Leesville 8/10

[piper]

Greeting friends,

I wanted to first thank you guys for sharing the water discharge info. That made a world of a difference. I will be using that going forward.

Not sure why but I am fascinated with this lake and starting to find patterns which I love.

Put it around 2ish... Water temp was about 82 deg... wind variable..died down as the evening progressed on. water level back to normal with minimal trash.  Trash did pick up as I made my way closer to the upper reaches.
 
I was able to locate bait within few minutes of the Leesville dam which is a first for me. Ive struggled to catch bait all year.. Im about 95% certain its operator error and the fact that I need a bigger net. I wanted to test out my new homemade livewell ..which kept the shad going for all of 2 hrs and then they were gone...time to figure that out.

Anyways...I wanted to test out some new rigs for walleye so I headed up river... I struggled mightly and quickly switched to the shad.(the ones that were alive    )   I tied on a 2 oz swivel sinker and a 4 ft or so leader.. dropped it right off the back of my boat to track it on my sonar....man was that sweet ( my first experience doing this)...Within a few minutes of drifting I notice the pole start to dance and BAM.... fish on... I drifted into a freaking school...!!!   as Im reeling  30 secs later  another....Bam rebait   and another... unfortunately I ran out of live bait and they wouldnt hit the dead ones. or live bream

[dogsbestfriend]

thanks for the report.that sucks when ya run out of good bait. but it cool when ya happen to drift into some. i would rather be lucky than good any day !!!! glad ya caught a few.

[2 oars & a trash can]

Good report. So I am not the only one who fishes barefoot in the summer.

[blueheron]

Nice fish Piper! Congrats.

[mwardncsu]

great catch!

[piper]

Thanks guys,

Yea I was bummed about the bait but its motivated me to improve my live well setup. This forum has been solid with suggestions..many of which Ive already used. Im looking into a way to cool the water right now...as I think thats a majority of my issue. It was enough fun to want me to go back and hit the area again. Also excited to locate and catch bait properly...a first for me on the lake.

and yes BAREFOOT is key for me unless Im my typical slacker self and leave a crankbait or 3 out..talk about a rude awakening when you step on one of those.

[mwardncsu]

Aug 13, 2013 13:09:42 GMT -5 piper said:

..many of which Ive already used. Im looking into a way to cool the water right now...as I think that's a majority of my issue.

Start with cool water - either pumped up from deep, or cooled with ice (make sure its from a non-chlorniated source) - then as the day goes on, if the tank is not well insulated and is picking up heat that way, just keep it cool with more ice - freeze some in soda bottles and float them, etc.

Heat is your enemy this time of year it amplifies the effects of ammonia and allows the water to hold less oxygen as well.... shoot to keep that tank in the mid to upper 60s, to low 70's tops range.

[piper]

I was going to try floating a metal bottle filled with salt chunks and ice. Kind of like you would make icecream. I think Ive read this setup gets really cold. I wondered if the bottle will retain enough to keep things fairly balanced? I plan on spray foaming in insulation as well over the weekend. The boats 20 yrs old so what was surrounding the live well is starting to disentegrate. I also picked up a combo mix of ammonia chips and activated charcoal. I planned on filling a bag and hanging it on my aerator.