6/17/2014 Dam Site Report

[kjackson]

Launched at Dam Site a bit later than intended-- just before sunrise. The weather report called for wind, but supposedly, it was to be in the mid-teens. It was fine at 6:00 but didn't stay that low for very long. My thought was that with a southerly/westerly wind, it would push up into a couple of areas where I've caught walleyes recently. The wind was there, but the fish weren't. I tried trolling super shallow, and that may be where the fish were, but you can't run over their heads in five feet of water and expect to catch the buggers--at least, that's my excuse. Next time I may try running a board in the shallows with something like a shallow Shad Rap or a minnow bait. But with as much wood as there was in this particular area, I'm thinking it might be more work than it's worth.

When my areas didn't pan out, I headed west to see if I could find some better areas to try pulling crankbaits. But the further west I went, the more the wind blew, and the rougher the water got.

Did run across a nice channel cat that took the Mag Lip 3.5.

However, shortly after I netted the catfish, the foot-high waves became a little taller, and when the footers became two-footers and started throwing spray over the bow, I decided to implement Plan B. I headed into Indian Creek to see if I could find a few bass to play with.

I did catch bass--one nice LMB and a bunch of dink smallies. I also caught what I think is a longear sunfish on a different Ned rig.

Then I decided to challenge J-Doc's smallest fish ever with a green sunfish.

I'm thinking striper bait...

Water temps were 75 to 77 and clarity was 12+ in the main lake and maybe 4 feet or so on windblown banks. Striper boats were fishing in the main channel and around the island.

[nathanhooper]

Good to hear. I was kind of like you the other day. Start to venture out of your norm and the norm calls to you even louder.

I see the water temp might be on its way back up. Were the striper boats on the eastern or western side of the Island? I know when I ventured over to check out the humps near 3 I did see some fish, and at one point before dark I thought I was about to see a school, but wanted to be in familiar waters before it got too dark.

Maybe one day I'll run into you out there. Soon as my boat is done I'm gonna take a day off work and get out for a full day of fishing.

[J-Doc]

I still hold my title of smallest fish on a spoon thank you! :-)

[YAKFM]

Thanks for the report. I've never fished with one, but the Mag Lip 3.5 looks like a fancy version of the Lazy Ike I used many years ago fishing in Canada. My dad lives in LBV so you and Nathan may run me over into me down by Indian Creek one of these days.

[Feathers and Fins]

Great report, it was a Beautiful morning on the lake. I was on it at 5:30 sitting off 12 bridge listening to some Bob Seger enjoying the sunrise waiting on a friend.

[Jerry Rapp]

Great report, it was a Beautiful morning on the lake. I was on it at 5:30 sitting off 12 bridge listening to some Bob Seger enjoying the sunrise waiting on a friend.

night moves?

[Feathers and Fins]

Turn the page

[nathanhooper]

Thanks for the report. I've never fished with one, but the Mag Lip 3.5 looks like a fancy version of the Lazy Ike I used many years ago fishing in Canada. My dad lives in LBV so you and Nathan may run me over into me down by Indian Creek one of these days.

I'll keep an eye out for you. . I would like to see the setup you got sometime. I've watched a lot of guys troll with yaks. Even seen them with downriggers.

[YAKFM]

I'll keep an eye out for you. . I would like to see the setup you got sometime. I've watched a lot of guys troll with yaks. Even seen them with downriggers.

Thanks. Dodging wake boarders is tough enough. I haven't attempted using a downrigger on the yak yet. Between the 4 rods, fish finder, tackle, gear, and refreshments, there isn't much room left for other toys. I typically use snap weights if I need to get deeper than the max trolling depth for a given bait. I've used planer boards with some success too. I have had my kayaks for 14 years now and caught Bull Reds, Cobia, Specs, Flounder, Mackerel, Small Sharks, Musky, Lake Trout, and most other freshwater species in NA, so I have had plenty of opportunity to practice (and fail) with different techniques. I will likely always have kayaks, but I am looking forward to having a boat again soon.

[kjackson]

The Mag Lip 3.5 is an interesting bait as is the entire Mag Lip family. It's a newer version of the Flatfish by Yakima Bait. Not to get into a commercial too much, but the ML series dives deep. The 3.5 will hit the bottom in 15FOW with 85 feet of 10-lb. and I bet it will go even deeper with more line, but I've not tested that yet.

Also, the series has a "skip-beat" action: every little bit it will dart off to one side or the other. That should be a fish killer (and is on salmon and steelhead) but I've not had great luck with it here. One other point: the hardware and hooks on these baits are tough. That cat I caught yesterday did its roll-in-the-net-slime-everything-in-sight-and-flop-a-lot thing in the boat, yet the hooks were perfectly fine.

I'm thinking that the reason I've not done well with the bait is either that I've been using the wrong colors or I've been fishing it too deep. Dunno, y'know. I will try fishing it on a shorter line now, and I'm trying other colors--what I have now are mostly salmon-steelhead colors.

Having said that, I am anxiously awaiting the intro of the Mag Lip 3.0. I fished with some at Niagara last month, and I think they will be killer here. The numeric designator is the length of the lure in inches. The 3.0 is three inches long.