Good first day out for 2009

[keithdog]

I wasn't sure what to expect. It's been cold and the lake has been ice free only 3 weeks. Water is only in the low 40's. Today we were in the midst of another cold front. Windy, temps this morning at 31 degrees, and bright sunny skies. Took my first bass at 7:30am off a Rapala X Rap size 10 in olive color. He was in 8 foot of water in the back of a bay off the main lake. The biggest bass was I'm guessing around 6 - 7 pounds. She came off a black/blue 1/4 oz Strike King jig with a black/blue NetBait Peca Chunk Sr. She was hiding down inside a large laydown that was mostly submerged. Dropped the jig right down inside where the trunk and two main branches split off. Thought I had hit a snag untill she showed me the business. The other four bass, 2 at four pounds, and two at 2 pounds came off a chartreuse/white/gold chatterbait worked near submerged laydowns and brush where there was some vegitation mixed in. I always have great luck with chatterbaits in early spring. I was pleasantly suprised to see the bass hitting as well as they were in shallow water. Spawing time is weeks away yet. And with so many strong cold front passing through this spring I was sure they would be deeper. No doubt many are, but outside of the first bass I caught, I wasn't able to draw a strike from deeper water today.