At daybreak Monday morning Jackson and I were at the Lake Monticello landing. Needless to say we were the only people there because of a 100% rain forecast. We hoped to get in a few hours before the heavens opened and gave us the eventual rain that we knew was coming. It was already raining lightly but the radar on our phones showed that it would soon be past and there would be a break before the next line of rain came along. There was no lightning so we donned our rain gear, launched, and started fishing. It quickly became obvious that the fish were not really hot for our Ribbit frogs. A few half hearted strikes quickly showed that. Jackson put on a club tailed swimbait with a light weight that really looked like a fish swimming through the lily pads. Quickly a bass thought it was indeed a fish and bit with gusto. We then came upon one of Jackson’s favorite spots, a beaver house. We fished around it with the frog and swimbait but when Jackson threw a spinnerbait and pulled it over a stick this came out and inhaled it.

     

No, that is not the same fish but the one on the right was the exact same size 5 – 5, but was caught later. Never count out a beaver house. There is something about them that draw bass like a magnet.  We continued to fish the pads with Ribbits , swimbaits and spinnerbaits. You almost had to fish a Ribbit like a worm when you got a bite to make sure the fish had swallowed it enough to hook it.  As we were trolling from one pad spot to another, Jackson caught the fish on the right on the swimbait.  We had made it until lunch with no appreciable amount of rain but the skies were getting heavier. I fished while I ate. I would take a bite of my sandwich and chew while I was reeling. I caught 4 on my one sandwich. The bite always picks up just before the storm and that was what was happening. Before the rain arrived, we made a break for the landing thinking we had made a good decision, but just as we arrived all hell broke loose. A pelting rain and a howling wind caught us as we tied up the boat and made a break for the truck. We ended up with 13 and two co-FODs of 5 – 5.

With all the rain some friends are really finding arrowheads. With the land having been rowed up in the fall, the rain washes the dirt off of the arrowheads and leaves them on top of the ground. As you can see by the picture they are finding all sizes. These are some of the better ones, but they had a plastic box full from just three days of looking, or should I say finding.