The weatherman had promised no rain, temps in the mid-60s and very little wind. Fishing solo, I launched my small boat onto Horseshoe Lake. Mine was the only rig in the parking lot and the only boat on the lake all day. Was a little chilly and breezy to start with but started warming quite quickly. I wanted to start at my favorite dock. Will show photo. In the past I have always used a black jig to start fishing this dock but lately the mossy weed on the bottom of the lake hangs up on any lure that drops to the bottom. There are lots of perch in the lake so I selected a perch colored spinner-bait. I sweetened it up with some Mike's Anise Oil and made my very first cast. Will shoe photo of lure. Ka-bam! Something big had grabbed it on the fall. The big bass fought well but I was finally able to jaw land her. I put her into my "Live Well" (an old Colman Cooler) that was filled with cool fresh water. I kept it aerated with a big coffee can that I always carry.
There was a lake resident at the access walking his dog so I hurried back to ask him to take a photo for me. He was a nice fellow and took a couple photos and admired the nice bass. I returned to the same dock and weighed and measured the fish - thanked her for the memories and released her. She weighed in at 5 pounds, 4 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long. The rest of the trip was mostly just a nice boat ride in the sun and lots of casting practice. All in all it was a very nice day on the lake.
I probably shouldn't show the exact dock and the exact lure but hopefully if any of you readers catch her again you will release her too.

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