Pretty psyched about my day of fishing today. Good numbers (for me), decent size on some topwater largemouths, plus I knocked off a couple "firsts" for new lure categories (shakey head & Ned rig).

Started off around 10am on the west side because the wind was pretty stiff from the southwest. Threw the jerk bait around for awhile — no takers. New weed growth is finally happening, and I got tired of clearing salad off my LuckyStrike Pointer, so I switched to the ol' Whopper Plopper. Boom. Right away it gets crushed by a nice 17-incher which looks like it's been caught before as it's jaw was bloody and torn. Weighed 2lbs 10oz and had no signs of spawning damage to the tail. I'm calling it: the spawn is over.

Second LMB was almost a duplicate hit...just a crank or two into the retrieve, after a cast that was near a shallow dock piling with lily pads nearby. This one was 16.5" and I didn't weigh it. Better built than the larger one though, with a pretty good gut. BTW the Plopper was the small size in the perch color. I might never throw anything else! Had one more rise to the bait, but he swerved it and missed.

The clouds broke and the topwater bite went away, so I decided to try a weighted wacky-rigged Senko. The wind was a bitch today, and while I was messing with my iPilot remote I noticed my line had moved from where I casted it. Set the hook but I missed. Senko came back torn in the middle. Decided to cut it in half and rig it on a weedless mushroom head jig — instant Ned rig. Pain in the ass to keep the plastic tucked up near the jig head but I did manage to put a couple smallies in the boat. Ned rig...check. Then I switched to a shakey head rig with a small Zoom Trickworm in pumpkin. No bueno. Swapped it out for a green pumpkin Yum Swingin'Dinger and they liked that a whole lot better.
3 or 4 more modest smallies, a bonus rock bass, and a thousand perch pecks. Took me a few swings before I remembered to set the hook harder since I buried the point Texas style. Shakey head: check.

Wind shifted to the east so I crossed to the east shore to try to hide from it. Drifted a favorite stretch of 16-20 FOW where I always seem to mark panfish. Used a whippy Kokanee rod rigged for drop shotting, with a pinched nightcrawler. My money hole came through again! I expected perch & bluegill, and I got them, including a nice 11.5 incher released. Also got a few modest 12" smallmouths and even a bonus cutthroat using this technique.

That's gotta be the Sammamish Slam, right?
Largemouth
Smallmouth
Cutthroat
Perch
Bluegill
Rockbass

Anyway, I must have had a great time because the wife yelled at me for staying so long! The bassin' is picking up, boys. Oh, I had a live well full of dink smallmouths that I relocated to a favorite dock. Still can't convince myself to filet a few little guys to make less competition for the big guys. Plus, I knew we were having burgers tonight!

See ya out there. (Unless it's windy again)

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