So in the excitement of my last trip I went out to the arboretum marsh again, this time with my measuring tape scale and Jack Bauer! So I used my Senko again, through the weeds. It was really slow today, which I'm certain it was because I started at 3 in the afternoon. So anyways, Jack was excited to finally get out on the lake, I was stoked to try and catch the big guy again.

So we went out and worked our way along the lily pads counter clockwise again. And then I found out what all thost little nibbles were the last time I was out! I started to get them again, little hits that were short but hard, and I figured they were just too small to fit it in their mouths, so I put a trailer hook on in the form of a presnelled tiny hook looped through the eye of my worm hook and stuck it to the back of my Senko and whaddya know? The next drop out, as soon as the lure sunk below the line of my visibility, I get another hit and set the hook into a nice 12" perch.

The whole time I was getting harassed by perch. It was ridiculous. So seeing as it was only Three in the afternoon I decided to mess araound with the perch. I caught a whole bunch of 'em, everytime jack was super stoked. He licked 'em, said "hello!" and wee put 'em back in. I also caught a quite large bluegill at about nine inches. Anyway, I ennded up having to keep three of the perch as they were foul hooked, so I went back to bass fishing. I headed back toward the spot where I caught the other guy, a very giant fish, and started casting. It was about this time that another old guy in a boat came up and was like - "there aint no fish here, I live here I should know!"

It turned out that it was a nice friendly homeless gentlemen, who lived in a boat, went from Seattle to Tacoma in the sound in this fourteen foot rowboat. Told me all about his life, couldn't get the guy to shut up actually, which was ok I guess, he had a dog too, which Jack promptly jumped over and went to visit.

So before all the talking, this guy comes up and I'm telling him about the giant bass I caught here before, and he's like huh, I never thought there'd be any fish out here. So he goes to make a lazy cast with a power bait jerk shad or something. Strangest thing, I'd made about ten casts in the same exact place already and was about to move, his first cast, he just reeled this thing in like a spinner and BAM! He's got a fish on. It's not as big as mine was, so I know that there is still a giant bass in there, but he just reels it in and flops it over into his boat. He's all excited, Jack is eyeing the big fish wearily, its still flopping a bit, with a little bit of a growl.

So we're talking and I hand my scale over to weigh it and he's holding this big fish up and he's reading it and he's like "2.4 no, 2.6 pounds" and I'm like are you sure? Yes, yea, I'm pretty sure... no wait, that's kilograms, I was reading the kilograms!

So really he caught a 5.72 pound bass right out from under me. I think I'm gonna have to switch up my worms, because they really didn't like mine that day. While he was still talking, I was too nice to leave, it got darker, and I really didn't have a chance to fish seriously anymore. Apparently he lives in his boat and lives off fish, so I guess it's an okay deal. I gave him some Senkos, cuz he'd been using that same worm for a week, since somebody else gave it to him, and pulled jack back into the raft and went hom. I did see some bass rise to get some big dragon flies or something on the way back, which definately leads me to conclude that the marsh is best in the half hour before and after sunset, and I imagine first light will be the best. Anyway, cooked up the big perch for dinner tonight, fish tacos. Good stuff. Jack had one all to himself.

gReEnBuL

8/10/2010 8:52:00 AM

Nice! that seems to be a hot spot! And Kudos for kickin' it with the homeless guy! some of the stories they tell are great. Question? have you ever left the hook inside the fish, leaving a 2" tag of line hanging out of it's mouth? I noticed alot of fisherman doing this down south (Georgia) if they could'nt get a safe hook extraction and did'nt want to keep the fish e.g. too small or hook too deep. I was intrigued when I saw it happening but I don't know if its legal (or humane enough) to do so here. Anyways, your report has given me an itch I gotta scratch! So off to the lake I go!

bluegrouse bill

8/10/2010 9:40:00 AM

gReEnBuL- Yes it's legal, humane & it's actually recommended because the fish will rust out the hook in a very short period of time with little effect on their overall health. Seems weird but it's the best alternative, especially when they're gut hooked. It makes me sick to see people who will kill a fish to save a 20 cent hook. ***Go scratch your itch now*** -William

AaronW

8/10/2010 5:16:00 PM

Awesome story, I think I'm going to head over there tomorrow evening when I get off work. I have a kayak and plan on fishing the perimeter of that island. I have a question, though: do you ever catch any fish further down those channels near the park area? Seems like there should be some bass back there but I had no nibbles last time I was top-watering it.

natetreat

8/10/2010 10:06:00 PM

That's where I caught the big one. Fishing in the weeds. It's really slow, I think on account of the weeds, but I saw fish in there. They were feeding on the surface just before dark, BIG swirls. I was using weedless plastics, topwaters got no hits for me either.

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