The Tradition Will Continue…

The last day of fishing season this year for the BBs of BL was another one for the books. We arrived at the launch ramp just before dawn; the skies were clear, the water calm, and the sounds of hungry cattle moo’ing could be heard above the deafening silence surrounding the lake. The Doghouse found its way into the water with no problem and within minutes we were FISHING! Lake water temperature was 60 degrees---the last time we had fished here the water temperature was over 70 degrees (the fish were lazy that day…). The water level looked about 2 feet low compared to what it was at the beginning of fishing season, but it was nowhere near as low as it was last year. We headed straight out from the public boat launch, each of us using different lures. That other fellow in the boat was using a SuperDuper lure; he soon snagged a Largemouth BASS! I was using the Badger Lake Special: the reliable Wedding Ring. We had caught 6 fish before we even passed under the power lines; we trolled a bit on the eastern side of the lake, then reversed course and trolled back towards the boat launch---where we caught the remainder of our limits. The Doghouse then sauntered back to the launch area, where we executed a flawless boat retrieval. No geedunk here…!

THE LEARNINGS:
· The weather was a “little bit” drier than what we experienced at Badger Lake during last year’s last fishing day. Nonetheless, the fish found our offerings acceptable and made gestures directed towards us, indicating their appreciation of our efforts. The weather IS a player, but when the fish are as friendly as the ones in Badger Lake--- come rain or shine, they be there!
· Largemouth Bass seem to like the irregular wiggling of the SuperDuper Lure. The motion of the lure is unique; I found that I cannot be depended on to mimic the hula-motion of the lure with any degree of accuracy. Besides, my attempt at duplicating the lure’s motions nearly swamped the boat…
· Which led to a quick check of lifejackets. Yeah, we have ‘em…
· The good ol’ summer sausage trick can be depended on to work on Badger Lake. My wife packed a length of sausage in my snack bag---Bless Her Heart. Every time (and I mean EVERY TIME) I reached into my cooler to slice a hunk of that sausage off, a fish snapped at my lure. It even worked for that other fellow in the boat--- apparently, the fish do not play favorites.
· When a decision has to be made between cutting the summer sausage and reeling-in a fish on your pole--- YOU DECIDE. I caught my limit; that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. And the sausage did get ate…
· Sunglasses. They DO work in cutting-down glare when the sun is low on the horizon, and the lake wants to help ‘brighten your day’.

This was a fine way and a fine day to top-off fishing this year. WDFW: Thanks for helping put the good times into my fishing adventures. Looking forward to next season!
dave

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