Post by 31Airborne on Dec 2, 2018 16:03:27 GMT -5
Couldn't let 70* temps go by without getting wet. Loaded up the sled this AM and headed to the state park ramp. Two other trailers in the lot and one of those was a pontoon. Fished for ~5 hours and saw maybe (maybe) 4 other boats, all of them bass boats except for one lone striper dood.
Was pleasantly surprised to see 52+* at the state park ramp so I started immediately looking for bait. Marked a few small pods so that queued me into starting in the backs of creeks and coves. I motored downlake a few miles w/ the plan to bounce from point to offshore hump back towards the park, then uplake a bit (just short of the 122 bridge). I marked some bait but not a lot. Herring and a few small pods of gizz. Managed to get bit on an underspin, a medium running crank bait, and a c-rig. No takers on deeper divers, blades, or rattle baits. No real pattern to the bites save for depth - 10-15' was the magic range for me. If there was some wood or brush in there that helped. I had no bites up shallow. Marked lots of fish deeper but none of them had any interest in my baits.
Observations: 1) Temps were steady between 52 and 53.5. A little cooler as I made my way uplake. 2) Water clarity was good - in fact, perfect for me. A slight stain w/ ~3-5' of viz. Water picked up a little more stain the further back into the creeks I went. Main lake looked ~clear. 3) Most of the bait activity I saw was deeper and on the bottom. I didn't mark any bait towards the mouths of creeks/coves. Everything I saw was back. 4) Secondary points were better than main lake points. Wood was better than rock. 5) I didn't see any schooling activity but I did see a lot of gulls working bait.
I never did see any of that 70* we were supposed to get until I got back home. Front was moving a lil slower than I hoped. No matter. Felt good to get out and give the sled a few good runs.
peace,
B
Was pleasantly surprised to see 52+* at the state park ramp so I started immediately looking for bait. Marked a few small pods so that queued me into starting in the backs of creeks and coves. I motored downlake a few miles w/ the plan to bounce from point to offshore hump back towards the park, then uplake a bit (just short of the 122 bridge). I marked some bait but not a lot. Herring and a few small pods of gizz. Managed to get bit on an underspin, a medium running crank bait, and a c-rig. No takers on deeper divers, blades, or rattle baits. No real pattern to the bites save for depth - 10-15' was the magic range for me. If there was some wood or brush in there that helped. I had no bites up shallow. Marked lots of fish deeper but none of them had any interest in my baits.
Observations: 1) Temps were steady between 52 and 53.5. A little cooler as I made my way uplake. 2) Water clarity was good - in fact, perfect for me. A slight stain w/ ~3-5' of viz. Water picked up a little more stain the further back into the creeks I went. Main lake looked ~clear. 3) Most of the bait activity I saw was deeper and on the bottom. I didn't mark any bait towards the mouths of creeks/coves. Everything I saw was back. 4) Secondary points were better than main lake points. Wood was better than rock. 5) I didn't see any schooling activity but I did see a lot of gulls working bait.
I never did see any of that 70* we were supposed to get until I got back home. Front was moving a lil slower than I hoped. No matter. Felt good to get out and give the sled a few good runs.
peace,
B
