up. His rod was bending a LOT more than it had been. And he got to use the line. I got the net. She took a couple runs away from us, tried to run around the boat. Ran under the boat and kept pullin' drag. I'm givin' advise and prayin' it is right. "Keep the rod tip up, let her fight the rod. Don't pressure her too much it might pull out." She took one more run away from the boat and tried get back under. Ran smack into the net!!!! What a fish!!!! Onto the scale. 10 Pounds and 4 ounces!!!!!!!! A true memory fish.

After several pictures, we released her and, as she swam away I felt great relief. Now, maybe, Cody won't drop me in the swamp.

We finished the day with 31 Bass. And a memorable fishin' trip burned into our mental photo album.

I am thankful every day that I have been blessed to enjoy days like this.

I hope your day was good.

"The Old Hooker": Bucky

Water levels have returned to normal as rains continue to fall here at the Stick Marsh/Farm 13. Water flow structures have been active. Heavy afternoon storms have brought water levels up 3-3.5 feet in the last two weeks.

Several trips on the lake have been extremely successful with catches of over 100 bass reported. Other trips have also produced good numbers of 50 or better of bass in the 3-5 pound range. Yesterday's trip lasted 4 hours and over 50 bass were landed in that time including this beauty.

Plastics have proven to be the predominate successful bait, however one trip it was all lipless cranks that made the day. The lady above went for a Yamamoto Swimming Senko on a C-rig. Yesterday none could be roused with a crank bait as they had a definite hunger for plastic.

The rain has brought up the lake levels however it has also loosened floaters for the anchored shore positions and the wind has distributed them about both sides of the lake. Be extremely aware of these hazards and keep a sharp watch for them. So far this year we have had one boat that went down as a stump penetrated the hull and another boat with transom after encountering one of these nasty floaters. Be very, very careful out there.

We're running a summer special that is aimed at familiarizing participants as to the hazards and structures of the lake. Give us a call and bring your GPS. Check our pages! I have no "secrets" that I don't share so it's an excellent opportunity for all.

Flow structure fishing: One of our best times on this lake is when we can fish current produced by flow structures. This lake has four possible locations that need to be checked for current. The predominate one is the spillway in the SE area of Farm 13. If this is running and producing you will be shaking your head in wonder by days end. Closely following this event is the current produced by the Fellsmere Farms pump station located at mid-point of the east wall of Farm 13. If this is working you will tire your arms out. The next current producing area can be seen from the parking lot. The pipes located in the SE area off the parking lot can and does produce excellent catches when flowing. You can visually check this area from the parking lot. The last area of flow is the outflow spillway located in the NW corner of the back lot. Although this is a better shiner area than artificial location it is worth checking. All of these current producing situations work best with Carolina rigs. The jerk bait and lipless cranks can also work and it doesn't hurt to try them.

This is a time of the year when the bass move to the deeper water of the submerged irrigation ditches of Farm 13. To fish these structures you need good bow electronics. There are 3 ditches that run N/S and one E/W. The most productive way to fish these is to keep the boat over the ditch and fish the adjacent levees. If there is current the intersections can come alive. Also, it is the time of the year to keep eyes peeled watching for shad busts. They can occur anywhere along these ditches and it is a catching bonanza when they do.