BY JAMES HODGINS
For Wild Northerner
Her name was "Hog Lake". I honestly don't remember the real name, but Hog Lake fits the description perfectly. My buddy, Stan, wanted to take me out and put me on my first largemouth bass, so one morning we packed up his 14-foot boat and my 9.9-hp motor and headed out to see what we could put in the boat. Immediately after launching into the feeder creek, Stan tells me to throw some casts while we head out into the open water and see if I can dial up some pike. I throw on my good old tried, tested and true Blue Fox spinner. The first cast yielded a nice mid-size pike that blasted that spinner within five turns of the reel.
Four more casts and four more pike. I was in heaven. Already this day was turning out to be spectacular, even though rain clouds were closing in to block out the sun. Once we got out into the main lake, Stan rigged up his pike and largemouth bass presentation - a weighted wide gap jig hook Texas Rigged with a Strike King Rage Tail Craw.
We would slow troll this presenting up and down the shoreline with pike striking at it every 15 feet, some engulfing the whole thing while others took enjoyment nibbling off the legs and leaving our craw mutilated. When we got to a certain area Stan pointed to a section of shoreline he wanted me to cast towards. After the third cast, I reeled in my first largemouth bass. A plumper. He engulfed that Rage craw like it was his last meal before walking the Green Mile.
Hog Lake