Barrett Report May 26

[Early release]

Got out nice and early on the water today. It wasn't too chilly then, but it changed. Pedaled over to the cove by the island at the opening of Hauser and got hits right away. It must have been dark for them too, the one I caught hit the popper at least 5 times before he got it. He was only about a pound, so maybe he was having other issues with the bait. Got another as soon as it was light out, he was my big fish for the day at a little over 3 pounds. Then a switch flipped and the wind came up and it was cold and miserable. Wind was pretty gusty coming from the back of Hauser, which is the opposite of the usual wind. Topwater bite was clearly not happening at this time. It lasted for about an hour or so and then calmed down, the sun came out and it was for all intents a nice day. I couldn't really get much going on the surface, but a shallow squarebill put most of my fish in the boat. There's a bunch of fish on my screen at about 14 feet down. I dragged a crankbait through them with the panoptix on. All they seemed to do was move out of the way. I'm not really sure if I like having panoptix, I don't use it much, and when I do, it's not the favorite to see fish moving away from your lure. Did talk to a couple people, seems like wacky rig senkos were doing well in Pine Arm. Water was pleasant at 70-71F. Air was nice after the wind thing, but early morning when calm was 50F.

Early morning topwater is pretty fun

These fish look great

Obviously unaware of catch and release requirement at Barrett

Does that count as a white cap?

[Pond_prowler_619]

Those birds are fearless one was flying so close to me i could of caught it barret is such a beautiful natural place where animals can be animals last saturday i saw a bass trying to eat a baby duck at the back of hauser

[Early release]

Those birds are fearless one was flying so close to me i could of caught it barret is such a beautiful natural place where animals can be animals last saturday i saw a bass trying to eat a baby duck at the back of hauser

Now I know my next topwater lure...

[JWall]

Those birds are fearless one was flying so close to me i could of caught it barret is such a beautiful natural place where animals can be animals last saturday i saw a bass trying to eat a baby duck at the back of hauser

I did catch one. Chucking a crank in Hauser and right as I threw, one flew right past me. It took us a bit of a struggle to just get him to the boat and then hold him still to unhook him. Bet he never does that again!!

[DarkShadow]

I'm not really sure if I like having panoptix, I don't use it much, and when I do, it's not the favorite to see fish moving away from your lure.

I think that's the most helpful aspect of forward facing sonar.

We went through stages on FFS learning. The first few weeks, we'd giggle like schoolgirls seeing the actual fish moving. Soon, you learn they may be carp. Just because you see fish, doesn't mean it's bass. Lesson 1. Don't spend hours on carp.

Lesson 2? Just because you see fish, doesn't mean they'll bite. We spent HOURS trying to force feed fish because we saw them.

Lesson 3? Learning the fish's personality. If they run off from your lure and you've thrown a few, LEAVE. Don't get stuck in Lesson 2.

When you see fish who want smoke, they'll show it on the FFS. Those are the ones you can concentrate on.

[Early release]

Good advice for sure. I installed last summer and we did use it to find the bait balls and then race over to them when they started toward the surface, because it implied the bass would be busting. That was great. I normally have regular sonar and maybe DI on. I turned on the panoptix to figure out why a thick band of fish wouldn't take anything. That's when I confirmed they wouldn't bite and just kept moving away. That's when I moved away too. I guess it is pretty useful, it's a matter of looking at it correctly. Thanks.

[bendopolo 44+]

You may have to slow down to whack those inactive Bass. Most of my hits on the jig were in the 5 seconds I let it lay there before barely moving it.