jeb

I saw a bunch of NICE bass crusing in 1-3' of water late last week in the mid-lake area. There were a bunch of HUGE carp in there, too, but many really nice LM, too. I caught one 3+ LM in a foot of water dragging a short leader C-rig through it. So some are still spawning.

Fished in the Avoca cove for a couple of hours today, in the PC area. Visiability was about 4' or so.

Prarire Creek, Coos Hollow and Ventris were all VERY clear on Tuesday, which was after the big rain we'd had. I was quite surprised by that. I was able to see down a good 12' or so in some areas up in Ventris. Some of the clearest water I've seen on this part of the lake. Which can make for some tough fishing, of course.

I've heard the spots do. But I think the LM's, by and large, like the 5' or less water. The lake seems to be down about a foot so far. Interesting fishing some of the spawning coves yesterday in the lower water. The water is also much clearer than I'd seen for a while. So dozens and dozens of beds are right in your face now. There are a bunch of HUGE carp back in there now, but I saw (and caught) a fair number of bass swimming around in 1-2' of water yesterday, too. One really nice LM yesterday, too.

Thanks for the info. So only a 2' drop. Not too bad, then.

Heard at HLS today that a "JR" won it with 15lbs. Won a new boat too, I guess. I was really surprised with the small weight given some of the big fish I was pulling up recently. I guess the spawn is DONE! Or at least for the big bass.

No kidding! This is horrible timing. What are they thinking? Wait a month until the spawn is over!

Funny! I'll have to look at PC marina on my way by this morning to see if they're playing there, too. Caught a 17" walleye up in the shallows yesterday afternoon (9' or so), dragging a short C-rig for bass. Big fat one, too. Wish it'd been 1" longer!

I'll be qualified by 10am tomorrow. First open water dive at the dam today went like clockwork. I'm taking private lessons to get through this process FAST. Will take 3 days total, but only because you can't do all the open water dives on one day, per the certification organization. Otherwise, it would've only taken two. No camera, though. I might try to find a waterproof box for one of my digi cams, though.

Yeah, the prices on some crank baits is getting ridiculous. I'd guess all of the makers will see companies like LC and Spro doing that and all raise their prices to match. Thanks for the report, Jeff. It's killing me not going fishing right now, but I'm my own worst enemy scheduling my scuba classes during the spawn. I'll be back on the water Weds afternoon, though. Hope they'll wait for me.

You are wise to be careful about where you buy, especially something major like this. So check out the seller as much as you can, but there are good deals to be had on electronics out there. I paid about $1100 delivered for a 997C SI at the end of last year when they were closing them out to make room for the 998. Since there were hardly any changes, I decided to jump on the great deal. But that was through Johnson Outdoors (HB's parent company) factory store in Racine, Wi. So not much to worry about there. And there is some value to buying from a place like Cabelas. They have a VERY liberal return/exchange policy that not many small online places can match. Hard to put a dollar value on it, though.

Thanks for the report, Jeff. And glad you got your 'fin back. I've not found much slick water lately to try one in. Maybe I'll sneak out this morning and give it a try. All the quality fish I've been catching in the strong winds late last week have been way back in the spawning coves. Just using plastic baits on various rigs.

I guess I should've asked what your price point is, too. I've only used Kislter LTA and Loomis GLX rods for heavier jigs like that in this area. I prefer the Loomis BCR803 GLX for casting them, although my Loomis BCFR863 GLX flipping stick works very well for casting, too. I'm not as big a fan of my Kislter. It just is not as sensitive. I swear you can feel fish breathing on your lure with the GLX's.

Are you pitching/flipping, or just casting, or both? Baitcaster or spinning?

I've owned Lunds and Crestliners before my Skeeter. I like the all welded hulls like the Crestliner. Not that I ever had any issue with rivets in the lund, other than they slow down the boat. We can chat about it on the way up to Springfield tonight. Always fun to spend someone else's money. Good idea on the jerkbaits. I'll have to try that this morning.

Good plan! What are you thinking for a boat? Yeah, as much as it's a PITA for boat control, being in the wind gets you bit, it seems. Almost all the fish I caught today were fighting that NW wind. Caught probably 20-25. 20 were dinks. Some not much bigger than the lure I was using! Aggressive little buggers. Biggest was not big, maybe 1.5 lbs. So still biting, but the quality is down. Lost a few way back in the shallows that had potential, so I think that's where the big fish are. Saw lots of beds, but no fish on them. Water temp was 54(!) at Prarire Creek, but in the low-60's in the main lake. Seems that backed them off the beds a bit.

Thanks for the report, Jeff. Maybe time for a bigger trolling motor since you'll have more time to fish in the near future? Or does the boat just catch too much wind? Headed out in a few minutes myself. There's already some wind this morning. That has helped out the fishing where I've been, so looking forward to it. It does make boat control interesting at times, though! I know I owe you a comeback about tomorrow night. I'd say it's very probable I'm in. Just keep forgetting to bring it up with the wife.

Yep, that's correct. Good tussle, but short lived. I could see it was not a bass pretty much right away, so all I cared about was getting my lure back. I did not keep it.

I caught this thing this afternoon. Never seen one before, but assuming it's a rough fish, like a carp? darn thing jumped on a jig and trailer on a rock wall. Caught a few NICE fish fishing the jig today, BTW. I was fishing rocky, windy points for them. They also hit top water plugs in the same place later this evening. Of course, almost anything works right now!

Mixed bag today. Some spots were good, some were tough. I only fished until about 1PM, and caught several nice fish, but had to move out to deeper water to find them. I caught a few dinks back in the shallows and got lots of taps and short carries. Part of the problem was I was trying out my new rod and reel (Loomis BCR852 GLX with Shimano Core 50 MG7) and it took me a while to get into having to set the hook harder than I'm used to doing. So I think that's why I missed more of the taps than I was used to. Very sensitive rods, as are all my GLX rods, but not enough back bone at times, especially on longer casts. Anyway, the deeper/better fish came on cranks in the first deep structure off the spawning flats. Caught maybe 6-7 legals, about that many more dinks. So not a great day. Someone in the TR forum was mentioning surface plugs working. Anyone had any luck with those, or more specifics about what they're hitting? There sure is a lot of surface action, and I did turn one of those into a legal today by swimming a lizard through the area, but that's more just tossing something in the swirl than anything. Some of the surface action is carp, but some is bass, too.

Sorry to hear about the slow day on black bass. I'd guess the cold front had something to do with it? Headed out here shortly myself, but not sure if I'll continue to see the action I've been seeing given the weather and all the folks no doubt pounding the lake all weekend. But I'm willing to give it a shot.

I bet, Jeff! Have to show them something different everyday, it seems like. Today, they liked the heck out of a split shot rig up in the shallows. Not as many big fish today. 9 legal spots and LM, several dinks. Lots of tapping and carrying off the nests. So a fun day again.

I retired recently (I'm 52), so am trying to avoid fishing on the weekends now. But who knows? With the fish biting good, I might just have to brave the crowds this weekend. The Skeeter in my sig is gold flake and tan. I'll look for you if I'm out.

Thanks for the report. Headed back out in a few minutes myself. I'm more of finesse guy than a power guy, by far actually, so the light bed fishing feel is kind of a natural for me. I also think the flourocarbon line and Loomis GLX rods I use help quite a bit in picking up the light taps. Good luck this weekend!

Mid-lake. Horseshoe bend area up through the Ventris area. It could be they're at different stages of spawn in different parts of the lake, too.