Fishtales Library
December 1, 1997
David Bass offers what he says is a true story that happened to him. I heard it as a joke years ago! I'm glad his recipe was better!
Bass Bait
David Bass
On my farm is a small lake, full of fish. I fish there on a catch and release basis only for bass. There are some grown bass in it, and we have seen one that will go over 15 pounds. I have never been able to get it to bite any bait I tried.
A few weeks ago I was deer hunting within sight of the lake. I was looking toward it and saw a squirrel run down the trunk of an old tree trunk lying in the water. As I watched, a huge bass - had to be the 15 pounder - jumped out of the water and grabbed the squirrel.
I had never heard of a bass eating a squirrel before. I began to wonder if I could use one for bait, making plans to check with the game warden after deer season to see if it was legal. The next morning I was hunting the same stand and again, at about the same time, a squirrel ran down the log and the bass jumped out of the water and grabbed it. I just knew I would have to figure out a way to use a squirrel as bait after deer season ended the next day.
The last day of deer season I was sitting in my stand but I could not think of deer, I just stared at the log where the bass had been eating squirrels, trying to figure out how to catch him. I noticed some movement in the water right at the log and focused on it through my rifle scope. Guess what I saw - that big old bass eased up to the log and put an acorn on it!
How can I ever catch a bass that smart?
