Leavenworth
Lake
12 April 2001
This was a perfect day on the
lake. My wife and I decided to spend our day off kayaking and fishing on nearby
Leavenworth Lake. We got a late start and didn’t reach the launching point
until well after 11 o’clock in the morning. Didn’t expect to catch much, but
thought I would wet a line anyway. The sun was up, it was 72 degrees, and I was
feeling feisty.
Started the kayak drift about
half way up the western side of the eastern arm of this familiar water. The
light breeze moved us slowly south toward the major point on the lake. Just past
the larger of the two coves, it happened. Not one, not two, but six nice bass in
less than 45 minutes.
I decided to try a new angle
this year after watching a bait-caster catch quite a few bass during a bass
tourney I entered last year. He was using a black and purple jig with a frog
trailer. Over the winter, I experimented with several black and purple fur
patterns. After much deliberation, I settled on two: a squirrel tail and a
Clouser Minnow. The squirrel tail worked on the small pond on Fort Leavenworth
so I decided to use the Clouser at Leavenworth Lake to test its effectiveness on
a little bigger water.
Great choice. I hooked in the a nice three pound bass first. That was followed by a couple of one pound fish. The biggest fish was next. Unfortunately, he spit the Clouser out on his second rise for a head shake. Caught three more smaller ones in quick succession. Although the fish were still biting, I had to call it quits around one o'clock.
