Took Monday off to take my dad fishing. I've been itching to go bass fishing, so we opted to try for SMB on Pine. Got to the lake at 10:30a. No boats on the water and only a couple people fishing from the pier. The weather was mix of sun and clouds with a slight breeze. The algae blooms were going strong. Tried a few different lures from spinnerbaits to plugs with no takers, then tied on a 5" watermelon Senko T-rigged weightless. Goobered it up with a little scent and bounced it in next to a dock. Saw the slack line jump as the worm was falling, so figured something was enticed. After taking up the slack, I felt the familiar tug, so gave it a couple of seconds and then set the hook. Fish on! It was a nice fighter, so worked it to the boat and handed the rod to my dad while I dug out the camera. Got a couple of shots of it in the water then told my dad to put a little tension on the line to get the head out of the water and "SNAP!". The knot at the hook failed....didn't see that coming.....guess that net on the bottom of the boat is not there just for looks. Figured the fish was about 2-plus lbs. Proceeded to rig my dad and I with the same watermelon senkos and soon I hooked up with another that picked up the Senko really softly. Turned out to be a heck of a fighter. This time we netted it and got it into the boat. It weighed in at around 3 and a quarter lbs. That's near or at the top of my PB. Got a few more hits after that, but nothing getting to the hook, so moved to a different location and then my dad hooks one up and it's nearly identical to the one I boated. Now it's a good day. The rest of the afternoon was slow with a few nibbles, one more decent sized fish lost halfway to the boat, and one more boated that was as long as the Senko it ate. Quit at 3:30. A few kayakers showed up, but still no other boats on the water when we left.

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