Wine country bass 9/5 night RPT.

Hey everyone there are still freshwater fishing to be caught!  Everyone has been posting saltwater stuff so I thought I’d put in some freshwater stuff.

With how hot the days have been I decided to get a little night fishing in! I haven’t been to lake Mendocino in a long time so I decided to check it out. I got to the lake around 930pm. The moon was due to rise between 930-10pm and be 93% brightness. I didn’t really count on the smoke cutting down the moonlight, but it really made it less bright out.

The lake is really really low right now and the south boat launch is blocked off due to there being no water for the ramp or dock. Not a big deal with wheels, other than the long hike back to the parking area.

I started fishing around 10pm throwing a plopper. On the first little point it got crushed by a nice little 19.5 inch bass. I thought I was on to something and kept throwing the plopper for the next 1.5 hrs without even a sniff.

I changed to a black/blue jig and started dragging it slowly along the bottom. Casting up to the bank and dragging out to 30ish feet deep. I was getting bites all the way from the bank out to as deep as I was floating.

At one point I marked a bait ball and started throwing a small swimbait as well as a spy bait around it and was rewarded with a few fish until I lost track of them.

I haven’t bass fished in a few months and it showed! I missed several bites and had more fish come off than I landed. I finished fishing around 2am (4hrs) with 6 bass landed and numerous fish that got away.

The highlights were the 19.5 lmb and a 17 smb plus lots of raccoons and deer along the waters edge which were neat to get so close to as I was fishing along. Super peaceful, no people, no boats.

Not many pictures since it was dark out...

Go John go!  Way to mix it up.  Always an inspiration...

Thanks John. No GWS to worry about