MrGiggles

From the storm that went by to the north this morning.

I caught males really shallow on 5/6 and 5/7, at that time the females were still holding deeper in the same area, which was south of the 245 bridge. I did catch a couple bass up shallow too. Unfortunately I was broken down until the 16th, I have not been able to find any fish up on the bank in the same area as before, aside from dozens of carp. The fish that I have caught this week while trolling were mostly females, and they still had eggs but were not ready to burst like they were before. I'm no expert either, but I know that things like water clarity, temperature, and weather patterns will all affect the depth that they spawn in, and those factors can vary considerably from one end of the lake to the other.

They aren't on the banks anymore. The spawn window opened and slammed shut within a week or so. Water temps were 74 yesterday, 72 today. I messed around tonight and last night jigging on brush and timber, didn't have much luck. The trolling bite is ON though. The big slabs wont leave a flicker shad alone, and I caught two 17" walleyes as well. Most of what I caught were females that still had quite a bit of eggs left, I don't think they had a very successful spawn this year.

I've read people talking about fishing hot spot maps and how good they are. I browse the Navionics maps quite a bit, and I've seen these red fish icons in areas that seem to be good spots, structure wise. I can't help but wonder, are these what you find on the hot spot maps?

I don't understand it either. Ate a 5.5lber out of a farm pond when I was younger, never again. The little ones eat better, IMO a 15" or smaller largemouth is right up there with crappie when fried.

I was out on Sunday and last night. I put in at cedar ridge and went on past the 245 bridge. I caught several nice males right on the bank, and a few decent females on brush in 12-14ft. Same story last night, although the bite wasn't as good. I also caught a decent channel cat, two keeper LMB, and a drum.

I have not seen anything suspicious at Master's or Cedar Ridge. Those are the only ramps that I really use. Never had anything fooled with on my truck. In fact one day after putting in I noticed a safety chain had come loose and was dragging, I left it alone and figured I would get it on the way out. When I came back later a good Samaritan had hooked it back for me. Then again, I tend to stay pretty late in the summer, many times I'm the last one to leave the ramp.

I caught a hump backed eye in the fall, he ate good.

I'd like to see a pic of that 16"er.

I might brave the wind tonight. Will likely go to Pomme though.

Sold.

Looks to me like the bank southeast of the 245 bridge, if those are the power lines that I think they are.

I was out on Friday. Water was stained but not too bad. 53* With the rain forecasted tonight and tomorrow I would expect it to get worse.

What plastics do you guys like to use on the A-rig?

I think I've seen it used to abbreviate Crabtree Cove as well.

For those on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/DaySons-Bait-And-Tackle-195481407714410/?ref=br_rs

I'm glad to see it, I go right through Fair Play to get to Stockton, if I wanted minnows, I had to go clear down to Aldrich and then backtrack to the ramp. I see them doing well, with the amount of fishing traffic that rolls through Fair Play.

I can't speak for the bigger units, only the little 4"ers that I have on my boat. I've got a Humminbird Pirahnamax 4 DI on the bow (transducer on the trolling motor), and a Garmin Stryker 4 on the back. The Garmin is a far nicer, clearer, and easier to use unit. I do not know if the Humminbird transducer does not like to be mounted on the TM (I've had the Garmin transducer on a TM before and it worked fine), but it has never worked that well. Lots of noise in sonar mode, and the down imaging is next to useless.

That's a hog, good job.

I gave it another shot last night, couldn't get bit on anything. Skunked. I went back to the same spot where I caught those two on Friday. 24-28 feet, standing timber nearby. Some fish holding tight to trees (at least that's what my sonar tells me), and the occasional ball of shad with fish on their tail. They moved through quickly and I couldn't really stay on them. Water was 45-47. In my very inexperienced opinion, we still have a little bit until pre-spawn activity picks up. Saw a couple other guys come through, they worked the area and took off, didn't see any fish caught.

Well I put in at Cedar Ridge South, tried fishing the 245 bridge area with no luck, water is still pretty stained down there. Went down Maze and caught a decent white bass and a 12 inch white crappie. If the weather cooperates I will be back this weekend.

I'll be out Friday afternoon, hope to get the skunk out of the boat. Good luck.

I went up Maze last night. Water was tea colored, not bad. Fished timber near the channel, lots of fish on Sonar but couldn't get bit.

Not to play 20 questions, but what is the water like down there? What kind of cranks were you pulling?

Same here. Conservation agent stopped by to check my license and said it had been slow for everyone else.