11/25, 26, 27 and 28 on the BW
Dec 4, 2017 10:49:46 GMT -5
Jason54, getlinewet, and 5 more like this
Post by coheasion on Dec 4, 2017 10:49:46 GMT -5
AT: - 30 to mid 60's
WT: 54.5 to 57
Skies: Clear to partly cloudy
Wind: Breezy at times
Precipitation: None
I decided to take a few days off the week after Thanksgiving so I headed up to the lake mid- day on Friday and arrived around 2:30. Had the boat in the water and was in search of bait around 3:00. Checked 2 nearby creeks and they were both dead-zones as far as bait was concerned. As the boat needed gas for the fishing the next day I made the trek to the closest gas fill-up spot, Gills Creek and filled up with gas and went to the back of the creek to see if there was bait back there.
There was bait....but it was deep and scattered out. I would throw 3 times and come up with 2 baits thinking I just missed the pod so I just kept trying. Finally around 7PM I had enough bait to get me started the next day so I headed home.
Started Saturday morning in a major creek pretty far down the lake....must have been a popular spot as soon after I arrived I had plenty of company with 7 other boats trying to fish the same small patch of water. I had a couple of bites and put one smaller fish in the boat and set out to find less-crowded water. Headed further down lake to another smaller creek and picked up one more smaller fish and called it quits around noon and headed back up lake and pulled some main channel areas for a couple hours and picked up 2 more fish. I tried a couple more areas until dark and was unsuccessful.
Started Sunday morning in the back of a mid lake creek - pulled a couple hours unsuccessfully and transitioned to the main channel and came up with some quick success with a nice 34" fish and one other. At this time I needed more bait and on a tip from another member I headed to another spot to try for bait. After searching for a bit I was able to get on some nice 6 to 8 inch gizzards and filled the tank. Fished that area the remainder of the day and caught 3 more smaller fish.
On Monday I decided to try the lower lake creek that was crowded on Saturday thinking the crowds would be gone.....the crowds were gone but so were the fish. No luck that morning so I went and tried a few areas I hadn't fished before with limited success. I ended the day boating 4 more fish with the largest being 28 inches.
On Tuesday I tried another mid-lake creek in the morning without so much as a sniff. I went back to the condo and had a nice lunch and then headed to a spot I had limited success earlier and this time it was game-on. From about 1PM until dark I boated 13 fish with 6 of those being over 30 inches and the largest was 34 inches. It was just an epic afternoon of fishing and my best fishing yet at SML. and then - right as the sun was falling I was starting to clean up the boat prior to reeling everything in and calling it quits. I was at the front of the boat cleaning up one of my cast nets when I heard a swirl and splash on an outside board. I dropped the net and did my best Mward impersonation sprinting for the rod when the planer took off. I grabbed the rod, set the hook and the fight was on...after a few drag pulling runs and a complete trip around the boat I get the fish close to the boat and "pop" it was gone. My potential PB was gone...thanks to a broken hook. I was a bit upset but after the afternoon I had I couldn't really complain much. So I let my half dozen remaining baits go and ended a great fishing trip.
All in all I caught fish from the Cool Branch area to Ponderosa....caught them on planers, downlines and light lines....in 2 feet of water and over 80 feet of water. It was a strange few days in that the fish werent ever in a predicatable pattern even during the last afternoon as some fish were on the bank....some were in the channel...some on downlines...all in the space of a few hours.
Photos to follow in next post.
WT: 54.5 to 57
Skies: Clear to partly cloudy
Wind: Breezy at times
Precipitation: None
I decided to take a few days off the week after Thanksgiving so I headed up to the lake mid- day on Friday and arrived around 2:30. Had the boat in the water and was in search of bait around 3:00. Checked 2 nearby creeks and they were both dead-zones as far as bait was concerned. As the boat needed gas for the fishing the next day I made the trek to the closest gas fill-up spot, Gills Creek and filled up with gas and went to the back of the creek to see if there was bait back there.
There was bait....but it was deep and scattered out. I would throw 3 times and come up with 2 baits thinking I just missed the pod so I just kept trying. Finally around 7PM I had enough bait to get me started the next day so I headed home.
Started Saturday morning in a major creek pretty far down the lake....must have been a popular spot as soon after I arrived I had plenty of company with 7 other boats trying to fish the same small patch of water. I had a couple of bites and put one smaller fish in the boat and set out to find less-crowded water. Headed further down lake to another smaller creek and picked up one more smaller fish and called it quits around noon and headed back up lake and pulled some main channel areas for a couple hours and picked up 2 more fish. I tried a couple more areas until dark and was unsuccessful.
Started Sunday morning in the back of a mid lake creek - pulled a couple hours unsuccessfully and transitioned to the main channel and came up with some quick success with a nice 34" fish and one other. At this time I needed more bait and on a tip from another member I headed to another spot to try for bait. After searching for a bit I was able to get on some nice 6 to 8 inch gizzards and filled the tank. Fished that area the remainder of the day and caught 3 more smaller fish.
On Monday I decided to try the lower lake creek that was crowded on Saturday thinking the crowds would be gone.....the crowds were gone but so were the fish. No luck that morning so I went and tried a few areas I hadn't fished before with limited success. I ended the day boating 4 more fish with the largest being 28 inches.
On Tuesday I tried another mid-lake creek in the morning without so much as a sniff. I went back to the condo and had a nice lunch and then headed to a spot I had limited success earlier and this time it was game-on. From about 1PM until dark I boated 13 fish with 6 of those being over 30 inches and the largest was 34 inches. It was just an epic afternoon of fishing and my best fishing yet at SML. and then - right as the sun was falling I was starting to clean up the boat prior to reeling everything in and calling it quits. I was at the front of the boat cleaning up one of my cast nets when I heard a swirl and splash on an outside board. I dropped the net and did my best Mward impersonation sprinting for the rod when the planer took off. I grabbed the rod, set the hook and the fight was on...after a few drag pulling runs and a complete trip around the boat I get the fish close to the boat and "pop" it was gone. My potential PB was gone...thanks to a broken hook. I was a bit upset but after the afternoon I had I couldn't really complain much. So I let my half dozen remaining baits go and ended a great fishing trip.
All in all I caught fish from the Cool Branch area to Ponderosa....caught them on planers, downlines and light lines....in 2 feet of water and over 80 feet of water. It was a strange few days in that the fish werent ever in a predicatable pattern even during the last afternoon as some fish were on the bank....some were in the channel...some on downlines...all in the space of a few hours.
Photos to follow in next post.
