On the Water Again-Murray 7/21

[VinnyBass]

Murray is coming up a few feet a day as I have been over checking it here and there and decided yesterday to give it a go. So this morning I dusted off the cobwebs on my kayak and was just able to launch it from the bottom of the boat ramp at Murray. Still quite a ways off before a boat can launch as a guy with a boat sadly found out quickly. Did lots of messing around to adjust everything back the way it was because I had to take lots of stuff off it because it moved to the backyard to clear a path in the garage for a new refrigerator.
Anyway....it was fun to be on the water again. It was fun to play around with the electronics and there are lots of shad in the water. I was surprised that there was no fish busting, but a buddy told me that the other week from shore he caught a few on topwater. The weather was strangely cool and semi foggy which made it nice. So after a number of random casts "walking the dog"...I mean "walking a Sammy", the water exploded and I landed a fairly decent bass. Continued with that bait but no more takers. I then just went to various reaction baits and finally had some results with an under-spin to have one come off, but landed 3 small bass. A fun morning and can't wait till I can start to flip a Tokyo rig back in the tulles when the water gets high enough.
Tight lines.

Nice cool breeze most of the morning
(This is July not March...ha ha)

Top of the morning...with a Sammy

& 3 of these McFish Specials on underspins....ha ha

[Fisheromen]

Vinny, that first bass is a very nice fish! What is that, a 2" Sammy?

[VinnyBass]

Vinny, that first bass is a very nice fish! What is that, a 2" Sammy?

Only McFish would use a 2" topwater bait....ha ha.
He likes small baits and if he could throw it, he would use a 1" topwater bait.

[VinnyBass]

Hopefully in a week or so, the water at the boat ramp will be high enough to launch a boat. Fingers are crossed.
I will keep you posted.
For now, tight lines to all.

[KillinTime]

Looks like a Sammy 100 with a lot of mileage on it (based upon the hook rash on the side). That's my all time favorite topwater!

[VinnyBass]

Looks like a Sammy 100 with a lot of mileage on it (based upon the hook rash on the side). That's my all time favorite topwater!

I have caught lots of bass over the years on Sammys and agree they are also my favorite topwater bait.
What is funny is that I have a number of Sammys in various colors and sizes but only seem to tie on the one you see in the pic above and one of my American Shad colored ones. They are both beat up and maybe I have become a little superstitious somehow thinking they work better....ha ha.
A close second on topwater baits is the IMA Skimmer. It goes across the water a little differently than the Sammy and over recent years has been another go-to topwater bait for me. My largest topwater bass was caught at Murray about 6 years ago and weighed 7.25lbs.

[KillinTime]

Same here. Even though they are all made of plastic and should be exactly the same, I always felt that some worked better. I was big into the Don Iovino Splash-It (Same Mold as a Rico) back when it came out in the 90s, and I swear there were some that slayed them and some that just did not have the right pop. Even in the same color.

Nice Fish!