This Fish’n Canada episode heads back to Saskatchewan’s Boundary Dam Reservoir for some great Largemouth Bass fishing. Pete Bowman is joined by Keith Beasley from the great hunting show Canada In The Rough. Fans of Fish’n Canada will remember Pete and Keith fishing this same body of water on a previous episode. This time, though, they put away the “Jig and Pigs” with heavy line, and bring out the wacky-rigged 5″ Yamamoto Senkos on light spinning gear; it’s time to try something different.
COVERING THE WATER
Pete says, “We certainly could have used our traditional Jig and Pig setup on the south end of the lake, and I believe we would have done quite well. However, this end was quite a bit deeper, so we decided to go with a slow presentation in a drop shot rig. This way we could use spinning gear in the strong wind and still get the baits to the bottom quickly.”
With dark coloured Senkos in hand, the boys set out and proceeded to once again catch the heck out of Boundary Dam’s fantastic Largemouth. Pretty much everywhere they tried, they were hooked into great Bass.
THE IMPORTANCE OF WEIGHT
Weight was important for the drop shot since it was windy out and hook size was also a key. “We needed to get down deep quick in the wind,” said Pete. “So we went with a quarter-ounce drop shot weight and a 1/0 drop shot hook. I know this sounds like a big hook, but a five-inch Senko has a lot of bulk to it. Especially when it’s rigged wacky. That 1/0 leaves a lot of exposed hook point for good penetration into the fish.”
Areas like weed clumps near rocks were key near the dam. Weed clumps along random shorelines also held a bunch of fish. “But the most unique area we fished that day was the pumphouse,” says Pete. “This building is fully functional in drawing water into a series of pipes, and then using this water to cool down the generators in the nearby hydro station. The water is then drained back into the lake, nice and warm. This is why the Boundary Dam Reservoir is such a good Largemouth area. A long growing season helps the fish grow big.”
As the boys fished the pumphouse they caught Bass in as shallow as six to eight feet and as deep as over twenty.
THE DROP SHOT SENKO WAS AN EXCELLENT CHOICE
“We even caught a doubleheader of quality largies in close to twenty-five feet of water near that pumphouse—that sure was a surprise,” says Pete. “I feel the drop shot Senko was an excellent choice for areas like that one.”
