Larson and I met on the Tackle-Junkie-Treff in Bern this year. Ever since, we talked about going Bass Fishing. A couple of weeks ago we decided that we'll go Bass Fishing in Padova with Matteo from Zetabass. So that was last weekend and a weekend I will never forget.
We packed my Mini Cooper S with our reels, rods, baits and all the stuff we expected to be using on our trip.
We started our Trip around 2pm on Thursday and it was about a 5 1/2 to 6 hour drive to Arqua' Petrarca, the small village were we would stay for 2 nights at Matteo's residence. The weather was freezing cold in Switzerland but got better and better the souther we got. We lost about 30 minutes at the Gotthard Tunnel and another hour just across the boarder due to construction sights. We only arrived at Matteos at around 10pm and quickly prepared our stuff for the next day.
Only in the morning we saw the beauty of the place we arrived the night before. The bigger house is a vintaged style house for 6 people and the 2nd smaller house, which is a more modern house and just two years old for another 2 persons and is the perfect location for partying as there are two grill stations just around it.
The view from the house was just amazing.
On our first day we went to small lake in Padova with a lot of Bass. After just a few casts I was able to land my first Bass ever on a Texas Rigged Craw.
A good start into the day. Larson had trouble setting the hooks at first and it took a while until he landed his first Bass of the day. Though he then caught the biggest Bass of the trip with just close to 50cm. The sun was brutal, but apart from a short break over lunch, it didn't stop us from fishing the whole day.
We caught the Bass on Texas Rig, Jigs with several different trailers, Finesse, Topwater on Basirisky or weightless Rigs and Crankbaits. They were most active in the morning though.
On the first day, I caught around 16 Bass were the biggest one was a bit more than 40cm.
The lake was perfect for getting to know Bass Fishing as it is completely different from trout and pike fishing. Only perch fishing might be close but the bites are different and for getting the feeling for setting the hook at the right time that lake was perfect.
On our way back we had to make a short stop at the gas station to get cooling water for my car, as the engine overheated just when we arrived in Arqua' Petrarca the day before. After refilling the cooling water, Larson and I wanted to make a short trip to Padova to the local Bass Shop but we didn't get far until the car overheated again.
A long story short, the car is still in Padova and I don't know how it will come back yet. I will pick it up some time soon, or will it have delivered by the BMW/Mini Transport Service.
Matteo was so kind to pick us up to get back to his house and cooked Spaghetti for us.
But all that car trouble didn't let us down from Bass Fishing the next day. The weather was not so promising as the day before and as I forgot my rain jacket in the car. I was praying that it wasn't going to rain.
This time we went to the Padova Canals were Matteo guided us on what lures and methods to chose at which spots again.
We knew it will be harder to catch Bass in the Canals but we still were able to catch a few right in the cover.
The car could not be fixed in time and we had to take the train back home to Switzerland on Saturday night. I still have no idea how the car will get back to Switzerland.
Apart from the car trouble, the weekend was perfect. Good weather and a lot of Bass. I definitely got addicted to Bass Fishing and it won't be the last time I visited Padova, only for next time I have to organize a Belly Boat.
mfg Phil
