A Quiet Morning Cup Of Coffee Pays Big Bass Dividends

There was just a touch of pink on the horizon when I slipped the bass boat into the water at Lake Pleasant near Phoenix.

While launching the boat I noticed threadfin shad busting in a cove adjacent to the launch ramp. I scooted over there and caught two white bass, one on a soft plastic jerkbait, and the other on a topwater stick bait. One minute my fish finder was full of fish, the next minute they were all gone. That’s white bass this time of year.

Heading to one of the larger northern coves, shad were occasionally breaking the surface, which meant they were being chased by some underwater predator. I began working a shallow-running crankbait and caught a surprise striped bass. Stripers have never been intentionally stocked into Pleasant. However, the lake is filled with Central Arizona Project water from the Colorado River. The stripers have somehow sneaked into the lake despite all kinds of precautions to keep them out.

The bite was really pretty tough, with hits every once in awhile, but a long time between having fish hooked.

A big bass was occasionally whopping shad in the middle of a partially exposed treetop. I cast in a soft-plastic jerkbait and the bass hit. Unfortunately, the big bass immediately dove into the tree and broke loose. I was using a lightweight spin-casting outfit.

I got out a heavier pole, cast a Texas-rigged six-inch lizard into the tree top where the big bass had been working, and settled back to drink a cup of coffee on that perfect spring morning.

A large flock of cormorants flew over in the classical V more associated with geese. A bawdy looking vermilion flycatcher buzzed around trying to pick it’s living out of the air. A great blue heron was wading in shallow water occasionally stabbing a shad. I watched a red-tailed hawk soaring down a ridge while being harassed by two small birds.

Finishing the cup of coffee, I stretched out the kinks in my aging bones, then slowly reeled in the slack for my lizard that was patiently waiting in the bush. On a hunch that the big old bucket mouth might still be around, I used my finger to twitch the line and give the lizard a jiggle. Nothing. I moved the rod tip up to give the lizard a slight hop. The bass hit so hard it almost jerked the pole out of my hand.

The five-pound bass was full of fight and came out of the water twice. I finally got it landed, but rewarded its great fight with an immediate release.

That was quite a punctuation mark for a peaceful coffee break. Sure beat the coffee breaks back at the office less than an hour, or more than a light year away. Sometimes, patience is the key to bass. Or maybe it’s just slowing down to enjoy a perfect spring morning on the water.

At Pleasant, topwater action for post-spawn bass is just kicking into gear. Try the points, islands and reefs of the main lake. Bass can also be found in the backs of coves at times, such as sunrise.