Philpott, VA West FoM, 21 APR 2018
Apr 22, 2018 10:49:42 GMT -5
BentRod, tiltntrim, and 1 more like this
Post by 31Airborne on Apr 22, 2018 10:49:42 GMT -5
Had a crazy week at work going into this one. Was looking forward to anything but being in the office or listening to the churn of corporate BS. Even the weather forecast (strong winds) didn't take away from being away, if you know what I mean.
Practice: Even with water temps in the mid 50s the LM were on beds and in big numbers. I spent THUR scouting around the lower end of the lake and found bedding fish everywhere. Since I hadn't seen this part of the lake before I spent the majority of the time charting and making notes. The few casts I made found fish willing to eat a fluke, a jig, and a c-rig. The better fish came on the c-rig. I spent FRI scouting areas my partner and I had been to before, just to see what (if anything) had changed. FRI was kind of a tuff nut to crack. After a 34* temp swing from the previous day and a low of 34 anything and everything that had been shallow was now in deeper water. Was able to find a few peanuts on crankbaits and the c-rig, again with the better fish coming on the c-rig. I didn't see anything up shallow. Everything I caught on FRI had pulled back to the last set of points before spawning areas. That set my plan for TX day.
TX day: I draw #9 (out of 25) and head for a large feeder creek in the midlake region. After a short run I pull up to a well defined point in the back of one of many coves in this creek. Third cast w/ the c-rig produces a sweet ~4 lb'er. 10 mins later I hook up on a solid 3 lb'er. My thoughts immediately go to that forbidden ground - "did I finally hit the right spot at the right time?" I no sooner thought it to myself than the jinx was on. I caught a peanut about 30 mins later, then didn't have another bite the rest of the day. I fished deeper, shallower, points, more points, wood, rock, sharp breaks, subtle breaks, clay, sand, conifer, deciduous, slow baits, fast baits. Didn't matter. After those 2 very nice fish nothing else in the entire lake had any interest in anything I presented. I finished the day w/ 2 fish for 6.75 lbs.
Observations: 1) Water temps were stable even tho' the weather wasn't. I saw 55 at launch on THUR. Temps ranged from 55 to 57 all over the lake. 2) The water down lake is gin clear - easily 10-12' of viz - even after all the rain we had recently. There's a slight stain to the water mid- and uplake but you still have 6-8' of viz. 3) I found huge alewife schools just about everywhere I went. No feeding associated w/ any of these. 4) The lake is way up. One local shared the ebb and flow of water this past year, from the drought to the deluge. In the days leading up to this TX some 6-7' of water had been pushed thru Philpott.
I did have one adventure during this trip. On THUR, when the winds were raging, I trailered from my downlake launch to the upper end of the lake just to get a look at the water. I plugged the uplake launch site address into my On Star nav system and off I went. At first I didn't pay much attention to the narrow back roads this route took me thru. When the narrow paved road turned to narrower dirt and gravel I got a lil suspicious. When the narrow dirt road was blocked by 2 fallen trees (2 very large trees) I thought it was the end. I could hear the banjo music as some local asked, "You ain't from around here, are ya?" I manage to back the rig up about a mile or so until I found an old [very narrow] gravel driveway. I jumped out to check it out for firmness and to move some of the garbage. It was tighter than a gnat's azz on a fence post but I got the rig backed in and had just enuff room to make the left turn out. Now, the area around Philpott is mountainous. Many of the main paved roads are narrow and twisty. This dirt road had barely enuff room for one car, let alone a full sized pick-up and a boat. Backing up thru all the turns was a true test, I had mountain on my left, 20-30' drop-off on my right. There was zero margin for error. As I made my way back to a paved road and civilization I decided that that had been enuff for one day. I went back to the cabin to rig for the next day. I had a couple snorts to shake off the experience. Woof.
Russ and crew put on another terrific show. The good people at 1st Baptist Church Collinsville laid out a great meal. If you have children take them to Fairy Stone State Park. This place is a true gem - tons of activities for all. The cabins are rustic but have all the amenities.
peace,
B
Practice: Even with water temps in the mid 50s the LM were on beds and in big numbers. I spent THUR scouting around the lower end of the lake and found bedding fish everywhere. Since I hadn't seen this part of the lake before I spent the majority of the time charting and making notes. The few casts I made found fish willing to eat a fluke, a jig, and a c-rig. The better fish came on the c-rig. I spent FRI scouting areas my partner and I had been to before, just to see what (if anything) had changed. FRI was kind of a tuff nut to crack. After a 34* temp swing from the previous day and a low of 34 anything and everything that had been shallow was now in deeper water. Was able to find a few peanuts on crankbaits and the c-rig, again with the better fish coming on the c-rig. I didn't see anything up shallow. Everything I caught on FRI had pulled back to the last set of points before spawning areas. That set my plan for TX day.
TX day: I draw #9 (out of 25) and head for a large feeder creek in the midlake region. After a short run I pull up to a well defined point in the back of one of many coves in this creek. Third cast w/ the c-rig produces a sweet ~4 lb'er. 10 mins later I hook up on a solid 3 lb'er. My thoughts immediately go to that forbidden ground - "did I finally hit the right spot at the right time?" I no sooner thought it to myself than the jinx was on. I caught a peanut about 30 mins later, then didn't have another bite the rest of the day. I fished deeper, shallower, points, more points, wood, rock, sharp breaks, subtle breaks, clay, sand, conifer, deciduous, slow baits, fast baits. Didn't matter. After those 2 very nice fish nothing else in the entire lake had any interest in anything I presented. I finished the day w/ 2 fish for 6.75 lbs.
Observations: 1) Water temps were stable even tho' the weather wasn't. I saw 55 at launch on THUR. Temps ranged from 55 to 57 all over the lake. 2) The water down lake is gin clear - easily 10-12' of viz - even after all the rain we had recently. There's a slight stain to the water mid- and uplake but you still have 6-8' of viz. 3) I found huge alewife schools just about everywhere I went. No feeding associated w/ any of these. 4) The lake is way up. One local shared the ebb and flow of water this past year, from the drought to the deluge. In the days leading up to this TX some 6-7' of water had been pushed thru Philpott.
I did have one adventure during this trip. On THUR, when the winds were raging, I trailered from my downlake launch to the upper end of the lake just to get a look at the water. I plugged the uplake launch site address into my On Star nav system and off I went. At first I didn't pay much attention to the narrow back roads this route took me thru. When the narrow paved road turned to narrower dirt and gravel I got a lil suspicious. When the narrow dirt road was blocked by 2 fallen trees (2 very large trees) I thought it was the end. I could hear the banjo music as some local asked, "You ain't from around here, are ya?" I manage to back the rig up about a mile or so until I found an old [very narrow] gravel driveway. I jumped out to check it out for firmness and to move some of the garbage. It was tighter than a gnat's azz on a fence post but I got the rig backed in and had just enuff room to make the left turn out. Now, the area around Philpott is mountainous. Many of the main paved roads are narrow and twisty. This dirt road had barely enuff room for one car, let alone a full sized pick-up and a boat. Backing up thru all the turns was a true test, I had mountain on my left, 20-30' drop-off on my right. There was zero margin for error. As I made my way back to a paved road and civilization I decided that that had been enuff for one day. I went back to the cabin to rig for the next day. I had a couple snorts to shake off the experience. Woof.
Russ and crew put on another terrific show. The good people at 1st Baptist Church Collinsville laid out a great meal. If you have children take them to Fairy Stone State Park. This place is a true gem - tons of activities for all. The cabins are rustic but have all the amenities.
peace,
B
