I can think of any number of pleasurable alternatives to that kind of torment, and that was before I ever hit the highway headed home yesterday morning from a sightseeing trip to Cary, NC.
The road was buzzing with vehicles towing boats, which admittedly came as no surprise. The same thing happens every Memorial Day weekend. Call me a "stick in the mud," if you must, but I have absolutely zero interest in sharing the waterways on this or any other holiday weekend.
Evening before last, for example, while I was catching some local Cary news, weather and sports on the tube, I heard about a family that already had suffered a tragedy on the water. It involved a mother, father, son, and daughter. The father and son were on a jet ski that was approaching a dock when, for some unknown reason, the jet ski suddenly accelerated and crashed into the dock, killing both riders. Making this incident particularly disturbing was the fact the mother and daughter watched the whole thing unfold from another jet ski just a short distance away.
So what kind of individual can listen to reports like this and still be motivated to chase a few bass over a busy holiday weekend such as Memorial Day? I read about an angler who regularly fishes heavily pressured waters and says he has no qualms about mixing it up with "the army of holiday yahoos," as he calls them, like you'll find cruising the waterways this weekend.
Rule No. 1 is to fish no-wake zones. This might sound trivial, but no-wake zones often are overlooked. At other times of the year, when you're itching to get on plane, "no wake" buoys are a bummer. On high-traffic days, though, they're like beacons of hope. In these areas, the fish at least have a chance to chill out and actually may bite because they're already used to the sound of boats passing through at a slow speed. If you go out on the main lake during midday on a holiday weekend, not only will you eat a few scrumptious wakes, you'll also be dealing with churned up bank sediment. This combination makes water clarity poor and puts the bass on edge.
Rule No. 2 is to think finesse right from the start. In turbulent, wake-infested water, you often need to present your baits as naturally as possible to trick bass that are on high alert. And I'm not talking about just the conventional "finesse" methodology of using smaller baits and lighter lines. I'm saying it's in your best interest to use baits that are as natural looking as possible, like straight-tail plastic worms, natural-colored creature baits, or even smaller skirted jigs with small trailers. Also take that extra second to let your bait sit still in the sweet spot before twitching, or last but not least, take one or two extra casts to the sweet spot if you didn't hit it just right the first time. No matter how much holiday-weekend madness is happening around them, no matter how wary they become, the bass still need to eat at some point.
Rule No. 3 is to cast where no man ever would think of casting. If you're doing your best to hide from the swarm of pleasure boats, assume the bass are, too. Cast to places that are really hard to reach. For example, if you have a dock with four chains connected to the bank, 18 pilings, four separate floating platforms, and a brush pile underneath the walkway, the alpha bass most likely lives in the exact spot among all that structure that will take a miracle cast to reach it. You're going to botch some attempts, but when you nail it, you'll score big, even with wakeboarders and jet skiers ripping past.
On a final note, take time to thank a veteran tomorrow and remember all those who have died in the service of our great country. It is because of them that we are able to freely enjoy pastimes like bass fishing. Have a great holiday, and stay safe out there.
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