Crazy Weekend

[fishinwrench]

Yeah it will dirty up after a rain or during a period of heavy boat traffic.....but then it will clear right back up in a matter of hours.

The consistent "stain" that the water has had for the last 15 or so years just seems to be magically gone.

I'm even seeing some evidence of new aquatic weed growth beginning, which doesn't even seem possible considering that the places where it is growing were dry and frozen solid for a long time.

[Kylekcmo]

Water was pretty clear considering by where I'm at. "48mm" We caught a big mess of Cats but had to toss back most the blues due to the slot limit. Still had plenty to clean with the weekends best being a 36" Blue. Only had 4 crappie worth keeping but mainly fished for cats this weekend.

[moguy1973]

Clear water at LOZ is definitely a good thing!

[WHARFRAT]

I personally like the stained water, but thats me.

[fishinwrench]

I personally like the stained water, but thats me.

In a Largemouth lake....Me too! Unless there is an abundance of aquatic vegetation cover, then it can be as clear as it wants to be.

Shoreline owners won't stand for weedbeds though, it totally freaks them out.

[conorsixtakc]

I personally like the stained water, but thats me.

In a Largemouth lake....Me too! Unless there is an abundance of aquatic vegetation cover, then it can be as clear as it wants to be.

Shoreline owners won't stand for weedbeds though, it totally freaks them out.

When I was growing up and the water had that nice stain to it I'd throw crankbaits all day and catch tons of bass, not to mention nice accidental catches of catfish, crappie, & walleye. Fast forward to now and I feel like I've become a finesse fisherman by trade! I don't think it's a bad thing, but the general increase in fishing pressure and water clarity has definitely forced me to adopt finesse techniques I'm sure I would have avoided when I was younger. Live and learn I guess.

My LOZ personal best came a few months back on a 4" green pumpkin finesse worm. Talk about power fishing.

[MOsmallies]

I was down with a buddy May 16-18 and the bass fishing was pretty decent for us. Fished shallow, behind docks, in the backs of coves and caught about 50 between Friday evening and all day Saturday. Probably 15 keepers. No big ones but a couple around 3.5 lbs. Water was gin clear. Probably 8-9 foot of visibility in spots. Water temps were 63-66. Fish came on Senkos, Prop Bait, Neko Rig, and one on a swimbait.

I came back down again for Memorial Day Weekend with some family and several kids this time. Didn't fish nearly as much as the prior weekend due to running around with the kids and entertaining family that only comes down about once a year. Water was much dirtier than the previous weekend... about 2 foot of visibility. Water temps were 70-74. Fished about 4 hours on Friday morning, an hour on Saturday late afternoon, and 2 hours on Sunday morning. Caught about 20 bass but most were 12-14" and only 3 small 15"-17" keepers. Fished shallow again and a few secondary points looking for post-spawners. Caught fish on Senkos, Weightless Trick Worm, Prop Bait, Popper, Wobble Head, and MJ Rig. Crappie fished off our dock with the kids. Caught 20 in about 4 total hours of fishing with 15 keepers. Only four of the keepers were under 10". Most were 10"-12.5". Cleaned 12 for my neighbor and about half of those still had eggs. All crappie were caught with minnows fished 5-8 feet deep. Our dock is pretty far back in a large cove and sits in about 9-13 feet of water.

Lastly, We had a 4 pounder show up on our sea wall on Easter Sunday. She has been there ever since. Never have seen a distinct bed, but she cruises the same area regularly. On Sunday, we finally saw 2 large schools of fry and she was guarding them pretty aggressively.

[Old plug]

I like the stain on the water. Somehow or other this clear water has done something to the bass spawn in my area of the gravois. Cannot find bed cannot catch a bass that has a torn tail. I had a few good days but the last several have been awful. I think part of it is my fault I am fishing to fast trying to get in as much as Incan in the next couple of weeks before my season goes to the surgery room.

CONNOR----- The boat patrol hit coconuts pretty hard this weekend. We had two patrol boats in here the entire time. Was told the owner is all up in arms about it. I do hot give a darn if he gets sp unset it kills him. Something is going to have to be done like they did on grand glaze.

Mosamallies------- She was a he i am sure. A female spawns several bed then almost immediately returns to the deep haunts. Thats what I usually wait for. I know where some of thOse haunts are.

[MOsmallies]

I always thought the same thing Old Plug and you may very well be right, but this particular four pounder showed up with a 2 pounder on Easter and both have been hanging out in the same spot ever since. The 2 pounder was also cruising around chasing bluegill and carp away from the fry. I guess I'm just assuming the 4 pounder was the female and the 2 pounder was the male. This years spawn has puzzled me as well. Just did not see a lot of beds and the ones I did see, the fish were not locked on them. They were just cruising around a general area. One of the weirder spawning seasons I've ever seen.

The two 3.5 pounders we caught on May 17 had rubbed tails. I've also seen more carp and buffalo up shallow than I have ever seen on this lake. They are all over the place in my area of the lake and they are huge! A bow fisherman's dream!!

[Old plug]

I never heard of anything like that before but I guess its happens. In my area of the Gravois they both would have been devoured by gar. They are just all over the place around here right now. They have bit off several of my jigs and worms in the past couple weeks. Its been kind of a crazy year. We have not seen any sign of spawn around here.