12/2/18 - Not a Skunk

[mwardncsu]

Weather: Overcast, some light fog and mist on occasion, temps in the mid-40's to mid-50's
Water: 49 - 52, light stain
Techniques: Freeline & light-line planers & light-lines with 6-7" gizzards

Got up to the lake and out on the water around 1:30 or 2pm on Saturday to try and catch some bait in preparation for Sunday AM and maybe fish a little on Sat evening - headed to a couple of bait holes and it was all holding deep - 25-30+ feet and looked to be mostly smaller bait. Broke out the tape net and threw a few times in the first hole and managed to eventually put two 6" gizzards in the tank - moved up the lake to another creek for a look - found what looked like a little bit bigger bait - again deep - threw the net and thought I had a net full - till I pulled up this striper that had 3' of leader / swivel and mono hanging out its mouth from where it broke off another angler - hook was very deep in the gut where I could not see it, so I cut the line as short as I could and released it to hopefully digest the hook....



Moved on to another creek and started chucking the net and put another dozen or so 6"-8" gizzards in the tank and about 5pm moved back to my own creek - dark set in but I was able to catch some more there - ended up with 20-24 6-8"shad for the morning - not a tank I was proud of, but at least something to fish with.




John met me about 6:30 and we were on the water before sun-up - pulled boards in my creek for an hour or so without a sniff - then moved on up the lake.



We moved on up and watched the water temps drop from 52 to around 46 when we turned back around - partly due to water temps and partly due to a log-jam of trash we saw ahead. Pulled the main channel for a stretch, marking a number of fish that just didn't want to play with what we had to offer. We did have a good hit on a light-lined shad out the back of the boat but it did not hook up. Around 9 or so we finally had a free-line planer board take off - with a spunky 28" fish to the boat to wash away the skunk.



Worked that area for a while and picked up another on a free-line planer - just a hair larger, and then had one on off a down-lined 6" shad but it came loose on the way back to the boat (think the 2/0 circles I had on the downlines may be a little too small for the gizzards)



We moved back down the lake and fished a creek from the mouth to about 2/3 of the way back without any love, and then called it a day about 12:30. Enjoyed time on the water with John - 1st time fishing together - and hope to do it again soon.

[R22]

Thanks for the report, Mike. Glad you got a few to the boat. There are a lot of people fishing and very few reports. There is no way this site should be this quiet with reports this time of year.

As for my report from yesterday - SeaJay and I did not fish. Our day was spent hunting (scouting) for bait.

[mwardncsu]

I've got a report from 2 weeks ago I need to post as well..... just haven't had a chance. About the same as this one however - as little as I've fished this Fall and the lake fishing what feels like a month behind I've just not had the confidence I normally would - but things are rapidly changing now as the lake is leveling out to low 50's (or upper 40's in some spots), but not seeing the major step function in temperatures as you move up the lake, or the mud lines and such - I think November fishing is finally about to get here

[wvhunter]

Dec 3, 2018 10:58:06 GMT -5 mwardncsu said:

...the lake fishing what feels like a month behind... but things are rapidly changing now as the lake is leveling out to low 50's (or upper 40's in some spots), but not seeing the major step function in temperatures as you move up the lake, or the mud lines and such - I think November fishing is finally about to get here

Would you mind to explain a little what you mean by this? I’m a newbie on the lake this year and I’m trying to learn everything I can.

[mwardncsu]

Dec 8, 2018 8:57:52 GMT -5 wvhunter said:

Dec 3, 2018 10:58:06 GMT -5 mwardncsu said:

...the lake fishing what feels like a month behind... but things are rapidly changing now as the lake is leveling out to low 50's (or upper 40's in some spots), but not seeing the major step function in temperatures as you move up the lake, or the mud lines and such - I think November fishing is finally about to get here

Would you mind to explain a little what you mean by this? I’m a newbie on the lake this year and I’m trying to learn everything I can.

Things did not cool down as early this year - it was really well into November before things started to cool to typically Fall temps. The fish have also not really been in the creeks good yet - most of the action has been out in the main channel - usually by Thanksgiving there are a good number of fish in the creeks and up on the banks. I've not gotten a run-down on catches in yesterday's tourney, but in talking with others Friday evening they were all seeing much the same as I have - fish deep & in the channel with the creeks being largely dead - which is more typical of October or very early November fishing....

Also, when the temps first start to drop you see these more stark temperature gradients up and down the lake, especially after larger rains - such as we say several weeks ago after the rain when it was in the mid to upper 40's down to the Moormans / Chander Bro's area and then mid 50's or more below the Tennis Courts - a fairly short distance for a 10 degree swing. Striper tend to like that low 50 range and many times if there is such a stark transition you won't find them in the colder water (at least not in good numbers) - once things cool on down more and it gets into the 40's across the board they will spread back out,

[wvhunter]

Thank you for the explanation! To see if I understand the concept, would a valid strategy on our next trip be to run around a little bit to see if we can find an area of preferred water temps (~50’s) and fish there for the more active fish? In the event this giant snowfall melts and reduces the overall lake temperature into the 40’s then we should target the major creeks?
Will the snowmelt not move the shad out of the creeks if the temps there plummet?

[mwardncsu]

It not so much there being 50 degree water but if there is a sharp break between conditions they like and conditions they don’t as much, then fish that transition. Same goes for muddy water to cleaner. Applied particularly after a big rain.

If everything has stabilized and there is overall cooler water then I’d be checking the creeks as the shallow water will often warm (and cool) the fastest - which I guess again creates those transition points

[wvhunter]

Ahh...think I understand now. Thank you for taking the time to explain.

[mwardncsu]

Any time!