8/3-8/8 Morning Fishing

[CentralIowan]

Spent all last week down on the lake in the James River Arm (annual family vacation) Each morning Dad and I fished from 530/600 until we were too hot which usually put us at 9 or 10. We stuck to the points between marker 9 and 11 and it seemed like the closer to 11 we were the better the fishing was. For the week b/w the 2 of us we boated probably 15-18 LM's most in the 12-16" range and one SM. We probably hooked and lost another 10 before getting to the boat. Highlight of the week was the spectacular LM on tuesday morning....23" and 6 1/2 lbs (huge!!) We had our best luck on Carolina rigged plastics in 20-25 FOW. Tried jigs, jigging spoons, cranks, spinners, etc....but best was the Carolina rig w/ some shade of green in the plastic.

One question, if anyone knows, one morning we fished around Oswalt Bluff and we were marking hoards of fish below that in the 50-70 FOW range but could not even muster a bite in that area. We wondered if it was a false reading or if we were missing something there? Any thoughts on that??

--------------------

Eric F.

[Whack'emGood]

Eric,

Sounds like you had a good week... and fishing with your dad makes it the best. Great memories were made. Congats on the huge fish!! I haven't seen or heard too many fish 6+lbs caught this summer. That is a really rare fish. Enjoy that one!

I have noticed those same type of huge schools of fish on the graph out deep quite a few times this summer. I always suspect they are Kentuckies, but don't catch any. I am not a deep fishing expert- so I am puzzled by this as well. Some of the great deep fishing guys on here may be able to clue us in on that.

Whack'em

[Don House]

Guy's I would look at two types of fish at that depth.. 1) Spotted Bass, but schooled already? No too sure about that one, maybe small schools. My vote would go to the White Bass, found some like that today, fish were suspened in 35 - 45 feet or just below the shad schools, but out in 145 feet of water.. We dropped down spoons and had two bites, not really big but alot of fun bring them up..

Good Fishing Everyone

Capt. Don

[S&M]

I'm with Don, it sounds like a large school of white bass. Next time you come across a school of fish like that, cast out a white jigging spoon past the school and let the spoon flutter through the school in a horizontal retrieve.

Last year I ran into a school of whites that kept me busy catching 3 and 4 pound whites for 3 hours straight. I must have caught at least 30 or 40 whites from that school. A memory I'll never forget.