Our arrival was late as we lay our heads on the soft pillow. A few short hours later we awoke to the sound of strong southerly winds and cloudy skies, classic pre-front conditions for a Saturday passage.
First order of business was to check the hog trap. The corn offerings yielded a midsize boar who was angry and thrashing the cage walls trying to escape. This was just one of forty pigs seen in the wheat field this week according to the talk amongst the area ranchers. The destruction these creatures can do to the land is incredible. With such a short gestation period and rapid breeding, the ranchers are fighting a losing battle.
The front soon passed with a few drops of rain and a strong north wind behind it. It was time to retreat to the ranch house for a filling breakfast.
An amazing aspect of springtime is how quickly the weather elements can change. It went from cloudy and rainy to sunshine and gusty north winds in the matter of an hour. It was too windy to fish the white capping water so we drove the gator to a delapidated pioneer farmhouse located on the highest point of the property. It was part of the Boggy community of Norwegian settlers built in the 1850’s. The water well was hand dug and the panoramic view from the hilltop is majestic.
Waiting for the wind to lay down and the barometer to settle proved to be a smart choice. The sun was warming the water which we hoped would trigger the movement of bass into the shallow water to spawn. Armed with chartreuse spinnerbaits, we began patrolling the shoreline. Close to the banks we picked up several small male bass hungry and willing to attack our gold bladed offerings. In an effort to pick up some bigger fish, we had to change strategies. Slow rolling the spinnerbaits to find the edges of the drop offs proved to be a successful strategy for catching some of the larger females waiting to move up to shallow water to spawn. The frontal boundary and high pressure probably pushed the females off the shoreline.
The perfect bait to catch these fish was waiting to be thrown on my other rod. A Sixth Sense deep diving, large crank bait in a shad pattern color with a slow wobble and the knock of a large bb. This tactic proved to be very effective as the first four casts yielded three fish with heavy bellies full of eggs. For the last hour of daylight the winds calmed, the water warmed and cleared which triggered the bite even more.
What an amazing springtime day at Sundown Valley Ranch. It was full of changing weather and fishing tactics in the beauty of God’s creation. The beauty of spring, the newness of life and growth brought on by the change of seasons is a true testament to a living God. All you have to do is look around you to see and feel His presence.
I hope you get the chance to get outside and experience God’s creations this special time of year. Remember to thank him for the gift of life on this earth, for sending His Son to die on the cross for our sins, and the undeserved grace He has given us through salvation. (Gods Riches At Christ’s Expense)
God bless you and thanks for reading my blog!
Enjoy the video!
Tim Lumpkin
Legacy Outdoors 