CTFishTalk.com: Top Water - Rapala Jacked - Connecticut Bass Fishing Reports ( CT Bass Fishing Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

tricky912 · Joined: 17 Jun 2014 Posts: 16

I had about an hour to kill after work yesterday. I have been itching for a nice bass on top water. I hadn’t fished Mondo in a couple months, so I decided to give it a shot. I arrived around 5:45pm. I was the only person out there. For the most part, the vegetation has settled a bit, making top water plugging possible again. I had my 5.5ft ML setup with 6lb mono. I was intent on fishing the rapala x rap pop. I was throwing a moss black shiner tied direct. I hit a few spots on the big pond, no swirls, explosions, follows. I don’t even think a fish farted in the direction of the lure. On to the smaller pond I went.

I put my first cast exactly where I wanted. I was using a relatively slow walk-the-dog retrieve. There probably about a 2 second pause between each pop. About 10 seconds into the retrieve, I had a nice explosion and had the fish on. The fish fought great. I knew immediately it was a bass of considerable size. It let out a nice run, followed by a great jump. At that point, I knew that I couldn't muscle the fish to shore. I loosened the drag slightly so it could run again. Then I slowly started working him towards the bank. I was able to get the fish right to the bank. With my rod tip up, the fish lifted its head and opened its mouth. I could have easily fit my fist in its mouth. The fish put its head back down as I tried to position myself to lip the beast. It was then when I thought to myself, here’s a situation where it would be nice to have a stout fluorocarbon leader. When I tried to get his head up again, the 6lb mono met its match. I frantically tried to corral the fish with my rod and grab it with my hands. In the end, I basically got to pet the fish, as I watched him slowly and tiredly descend into the pond with my $10 lure nestled securely in the corner of his mouth.
Guessing the fish was 5+ lbs. Damn shame about the lure. Hope the fish shakes it out.

At this rate, I think my may have to start a weekly column titled, “How to lose a fish”.
Embarassed

Michael · Joined: 28 Jan 2012 Posts: 3823 Location: Bridgeport

The color Moss Back Shiner on the XRP-7 is an awesome lure. Whether it be a slow walk the dog, nice chugging, or some loud popping, it's an awesome lure. I caught a nice pickerel weighing 3 pounds 6 ounces at Twin Brooks back in the spring with that lure. There are some awesome deals on Ebay for bulk.

Colors such as Moss Back Shiner and certain purples seem to be the match the hatch colors for topwaters at Mondo.