Dock-in-it

I caught this one this morning on gravel using a 3.8 swimbait scrubbing the bottom in 12 to 16 ft. I put the boat in about 22ft and make a 45 degree cast toward the bank and try to cover as much 12 to 16 depth as I can. The bottom slime in Kim City is fairly prevalent, so the 3.8 swimbait on a 3/8oz head works like a crankbait without the slime issue. This pre-spawn period has so many options and the fish give are giving me very few clues to maximize my catching. This one weighed 5 even.

Larry, is the attached picture an example of what you seen ?

I am glad the BFL guys had a nice weather day for fishing. Their practice days were tough conditions with extreme winds and/or rain. I noticed a fair amount of names from Truman and LOZ. The fish I caught were postured for a jerkbait, but I have more confidence in the swimbait to work at different depths above the trees. Also, I am not sure I could have caught much throughout the remainder of the day.

I fished from 7:30 to 10:30 in Kim City area and had decent luck with a underspin and plain swimbait. I fished the mouth of a spawning cove with my boat setting in 45' and casting to 25' and slow rolling over trees. I had 10 fish with 8 keepers, 3 LM and 5 Ks. One LM was 5.11 using a 2.8 inch plain swimbait. Another LM was 5.5 using a 3.8 inch plain swimbait. This time of year, the plain swimbait can out perform an underspin. I caught a few keepers on the underspin and the rest on a plain swimbait. The area I fished had very little bait compared to when I fished it 10 days ago. Ten days ago it had too much bait in the area. The WT was 43.5 to 46. Some shad are still dying, but it seems to be minor. I could not move around much due to the amount of boats in the BFL tournament. For me, the main feeding time was over at 9AM. I would estimate my best 5 weighed 18.5 Lbs. This post has been promoted to an article

Bob Tyndall wrote a series of articles for Bassmaster magizine back in the 90's called seasonal patterns. Sping, summer, fall, winter. His fall or winter article describes how to catch the deep vertical fish especially on long gravel points. I hired him as a guide a few decades back for post spawn red fin and flutter spoon techniques. Before Dick Collier moved to Springfield, I enteracted with him on the lake several times. He has paid his dues looking for and catching deep fish. Dick may not even know if his equipment works in water less than 30 feet.

I was upstream from the Kim City bridge. I kept my boat in 30' and fan cast over trees in 15' to 30'. Some of the fish I caught had live shad in their mouth. Before the last extreme cold spell I caught a swimbait limit one day where they all came less than 12'. The shad are located for a potential great pre-spawn bite. There is so much bait that it might impact how fast the bass migrate to their desired pre-spawn location.

I fished Kim City area this morning and had 5 keepers on the underspin with 3" swimbait. Tried 5 locations and the 5th location was a channel swing with the right mix of trees and bait and there were just a few dying shad at this location. Watch for any surface activity and take advantage real quick. The surface activity is short lived. The lake is busy.

Has anyone used one with air temps below freezing, where you have a little ice in the guides and on the reel face where the line enters?

Bo-doodle does it again.... good job. How bad is the bottom green slime in the depth range you are fishing? In the Kim City area it is a nuisance at least out to 10ft. I fished Friday and Saturday morning. On Friday morning, I had 5 keepers and blanked on Saturday morning doing the same technique in the same general area. Caught my fish slow rolling a 2.8 swimbait on 1/4oz head scrubbing the bottom.

QB, are you seeing lots of shad and is there a shad kill going on? in the Kim City area there are tons of shad everywhere I want to fish and a steady shad kill.

David G, this time of year I fish between Pt6 and Pt9. Just fyi, there are plenty of rigs at the Mill Creek ramp, so the area is getting a little attention.

I tried the a-rig this morning for the first time this season and had some success. I started out with swimbait, grub,,, etc and realized the few fish I was seeing were not interested in those baits. I had 4 keeper LM, one weighed 5.10 and another 6.3. Also had 4 shorts. Based on previous trips, I knew where the bait would be located. The LM were setup over trees and there was stacked shad about 70 yards away. I did not catch anything around the stacked shad. For some reason the LM preferred setting up in good trees vs being in the middle of shad. I tried three locations this morning and they all had shad and deep trees. There was no wind early this morning and the wind picked up around 10AM when I was wrapping up. WT 42-43. The rain seemed to put a little stain in the water. The vertical deep bite might be over, my screen showed no fish 90% of the time. The fish did not seem active today, so I was lucky to catch a few.

I normally fish from 7 to 10AM and I struggle on plenty of days. I fish deep 90% of the time. If I find active/feeding fish, I am able to see (on my screen) the feeding period start and stop. Some days it is done by 9AM and others it will last until 10AM. The screen will show fewer and fewer fish as the feeding period peaks and starts to wind down. Currently, the key for me is finding the right amount of shad. Some places are stacked full of shad and I have to avoid those locations. On some of the days you fished there was no wind in the morning feeding period, then the wind would pick up for jerkbait conditions but the feeding time had expired. I really like the very calm mornings because I can idle in a area and search with my eyes for flickering shad. I can easily see flickering activity 200 yards in any direction. I have invested a little time with a crankbait and you can catch some on primo locatons when conditions are right.

I had 6 keepers this morning (5 SM and 1 LM). All on the kastmaster spoon. I tried underspin, grub, and swimbait, but no bites. I tried the ice jig on some stubborn fish and realized the fish were better postured for a hortizonal presentation. The kastmaster works good when the shad are thick and you need a little flash to attract a few bites. The a-rig would have produced a lot more bites, but I thought i still needed a little more practice with old school baits.

The WT bumped up to 45. The feeding activity stopped at 10AM. You probably would not comprehend the potential of this location if you scouted it after 10AM.

The main lake deep bite locations have become overloaded with shad and I can not find active fish. I assume they only need to travel a few feet and eat all they need in a few minutes. With the warm temps and calm conditions this morning, I decided to spend time scouting both main lake and creeks. I was able to find active fish in a creek. I did not find any big balls of shad in the creek , but there were small pods of shad from the mouth to the back. I caught fish on a ice jig, jerkbait, 4" grub, kastmaster casting spoon, and a under-spin with 3" swimbait. I only had 4 keepers, but that was my fault. I could not figure out the best bait/presentation. I am sure an a-rig would work. There is also a crankbait bite at least on the main lake, but I think you would have to run and gun and just hit the premium locations vs going down a bank. There are two LM pictures, one caught this morning feeding on shad and one caught yesterday on a crankbait with a crawdad in his throat. Notice the difference in girth, the shad eater has a full stomach. This post has been promoted to an article

Lately, I have been avoiding creeks and staying on the main lake. Staying on the main lake limits your location options for a particular day because of wind speed and direction. For quality LM locations I look for deep scattered trees associated with a deep gut or channel swing and you need plenty of shad in the general area. Start looking at daylight and do not stop the boat until you say WOW. The feeding period is short and you can not waste time in a marginal location. Currently, I try to keep my boat in 50-75 ft while searching. The gravel flats will hold them, just start looking in 50' and look for fish more so than shad. Winter winds do not give you many days to fish gravel flats.I struggle on plenty of days, but I enjoy getting even with them from time to time.

Man, it sounds like your paying your dues and getting some payback. Regarding the hook set, I think you have the right approach. I use med-heavy rods in 6' 10" to 7 ' and use 14lbs/green bass pro shops mono Excel line. The 14lbs probably has a smaller diameter (compared to 20lbs) that allows the spoon or ice jig to fall quicker and still have plenty of strength. Regarding the missed bites, that is part of the deal. Its like they are slapping it. Just get the spoon/jig back in front of them and try to aggravate one into biting again. I was glad to get your report that the gravel roll offs are still working.

Nice fish and good numbers. Did you see any surface activity in the calm conditions?

I struggled on Jan 24-26 catching only one fish in about 7 hrs of fishing. I could find mountains of shad, but no active fish. This morning I was able to find the bait and active fish. I capitalized on a early 30 minute horizontal bite that was done by 8AM. I had 5 good keepers, mostly largemouths including a 6.8 lbs and a 3lbs. They came on a 4" yamamoto grub in smoke/red flake on a 3/8 jig head. I would cast the grub and just countdown to 3 or 4 seconds. From 8-10AM, I caught 7 more keepers vertical fishing with a 7/8oz slab spoon. One of those was a 4lbs largemouth and the rest were mainly Kentuckies. I did not catch one vertical fish on the ice jig and I wasted a lot of time trying. The vertical fish wanted the slab spoon near the bottom and just barely twitching it about every 5 seconds. I could not catch any vertical fish that were above 35ft. The vertical fish are very stubborn and you have to have more patients than they do. I kept the boat in 40 to 55 feet of water. Water temp is between 43.5 and 44.5. There are two pictures of the 6.8 LM and the other two pics are the 3lbs and 4lbs LM. So 12 keepers and about 25 total. View full article

The WT was 45.3. It might take a long lasting extreme cold spell to drop down from 45. Last year the WT was 46 to 47 on Jan 11th and it took 7 days of extreme temps to drop the WT to 43. These comments just apply to the Kim City area.