Post by 31Airborne on Aug 19, 2014 9:41:33 GMT -5
Got out with the Va West FoM crew for their annual open. As always, Russ put on a great show. Always good to see you, old friend.
Saw 76.5 degrees at launch w/ clear water - easily 6-8' of viz. Water temps hovered around 77 degrees throughout the day. Water picks up a little stain as you go up the Roanoke arm but you still have 3-4' of viz. I spoke w/ a number of the participants yesterday, many of whom are SML regulars. They said water temps this time of year are usually closer to 90. They quickly added that the weird summer we're having is causing the fish to behave weirdly. After today's outing I tend to agree.
I went out planning to work main lake points on channel swings and any docks close by w/ deep water fronts. There are a number of places on SML like this w/ some well-placed brush and rock piles nearby. I started out on top - no takers. Switched to shallow and deep running crankbaits. Nope. Tried a fluke on schoolers. Nope. Finally made my way to my t-rig and got bit right away. Had a pretty good run for about 45 mins early in the AM - got bit on just about every cast. Then it died. From there I went to deep brush and rocks. Picked up a few peanuts but nothing that would measure. A basic GP, do-nothing worm was the ticket today. A lil spike-it on the tail but that was it.
Observations: 1) I marked bait just about everywhere I went. Some of it shallow, some of it deep (<30'). I did see some feeding activity associated w/ some of it but couldn't get any of those fish to bite. 2) All of my bites came on breaks. Didn't take much of a depth change to hold fish. My shallower bites came from areas where the drop was less than a foot. Just enough of a change to give a fish an edge. 3) Fish were grouped up. Everywhere I got bit I got bit in bunches. Lots of runts in that activity, but they made it fun. 4) It takes a special kind of patience and focus to fish this lake in the summer. I mean the pleasure boats are out there in convoys 10 and 12 deep. The jet skiers make sport of weaving in and out. The water is in constant motion. The wake from a single boat is manageable but when you have wakes from 30 or 40 boats converging on the spot you're trying to drive a bass boat thru it makes for a tuff ride. On the whole, the rec boaters on SML are way more courteous and observant that the folks on Anna. Doesn't make fishing this time of year any more fun but at least it was a lil bit safer. 5) I found no (zero) fish in traditional summer locations. They seem to be in a funk somewhere between the end of summer and the beginning of the fall feed.
A quick spot on boat police (as in, keeping your ride clean). I had a scary moment on the ride in. I was planning on making my last stop in one of the midlake creeks. As I made the hard turn into the creek entrance I noticed about a dozen boats anchored right at the mouth. I take my foot off of the gas and . . . nothing happens. Stuck in the WOT position. It seemed like many seconds but in a matter of one or two I decided to make a U-turn before it got tight. I checked behind me to make sure I wouldn't cross anyone and pulled the 180-degree turn at speed. I can now attest to the fact that you can indeed pull a negative G in a bass boat. After I got her back in the main lake channel I pulled back on the gas pedal w/ my foot. It was work but I managed to do it. I played w/ it for a bit and managed to get it free. After that I wasn't up for any more fun so I called it a day. After I got the boat trailered I climbed into the cabin to see if I could spot any obvious cause for the sticking. As I knelt down I saw a piece of fishing line. I pulled on it. Nope, not going anywhere. I lay down to where I could see behind the Hotfoot and was surprised to find about 200 yards of fishing line, 20 lbs of baits, and a crushed plastic bottle wedged in and tangled up w/ the Hotfoot and cables. I cleaned all that stuff out and it worked just fine. The lesson here is that wind and boat aerodynamix will cause stuff to collect in weird places. Be sure to check behind things like your Hotfoot after each outing. It may save you a scary situation like the one I faced.
best to all,
B
Saw 76.5 degrees at launch w/ clear water - easily 6-8' of viz. Water temps hovered around 77 degrees throughout the day. Water picks up a little stain as you go up the Roanoke arm but you still have 3-4' of viz. I spoke w/ a number of the participants yesterday, many of whom are SML regulars. They said water temps this time of year are usually closer to 90. They quickly added that the weird summer we're having is causing the fish to behave weirdly. After today's outing I tend to agree.
I went out planning to work main lake points on channel swings and any docks close by w/ deep water fronts. There are a number of places on SML like this w/ some well-placed brush and rock piles nearby. I started out on top - no takers. Switched to shallow and deep running crankbaits. Nope. Tried a fluke on schoolers. Nope. Finally made my way to my t-rig and got bit right away. Had a pretty good run for about 45 mins early in the AM - got bit on just about every cast. Then it died. From there I went to deep brush and rocks. Picked up a few peanuts but nothing that would measure. A basic GP, do-nothing worm was the ticket today. A lil spike-it on the tail but that was it.
Observations: 1) I marked bait just about everywhere I went. Some of it shallow, some of it deep (<30'). I did see some feeding activity associated w/ some of it but couldn't get any of those fish to bite. 2) All of my bites came on breaks. Didn't take much of a depth change to hold fish. My shallower bites came from areas where the drop was less than a foot. Just enough of a change to give a fish an edge. 3) Fish were grouped up. Everywhere I got bit I got bit in bunches. Lots of runts in that activity, but they made it fun. 4) It takes a special kind of patience and focus to fish this lake in the summer. I mean the pleasure boats are out there in convoys 10 and 12 deep. The jet skiers make sport of weaving in and out. The water is in constant motion. The wake from a single boat is manageable but when you have wakes from 30 or 40 boats converging on the spot you're trying to drive a bass boat thru it makes for a tuff ride. On the whole, the rec boaters on SML are way more courteous and observant that the folks on Anna. Doesn't make fishing this time of year any more fun but at least it was a lil bit safer. 5) I found no (zero) fish in traditional summer locations. They seem to be in a funk somewhere between the end of summer and the beginning of the fall feed.
A quick spot on boat police (as in, keeping your ride clean). I had a scary moment on the ride in. I was planning on making my last stop in one of the midlake creeks. As I made the hard turn into the creek entrance I noticed about a dozen boats anchored right at the mouth. I take my foot off of the gas and . . . nothing happens. Stuck in the WOT position. It seemed like many seconds but in a matter of one or two I decided to make a U-turn before it got tight. I checked behind me to make sure I wouldn't cross anyone and pulled the 180-degree turn at speed. I can now attest to the fact that you can indeed pull a negative G in a bass boat. After I got her back in the main lake channel I pulled back on the gas pedal w/ my foot. It was work but I managed to do it. I played w/ it for a bit and managed to get it free. After that I wasn't up for any more fun so I called it a day. After I got the boat trailered I climbed into the cabin to see if I could spot any obvious cause for the sticking. As I knelt down I saw a piece of fishing line. I pulled on it. Nope, not going anywhere. I lay down to where I could see behind the Hotfoot and was surprised to find about 200 yards of fishing line, 20 lbs of baits, and a crushed plastic bottle wedged in and tangled up w/ the Hotfoot and cables. I cleaned all that stuff out and it worked just fine. The lesson here is that wind and boat aerodynamix will cause stuff to collect in weird places. Be sure to check behind things like your Hotfoot after each outing. It may save you a scary situation like the one I faced.
best to all,
B
