Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service - We fish on Lake Chelan and other North Central Washington waters in year round comfort.
You catch them in COMFORT! Bring your family and/or friends out on our 24 foot Bayliner Ciera Express. For your comfort, it features: enclosed cabin; cabin heat; private/inside marine toilet; games and VCR for children; hot and cold running water available seasonally; stove; and a full line of safety gear. Families and couples are welcomed and encouraged to book our service. The boat accommodates a maximum of six.
Large parties are accommodated. We also offer lodging at our home through VacationinChelan.com for visitors to the Manson area.
After having a very rough, long day at work, I decided to grab some dinner and then go fishing. I arrived at Bitter Lake around 8:30 pm or so and began throwing top water.
I started off using a lure that I have heard so many good things about but have never even purchased up until about a month ago. I haven't used it much but figured it was about time I caught my first fish on it. It was an F7 Rapala Original Floater in the Rainbow Trout Pattern. I made about 20 casts to the same relative area, working it differently each cast. Then on my next cast, it hits the waters, makes a small splash, and as the rings are starting to dissipate, I see a swirl from a few feet away and then BAM!!! A huge topwater explosion!! The bass came completely out of the water and just hammered lure!! So I set the hook and the bass is just pulling out line. I was using a new rod / bait caster and I didn't have my drag properly set. So I quickly tighten my drag and fight this fish in. I landed it and I am SO STOKED because the fishing has been tough from shore lately and I haven't managed anything over a lb in a couple weeks. It weighed in at 1 lb 13 oz.
When I landed that first fish, the sun was setting and it wasn't quite dark yet but getting there. As the sun completely sets, I decide to switch it up to a Rebel Pop R. I make casts everywhere and vary my retrieves with different sizes of pops, different lengths of pauses, etc etc. I got a LOT of hits, probably 20 + but a lot of the hits came from small Rock Bass that were 1, either too small to get the hooks in their mouth or 2, hitting the body and avoiding getting hooked. I ended up landing only 3 Rock Bass which is low because I typically catch about 7 - 10 or so. The smallest ran about 5 inches but the biggest was about 8 inches and put up a good fight with a few good, hard pulling runs.
After getting impatient with the popper and frustrated at all the bites and missed hook ups, I decided to switch it up again and start throwing a Heddon Super Spook Jr. I began making casts all over the place in the very beginning to stir up commotion in the surface all over the shore to potential lure in any hungry bass. I then began making casts parallel with the edge of the lily pads. On about my 20th cast or so, as I am walking the dog along the edge of the pads, I pass the pads and I'm working it towards shore when I see another swirl and then another BAM!!! A Second HUGE Top Water EXPLOSION!! I set the hook and the fish starts to pull savagely back towards the pads. Lucky for me I was throwing this on my Rod / Reel Combo that is spooled with 50 lb braid and I was able to horse him in. It weighed in a 2 lb 0 oz even.
After that, I decided to throw a variety of lures with no luck. I read online that lipless cranks and spinnerbaits were actually a good choice for a night time bait so I threw those with no luck. I started throwing a buzzbait too and had a couple blow ups but I am pretty certain that they were bites from Rock Bass that hit the body but missed the hooks. I've actually caught Rock Bass on a buzzbait before but they gotta be fairly big to even get that big hook in their mouth.
After a little while, I decided to call it a night. I was still running off of my high from getting 2 Huge Top Water Explosions and catching 2 Largemouth in the 2 lb range. I really really needed that :D
Nice to hear you did well and Bitter, and especially from shore, that is pretty good. I have kind of sworn off that lake lately. This year it was a hard fish for me. I had one day with to big fish on, and a half dozen completely skunked trips.
@ coretron22 - thanks man :) @ fishinchristian - I LOVE TOPWATER TOO :) @ MotoBoat - i kinda, sorta got over what really bothered me about the site. not really but i am trying just to ignore a lot of things. i told myself i was only going to post under my second account and i meant to do it this time, but i was tired and wasn't paying attention and posted it under this account. FishinKeepsMeSane was my other account. the cats out of the bag now haha :)
@ aaidian - thanks man :) @kzoo - thanks bro! i know a guy that has caught a 6.5 out of there. i hooked into one that had to be 3 - 4 + that spit my hook once. i really do want to get a float tube but i keep spending too much money on new gear :P
Leave a Comment:
Flag
Why is this comment inappropriate?
Delete this comment? Provide reason.
Edit
Available Guide
Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service - We fish on Lake Chelan and other North Central Washington waters in year round comfort.
You catch them in COMFORT! Bring your family and/or friends out on our 24 foot Bayliner Ciera Express. For your comfort, it features: enclosed cabin; cabin heat; private/inside marine toilet; games and VCR for children; hot and cold running water available seasonally; stove; and a full line of safety gear. Families and couples are welcomed and encouraged to book our service. The boat accommodates a maximum of six.
Large parties are accommodated. We also offer lodging at our home through VacationinChelan.com for visitors to the Manson area.
