Kayaks are better than Barrett rental boats!

[fishinkid2010]

As stated in the title, I don't know why anyone would pay the outrageous ticketmaster fees to fish Barrett from a boat that is hardly faster than a kid in a Hobie Revolution! I just buy a tube spot off someone and enjoy the insane bassin'!
Please enjoy the report!




Yesterday I had the pleasure to fish Lake Barrett for the first time this season. Barrett never disappoints, and today was no different. Things started very slow, and the weather was terrible until about 1pm. A constant drizzle and winds made fishing tough, especially in a kayak.
I started the morning out by heading towards Hauser arm. I must say, those rental boats Barrett has must not be too fast, because they were barley beating me speed wise. I was one of the first people into the cove on the right side of Hauser. I started by throwing a Stanley Wedge spinnerbait. I caught a few fish this way by running it along the moss/ weed lines. The extended skirt on the Stanley spinnerbaits seems to give it a bigger profile and attracted a better quality of fish. I caught several three pounders this way, which at Barrett is a nice size fish. I then moved into a smaller cove and started pitching Mann’s watermelon red Senkos. I was wacky rigging them and putting half a nail wait in the head to accommodate the deeper water since the lake is very full. The real fun started when I tied on a Stanley Ribbit with one of their double hooks. Watching a bass smack your bait right off the surface is a thrill. IMO Stanley has perfected their Ribbits, they make a ton of action on the surface and can be fished fast when the fish want it! I had about 11 blow-ups on the bait in the morning and connected with 7 of them. With frog fishing that’s a pretty decent percentage. They key to my success was fishing 50# McCoy braid, it casts super easy and stands up extremely well with all the branches and reeds I was throwing my bait into. I combined this with the ultimate frog rod built off a Rainshadow blank.






When the wind got super strong and my sweatshirt was soaked through I started making my way back to Pigs Point to head for my truck. I camped it out in my truck for a little while warming back up and drying out my sweatshirt.
At around 2:30pm I got back on the water and headed towards Pine Creek. This was probably what I should have done from the beginning! There seems to be a lot more submerged trees without as much of the annoying hair moss. From about 3:30pm to closing time it was non-stop fish. I found a deep point in about 18 feet of water with a hump where the top was 16 feet deep and the back side was 21 feet, combine this with the imediatley adjacent tree line and you have one killer fishing hole. I fished this point for about 45 minutes. I struggle with jig fishing and I had them swallowing a Mann’s Stone jig with a Stanely Itz-a-Bug trailer. A lot of fish were short biting it, so I slathered on some UniButter and preceded to catch about 6 solid fish that were hooked down in the throat. They were hungry! Thanks to the barbless hook all fish were easily released. I also started playing around with Power Tackle’s Lateral Perch… this is a KILLER jig, the action of it is just like a wounded or dying bait fish. I landed quite a few big fish on this bait, it killed me to bend down the barb on this lure though, but it’s no longer a Barrett virgin.




After this it was typical Barrett, you could catch them any way you want. The bulk of my fish were caught on Roboworms. Oxblood was the preferred color. Roboworms are by far the best bait on Barrett. Not only are they hand poured quality, but they float. This means that after an angry bass knocks your work off your drop shot thanks to the barbless hooks, it floats up and can be used again! I kid you not, I did this about a dozen times, and proceeded to catch fish after fish on the old worn out worm. By the end of the day I was fishing a small island of reed with nonstop action on the Skinny Bear swim fluke. This bait is by far one of my favorite baits. Unlike a lot of flukes on the market Skinny Bear uses a very soft plastic that gives it an incredible swimming action. I rigged it with an Owner 5/0 weighted EWG hook and killed them.





My total for the end of the day was over 70 fish. I took a break in the afternoon, as well as I concentrated on frog fishing in the evening and morning. If I had not done this I could have easily caught 100+ fish.

The big fish of the day were caught on a Stanley Ribbit frog, and a Mann’s Stone jig in brown/ red. The lake temp is around 66 degrees according to the Humminbird, and the water visibility was really good for Barrett. With my polarized Costa del Mar’s I was able to see easily 6 feet. It’s pretty cool to see bass chasing your bait and nail it.













Thanks for reading, and if you’ve never fished Barrett get out there! Also, if you’re one of those people that leaves on the 2pm train out… DON’T! The evening bite was the best I had ever seen with the exception of Lake Falcon.

I would also like to thank my college bass fishing sponsors... without there generosity fishing like this wouldn't be possible. I can personally assure you, their products work just as good if not better than advertised.

Skinny Bear Tackle
Mann's Bait Co,
Culprit Bait
Roboworm
Stanley Jigs
Batson Enterprises
North Fork Composites
Bullard Int.
Costa Del Mar Sunglasses
Ardent Reels
McCoy Premium Fishing Line
Seaguar Fluorocarbon
Earthsports.com
Bass King clothing
Hodges Capital Management
Diamond Pacific Construction
Owner Hooks
Unibutter
Cablz
Power Tackle

[Iceman]

killer day on the pond!

[deepdvr]

Nice chunky Northern's !!!! The big B is pumping right now. Time to re-spool my curados and get out there.

[Amish Ed]

Great report, thanks.

[Regor]

Looks like you had fun ! Been a real long time since I've fished there.

Maybe it's my eyesight, or I'm mistaken, but I thought all fishing had to be barb-less?

[fishinkid2010]

You are correct, all hooks must be barbless, it results in a lot of lost fish, but IMO it is a good law that protects the fishery... not sure which one looks like it's got a barb?
I file them down before hand, but when I break off and have to retie with something I have not filed already I bend them down with pliers. Maybe that's what you're seeing? idk

[roby]

70 Fish!!!!!!

Master Basster Baiter!!!!!

Excellent report...

God, that's some chunky bass!!!

[Tinhman]

i was here, they were STARVIN! those red red flake and blue ground hogs and lizards are deadly there too. Good fishin my man.

[sdfisher]

congrats bro! looks like a great day of fishing

now I know you can pull bass out of a hat

but I want to see you pull some of it's cousins out of the big blue!

that report will be coming soon I am sure!