A Day on the Lake Bernie Schultz Spring Spawn

Ever wonder how a BASS pro would fare on your home lake that little body of water down the road where you and your buddies fish for bass? That's the premise behind Bassmaster's reality series, "A Day on the Lake." Here, we put the leading competitors on the pro BASS tour on small "mystery" lakes, then give them seven hours to figure out a viable pattern while we log everything they do to locate and catch bass.

Ever wonder how a BASS pro would fare on your home lake — that little body of water down the road where you and your buddies fish for bass? That's the premise behind Bassmaster's reality series, "A Day on the Lake." Here, we put the leading competitors on the pro BASS tour on small "mystery" lakes, then give them seven hours to figure out a viable pattern while we log everything they do to locate and catch bass.

 This month, Bernie Schultz takes the Bassmaster challenge. The veteran Gainesville, Fla., Elite Series pro has fished the BASS tour for 20 years and has qualified for the Classic seven times. Besides being a respected competitive angler, Schultz is a talented illustrator and lure designer. Here's what happened April 30, 2007, when we put Schultz on Lake L, a 1,000-acre reservoir. Readers who have difficulty catching bass "on the bed" should pay close attention to what follows.

 > 5:17 a.m. I meet Schultz at his motel. There's a full moon of epic proportions overhead as we hook up his Ranger Z-20. "This has been a weird spring," Schultz says as we head for the lake. "It got hot early, and then cooled back down for several weeks; now it's hot again. Some bass may have spawned weeks ago, but I'm hoping another wave of fish will move up to spawn on this full moon."

 > 6:30 a.m. It's 59 degrees with clear skies when we arrive at Lake L's remote launch ramp. Schultz pulls the cover off his boat and removes several Shimano rods and reels from storage. His rig, colorfully wrapped with Rapala graphics, is equipped with a 225-hp Mercury Pro XS OptiMax outboard, MotorGuide trolling motor and Lowrance electronics.

  6:50 a.m. We launch the Ranger. What's Schultz's game plan on a strange lake? "The most important information to know right off is the water temperature and clarity," he says.

 "With this full moon, I'm going to visually search sheltered, protected areas of the lake for bedding fish. The weather is mild and stable and there's no wind, so this should give me an opportunity to spot some bedding fish if they're indeed spawning."

> 6:52 a.m. Schultz cranks the Merc and runs 100 yards to a big rockpile protruding from the lake. The water here is 66 degrees and moderately stained. He makes his first casts with a Rapala Skitter Pop topwater popper in the foil shad pattern: "This is an awesome spitting bait! I've caught some real monsters on it."

 6:56 a.m. He switches to a Carolina rig with a watermelon Zoom Fluke soft jerkbait rigged on a 5/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook on the business end. The rig features Tru-Tungsten's 3/4-ounce Carolina Weight and Peter T's Force Bead, a standard swivel and a 2 1/2-foot leader of 12-pound fluorocarbon. We're sitting in 16 feet of water; he's casting into 3.

> 7:00 a.m. Schultz detects a bite on the Fluke and sets the hook, but there's nothing there.

> 7:02 a.m. Another bite on the Fluke; another swing and a miss: "Those might be bluegill."

 > 7:06 a.m. Schultz catches his first bass of the day on the Fluke; the keeper weighs 1 pound even: "There may be a bunch of small fish on this rockpile." 7:10 a.m. Another fish pecks the Fluke: "They're so small, they're not even swallowing it!On some lakes you've gotta fish your way through 25 dinks to catch a good one."

> 7:16 a.m. Schultz moves shallower on the rockpile and casts deeper, but can't come up with another bass.

> 7:18 a.m. He moves to a nearby sea wall and drags the Carolina rig in 5 feet of water.

> 7:22 a.m. Schultz spots some baitfish flipping at the surface in an adjacent cove and heads that way with his trolling motor on high, casting the Skitter Pop as he goes.> 7:24 a.m. He picks up a spinning rod rigged with a 5-inch green pumpkin/purple and copper flake Yamamoto Senko sinking worm rigged on a 5/0 EWG hook and casts it around a dock.

  7:25 a.m. Schultz casts the Skitter Pop to the dock and a big fish explodes on it, but doesn't hook up: "That fish totally missed it! That's typical of how bedding bass react to a topwater — half the time they're just trying to scare it away rather than eat it."> 7:30 a.m. The pro ties on a pearl shad Rapala DT Fat 3 square-billed crankbait: "This is the prototype of a lure I've been working on with Rapala; it runs about 3 feet deep and bounces off cover like crazy." He roots it around some boat docks, but there are no takers.> 7:31 a.m. Back to the Skitter Pop: "I'm a notorious junk fisherman — I like to rotate through a bunch of different lures until I can get a handle on what's up with the fish." 7:32 a.m. Schultz bags his second keeper, 2 pounds, 1 ounce, off the sea wall on the Skitter Pop.

> 7:35 a.m. Schultz's rod bows as a lunker bass sucks in the Skitter Pop on the sea wall. He leads it around the front of the boat, drops to his knees and lips it; his third keeper of the day weighs 5 pounds, 14 ounces: "I bet this one and the last one I caught were a spawning pair. It hardly even dimpled the water when it struck; it just pulled the plug under. Notice that I've been fishing this bait with a real light touch, not hard pops — bedding fish are spooky, and you can turn them off with too much sound or action."

 

 

> 7:45 a.m. He spots a bass wake near the sea wall and backs the boat away from the structure a bit to avoid spooking the fish: "There could be a whole gang of bass spawning in here!"> 7:50 a.m. Schultz moves farther along the sea wall and sees a pair of 3-pounders bolt off their bed. He opts to return to the spot later when the sun is higher and he can see them more clearly.> 7:53 a.m. A bass boils on the popper, but misses it.> 8:00 a.m. Schultz pitches the Senko to the sea wall and catches a 3-pound, 2-ounce bass: "I saw it chase a bluegill off its bed right before I made that cast. During the spawning season, you need to watch the water carefully for any signs of movement that reveal a bass' presence."> 8:06 a.m. A family of geese swims right over the spot he is casting to: "Go play somewhere else!"

 

> 8:10 a.m. Schultz casts the Senko to a docked ski boat and bags his fifth keeper of the day, 2 pounds, 1 ounce. "Now I can start culling!" he grins. I ask him about the swivel that's positioned several inches above his sinking worm: "It really helps minimize line twist. I use this same setup with a Fluke, Senko and floating worm."> 8:17 a.m. Schultz probes a shallow pocket with the Skitter Pop and Senko.> 8:21 a.m. He spots a 4-pounder on a bed and shakes the Senko in front of it. The pro is wearing amber Costa Del Mar sunglasses, which he claims help him immensely when sight fishing.

 

 > 8:24 a.m. Schultz pauses to Texas rig a 6-inch watermelon Yamamoto lizard with a 1/4-ounce Tru-Tungsten Flippin' Weight and Smart Peg: "I'll use this on and off throughout the day on bedding fish." Why tungsten sinkers on his soft baits? "They're about half the size of lead sinkers of equivalent weight, so they allow a more subtle presentation."

 > 8:31 a.m. Schultz casts the Senko to a boat dock and catches a 2-pound, 4-ounce largemouth; his sixth keeper culls the 1-pound bass caught earlier.> 8:37 a.m. We move to the next pocket uplake, where Schultz tries the Skitter Pop. A fish smacks it, but doesn't hook up.> 8:41 a.m. He tries the Senko around a boat dock, first skipping it under the structure, then casting to the outer corners. Nothing.> 8:45 a.m. It's warming up quickly as Schultz makes his way around the pocket, alternating between the Skitter Pop and the Senko.> 8:48 a.m. He casts the Rapala square bill to a point. A bass smacks the lure, but gets off: "That felt like a good fish!"
> 8:51 a.m. "Look at the size of that turtle!" Schultz exclaims, pointing to a massive soft-shell that's risen toward the surface to catch some rays.> 8:57 a.m. "Big fish," Schultz grunts as a lunker bass slams his crankbait. He runs to the back of the boat to lip his seventh keeper, a chunky 5-pound, 1-ounce largemouth; this bass culls one of his 2-pounders: "The lure banged off a stump and she crushed it!" 9:05 a.m. He gets another missed strike on the point with the square bill. 9:07 a.m. Schultz's crankbait dredges up "about 500 yards" of monofilament line from the point. He stashes it in his cooler.> 9:09 a.m. Schultz does a 180 and goes back around the point, this time dragging the Carolina rigged Fluke. Why is he switching lures on the structure now when he's just had three strikes on a crankbait? "I'm trying not to bypass any fish that may not be very aggressive."
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOTAL: 23 POUNDS, 6 OUNCES