The fish in this picture is the first fish I caught in the year 2022. At over two pounds, this is by no means the biggest smallmouth bass out there. But it was the first fish to get us rolling in the new year, and in winter, and for that, it was fantastic. To understand why this was such a big deal to me, we first need to look at what made catching this fish so different. And how this particular fish changed my outlook.
Winter time here in Nevada typically means trout and striper fishing are the go-to fish in colder water. With the record low water levels, it seemed that fish have been acting differently during this particular winter season. Trout fishing was still good, but to try and diversify the videos, the goal was to catch something at Lake Mead. The Striped bass, however, weren’t up shallow as they usually tend to be in the winter, and strangely enough, carp still grazed in the shallows.
The plan was thus to catch some carp, but suddenly the temperatures dropped and the carp stopped feeding. As a last-ditch effort, I started throwing some Ned rigs. Seldom do I catch bass in the winter as the fish head out to deep water. But this smallmouth saved the day by being the first for the year, and the only catch for the day. The excitement made me totally miss that his dorsal fin was damaged. So how then can this fish be a curse?
It is not the fish that’s the curse, but what happened after this fish. For weeks after landing a decent smallmouth in winter, I could not catch any fish. An unexpected easy catch during a time of year notoriously difficult for fishing changed my mindset instantly. It took weeks of not getting fish or losing fish to get back in the game. Now I am still happy that I got this fish, but beware of being overconfident. Things change at the drop of a hat, especially in Southern Nevada, and you might spend days thereafter chasing ghosts.
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