Post by 31Airborne on Jun 1, 2020 13:30:08 GMT -5
Managed a couple of rec boat-shortened trips on FRI and SUN. Don't get me wrong - I have no issues w/ rec boats. They have just as much right to the water as fishermen, kayakers, and everyone else. It's just that the volume of rec boat traffic can be intolerable at times. Guess they say the same sort of thing about bass fishermen . . .
FRI was mostly a scouting day. I continued my work in the midlake region, spending a little more time charting cover on and around docks and points. I revisited a good number of the way points I've logged in my early spring trips in an attempt to capture more detail. I learned a lot. Was able to work a couple of baits thru some of those that triggered strikes. No giants but some solid keeper fish. I also spent some time studying docks. They're not all created equal, you know, esp when you consider the geography under that water. Add manmade enhancements to that and you have the potential for something special.
I attempted to put some of my newly gained knowledge to use on SUN. Things started out just fine - was getting bites (again, no giant but some solid keeps), was able to get patterns to repeat. Then the first ski boat came out. Was one of those old fashioned wooden jobs, like you see in the movies. Had a big-azz motor in it w/ a pretty radical cam. The little girl on the skis was tearing it up, too. She def had some skill (talking about skiing here, doods - just to be clear). Didn't take long after that for the first jet skis to come out. Then came the first wake boat. It passed way too close to a striper dood who was trolling the main creek channel. I mean dangerously close. The striper boat captain was trying to film the waker, prob so he could report him. Poor guy almost fell in. After regaining his composure he pulled up and moved on. I was right behind him. I made three more stops after that, all in places I thought would put me out of range of the rec boaters. Nope. Omnipresent and obnoxious. Had hoped to spend the entire day on the water but opted to call it quits around 10. I'd had all I could take at that point.
Observations: 1) WTs at launch both days were lower 70s (70.4-71.4) (state park). Saw mid-70s in several spots. 2) Water has a good stain on it mid lake but it's perfect for me - ~3' of viz. Cleaner water further down lake but it still has a bit of a stain. Gets dirtier the further up river you go. 3) Didn't see any flotsam midlake. I did see some debris along the shoreline vic the state park. Otherwise the main channel and creeks were clear, safe to navigate. 4) Had a few top water strikes (buzz bait worked best for me), all of those in <2'. Had a couple bites while working docks - those strikes came in 1-4' of water. Aside from that the magic range was 8-12'. Some fish were on breaks, others were on cover (rocks or wood). Points did come into play - secondary points were better than main lake points. 5) Wind effects were all backwards for me. Thought I would have better results fishing in the wind. Nope. Almost all of my bites were in calmer water. Could be a function of being able to detect/react to lighter bites. 6) SK DD 1.5 was better than a DT-10; DT-6 was better than the SK DD 1.5. Greens for soft plastics and trailers.
A couple of y'all were kind enough to send water condition reports my way before these outings - thanks to one and all. Having a solid picture of lake conditions is helpful, esp after rain like we've had these past few weeks. Some really good doods on this board. Hope to return your kind favors soon.
peace,
B
FRI was mostly a scouting day. I continued my work in the midlake region, spending a little more time charting cover on and around docks and points. I revisited a good number of the way points I've logged in my early spring trips in an attempt to capture more detail. I learned a lot. Was able to work a couple of baits thru some of those that triggered strikes. No giants but some solid keeper fish. I also spent some time studying docks. They're not all created equal, you know, esp when you consider the geography under that water. Add manmade enhancements to that and you have the potential for something special.
I attempted to put some of my newly gained knowledge to use on SUN. Things started out just fine - was getting bites (again, no giant but some solid keeps), was able to get patterns to repeat. Then the first ski boat came out. Was one of those old fashioned wooden jobs, like you see in the movies. Had a big-azz motor in it w/ a pretty radical cam. The little girl on the skis was tearing it up, too. She def had some skill (talking about skiing here, doods - just to be clear). Didn't take long after that for the first jet skis to come out. Then came the first wake boat. It passed way too close to a striper dood who was trolling the main creek channel. I mean dangerously close. The striper boat captain was trying to film the waker, prob so he could report him. Poor guy almost fell in. After regaining his composure he pulled up and moved on. I was right behind him. I made three more stops after that, all in places I thought would put me out of range of the rec boaters. Nope. Omnipresent and obnoxious. Had hoped to spend the entire day on the water but opted to call it quits around 10. I'd had all I could take at that point.
Observations: 1) WTs at launch both days were lower 70s (70.4-71.4) (state park). Saw mid-70s in several spots. 2) Water has a good stain on it mid lake but it's perfect for me - ~3' of viz. Cleaner water further down lake but it still has a bit of a stain. Gets dirtier the further up river you go. 3) Didn't see any flotsam midlake. I did see some debris along the shoreline vic the state park. Otherwise the main channel and creeks were clear, safe to navigate. 4) Had a few top water strikes (buzz bait worked best for me), all of those in <2'. Had a couple bites while working docks - those strikes came in 1-4' of water. Aside from that the magic range was 8-12'. Some fish were on breaks, others were on cover (rocks or wood). Points did come into play - secondary points were better than main lake points. 5) Wind effects were all backwards for me. Thought I would have better results fishing in the wind. Nope. Almost all of my bites were in calmer water. Could be a function of being able to detect/react to lighter bites. 6) SK DD 1.5 was better than a DT-10; DT-6 was better than the SK DD 1.5. Greens for soft plastics and trailers.
A couple of y'all were kind enough to send water condition reports my way before these outings - thanks to one and all. Having a solid picture of lake conditions is helpful, esp after rain like we've had these past few weeks. Some really good doods on this board. Hope to return your kind favors soon.
peace,
B
