Nothing but Shorts

[gdelmoro]

Weather the last week has been both good and bad for my 2 week SML vacation.  It solved the drought and raised the lake.  Both good.  On the other hand, I've been so wet & cold I almost decided to give up. But a fisherman always has hope no matter what.  It looks like things will get better after today.  Anyone have ant tips on what the green and browns are doing under these conditions?  The largest bass I've caught this trip is 10". They don't seem to be where they normally are.  I've fished with everything on top to bottom arround laydowns, rocks, ... Any help is greatly appreciated.

[drag4striper]

Last year later Sept.- early Oct. I caught 3 really nice small mouth while trolling 15 ft. deep out on the(( main channel)).

The fish were following the schools of bait. So you could try some deep diving crank baits, rattle trap or spoons over the bait.  

Keep a top water lure ready in case they come up. Just a few thoughts, hope it helps. You might get a bonus striper or two.

[greg]

What area are you fishing? What is the condition of the lake?

[gdelmoro]

Thanks DragforStriper.

Let's see I've fished with tiny and Zoom Flukes on Scrounger heads, 10ft Crank, rattletrap, U-Rig, Swimbait, Spinnerbait, RICO Poppers around laydowns, rock points and arround surface bait in coves. Haven't slowed sown with jigs, worms or Drop Shot / Shakey head because i havent found fish.

[gdelmoro]

Still not catching much of anything I would admit to. Water really dirty (Brown) north of the bridge and north of Gills Creek. But it was a beautiful day.

[shortbus1397]

The water I fished today only had about 8 in of clarity but I got on a bite that was amazing crankbait sexy shad color with rattles fished rip rap edges letting the square bill eat along bank 1-3 ft being on a kayak we go by inches best 3 went 47in had a 21 incher get out of my hand before pic he was very feisty every one was crushing the bait seemed Hungary hope tomorrow is the same .

[Red Bear]

Oct 4, 2015 14:20:19 GMT -5 gdelmoro said:

Thanks DragforStriper.

Let's see I've fished with tiny and Zoom Flukes on Scrounger heads, 10ft Crank, rattletrap, U-Rig, Swimbait, Spinnerbait, RICO Poppers around laydowns, rock points and arround surface bait in coves. Haven't slowed sown with jigs, worms or Drop Shot / Shakey head because i havent found fish.

i know this is an older thread but im going to respond anyways. To me it looks like youre prescribing to the ever flawed "search bait" method many bass anglers subscribe to. personally, i dont believe in "search baits". if there were a magic bait that was going to find fish then would you really need to call it a "search bait"? what if the fish dont want these so called "search baits"? then youre just wasting your time. most peoples ideas of "search baits" are faster moving baits that can cover a lot of water, but if the fish are a bit lethargic on a given day then theyre not gonna chase those kind of baits. but they may slowly mosey right on up to an easy meal like a worm or jig sitting on the bottom showing little action but maybe the twitches you impart on them with your rod. perhaps you should have slowed down a bit and thrown the worm or jig or drop shot first. sometimes slowing down is the best thing you can do, especially if the fish arent biting your faster moving presentations. sometimes the conditions may scream to fish certain baits, but in actuality its the exact opposite the fish want. those slower baits may have found you the fish, but you dont know because your so called faster moving "search baits" didnt find them so you refused to slow down. and that to me is part of the reason why "search baits" dont make any sense...

[bigd7400]

To me SML fishes slow most of the time ie finese worm jig dropshot shakey head jerk bait etc. There are plenty of times during the year fast moving baits will get you bit and crankbaits spinnerbaits ratltraps and on and on might be the ticket but you can consistently put fish in the boat on this lake finese fishing and taking your time imo.

[gdelmoro]

Ok then, so much for search baits. This year I'll be down the last week of September and the first week of October. I'll take your advice and see how it goes. Usually I catch fish with a zoom fluke but last October the rains and 3 - 4 ft fluctuations in a week made the water really Muddy. Hope my fishing is more catching this fall.

[Red Bear]

Mar 26, 2016 13:28:52 GMT -5 gdelmoro said:

Ok then, so much for search baits. This year I'll be down the last week of September and the first week of October. I'll take your advice and see how it goes. Usually I catch fish with a zoom fluke but last October the rains and 3 - 4 ft fluctuations in a week made the water really Muddy. Hope my fishing is more catching this fall.

i dont know if my previous post in this thread made me sound like an ass or not to others, if so i apologize. in reality the lake can be a cruel mistress at times. and it sounds like you faced some really tough conditions weather wise which could of also affected the bite. i like to throw cranks, spinnerbaits, rattletraps and such myself. but my history at the lake tells me ive caught more bass slow fishing soft plastics on the bottom, and around docks or stumps. weightless senkos and shakeyheads around docks will probably get you a few nice fish when you go back. ive never seen more finicky fish anywhere than SML. ive seen odd patterns too. one trip down for me the pattern i found involved sight fishing, as any bass cruising solo would not bite a thing, any time i seen bass in groups of 3, atleast one would bite. and for some reason i seen a lot of groups of 3 bass swimming together that weekend...

[ghostcomanche©®]

From my experience, the Blackwater side of the lake has always been better for spring-time bass fishing. As a matter of fact, that is where I spend all my time, this time of the year, and usually do pretty good, to very good.

It is the "shallower"side of the lake, and the water warms up a little faster than the Roanoke river side.  A degree or two difference in water temperature (warmer) can make a great deal of difference.

Next time you see a tournament "blast off", make note of how many, if not most of the boats head for the Blackwater.

I am of course no expert, but I did stay at a Holiday In Express, once!

We normally put in at Penhook, and made the run from there.  Saved a lot of gas & time running from that side of the lake.

Just "food" for thought....for you "greenfish" guys.

[striperjohn]

The same thing applies to Stripers, contrary to what Gator puts out most of the stripers head to the "dark side" from now until mid-June.

[Gator]

Apr 13, 2016 11:29:00 GMT -5 striperjohn said:

The same thing applies to Stripers, contrary to what Gator puts out most of the stripers head to the "dark side" from now until mid-June.

John you REALLY need to stop the morning drinking. It his having adverse effects on what you say on this forum and we wouldn't want to mislead anyone. Would we?? Everyone knows that there is a stringer on the BW that consists of 8 fish and mwerd put it there to keep the BW crowd away form the Roanoke side. Granted they are 8 decent fish and said stringer locale is a very guarded secret and must remain so. Therefore, please stop the morning drinking as I am afraid you may divulge the location of said stringer. 

[johnr]

I've never had back to back 100-striper-boated days on the Roanoke side.....

[striperjohn]

Lol. Jack Daniels does it everytime.