Post by 31Airborne on Jun 30, 2017 13:38:13 GMT -5
Got out for a few hours this AM, getting a head start on the holiday weekend. Wanted to beat the rec crowd - the plan worked. Only one other truck-trailer rig in the parking lot when I arrived, only two more hand joined when I came off.
My plan was to try my patterns from SML and Leesville a couple weeks ago - running main lake cuts and points. I started off on top. No takers on my spook. Had one swirl on the frog but wouldn't eat it. After that I worked the banks and laydowns w/ a medium running crankbait. Didn't take long to find the fish. They were holding between 8-10' on the ends of laydowns and outer edges of submerged brush. If the bait clicked off of a branch a fish ate it. Worked a weightless fluke for a while to see if that bite was still working. Managed a couple of shorties. These came from shallower water and were tight to wood. Had a better fish on but it shook off before I could get a good look. I threw a jig for a bit without a sniff.
Observations: 1) Water temps were steady at 76-77* everywhere I went. Water has cleared up a lot since my last outing but still has a slight stain. Algae bloom? 2) Lots of baitfish in the cuts I visited. Huge pods of small and large fish. I suspect some of the larger fish may have been white perch. Pods were fairly shallow (10-15'). I did see some feeding activity on a couple of the smaller profile baitfish pods. 3) All of my strikes came from a very narrow zone. I had to hold the boat right up on the bank in some cases to keep my bait in the strike zone. Had to be really patient fishing this way. There is no shortage of wood in Claytor so every turn of the handle brought the bait thru another limb. 4) Thought the cloud cover might enhance the topwater bite. Was disappointed it never materialized. The fish were still pretty active. They were choking my crankbait.
I scored the Claytor slam today - had a keeper LM, SM, and spot. Enjoyed having the lake to myself. Saw only two other boats out and they were striper fishing. I came off at the perfect time - there were a half dozen rec boats lined up to launch as I recovered. I could hear the conversation at one of the boats. The dood was taking it out for the first time. I did not stick around to witness the antics at the ramp.
peace,
B
My plan was to try my patterns from SML and Leesville a couple weeks ago - running main lake cuts and points. I started off on top. No takers on my spook. Had one swirl on the frog but wouldn't eat it. After that I worked the banks and laydowns w/ a medium running crankbait. Didn't take long to find the fish. They were holding between 8-10' on the ends of laydowns and outer edges of submerged brush. If the bait clicked off of a branch a fish ate it. Worked a weightless fluke for a while to see if that bite was still working. Managed a couple of shorties. These came from shallower water and were tight to wood. Had a better fish on but it shook off before I could get a good look. I threw a jig for a bit without a sniff.
Observations: 1) Water temps were steady at 76-77* everywhere I went. Water has cleared up a lot since my last outing but still has a slight stain. Algae bloom? 2) Lots of baitfish in the cuts I visited. Huge pods of small and large fish. I suspect some of the larger fish may have been white perch. Pods were fairly shallow (10-15'). I did see some feeding activity on a couple of the smaller profile baitfish pods. 3) All of my strikes came from a very narrow zone. I had to hold the boat right up on the bank in some cases to keep my bait in the strike zone. Had to be really patient fishing this way. There is no shortage of wood in Claytor so every turn of the handle brought the bait thru another limb. 4) Thought the cloud cover might enhance the topwater bite. Was disappointed it never materialized. The fish were still pretty active. They were choking my crankbait.
I scored the Claytor slam today - had a keeper LM, SM, and spot. Enjoyed having the lake to myself. Saw only two other boats out and they were striper fishing. I came off at the perfect time - there were a half dozen rec boats lined up to launch as I recovered. I could hear the conversation at one of the boats. The dood was taking it out for the first time. I did not stick around to witness the antics at the ramp.
peace,
B