11/14 - 11/16 - Mid Lake Report

[MOsmallies]

Was able to make it down to the lake last weekend (11/14-11/16) with a good fishing buddy and fellow OAF member, Pat Magee. We had followed reports and the weather for two weeks leading up to our trip and despite the massive cold front we still had high hopes for a killer buzzbait and spinnerbait bite..... Well the cold air temps dropped the water temp 6 degrees over the 3 days before we got to the lake. Water temps were still 55 degrees and suitable for a fall buzzbait bite but we didn't know if that quick drop would put em in a funk.

We got to the lake around 2:30 pm on Friday and were casting by 3:15 pm. It was cold but we brought the right clothes and were comfortable. No wind at all.... which worried us a little. Fished until dark, concentrating on chunk rock banks and secondary points in the 1st 1/3 of coves. Also tried some rip rap near the back of a cove. Mostly chucked a black buzzbait and a mouse colored spinnerbait. Threw the jig a little as well. Only had two bites, both from small fish and neither one was landed. It was a little disheartening, but we thought the lack of wind hurt us and it was only an hour and a half of fishing. We still had plenty of weekend left.

Knowing it was going to be cold and cloudy all day, we slept in a little and hit the water at 9:00 am. Started off on secondary point and Pat nailed a small white bass on his 4th or 5th cast... on a shad colored buzzbait. Wasn't what we were after but it was a bite. Had quite a bit of surface activity on that point and for a moment we thought we were in the middle of some feeding white bass. Never materialized though.

Fished until 12:30 pm concentrating on Mainlake banks and banks just inside the main lake that had busted up rock and wind. One bank just inside a mainlake point had wind howling in on it. I decided to try the jerkbait... Had two fish absolutely crush it but both pulled off almost immediately. Thought they may have been white bass slashing at the bait. I caught a small white bass on the back side of a windy mainlake point shortly after on the same jerkbait. Fished one more stretch of bank before heading back in to grab lunch... Landed a 13" Kentucky on the spinnerbait. Rough morning to say the least and we had no pattern to go off of for the afternoon.

Headed back out about 2:00 pm and tried a few more secondary points and busted rock banks to no avail. Decided to try a long, skinny, deep pocket that is mostly free of docks. The rock on this bank was a mix of pea gravel and baseball sized rocks. Pat tried several baits and I tried the squarebill for the first 100 yds of this pocket. I decided to pick back up the buzzbait because if I wasn't going to catch many fish I might as well have the best shot at a good one... About 10 casts later my buzzbait got sucked under and I was able to land one that went 4.16 lbs.

About 10 minutes later I landed another one about 14.5" and 20 minutes later added another dink. All on the buzzbait. I thought the bite was picking up, but that was just about it. The weather was perfect for a good bite... Cloudy, windy, some sleet and mist. Just never got em going. Wind died down late in the day, so we picked a stretch of rip rap around some condo docks and each caught a short on a jig. Another lackluster day but one good fish helped us feel a little better.

Woke up sunday expecting snow and snow we got. Ate breakfast as it started and then headed out again. Only stayed out for a couple hours as the bite was just not on for us and the snow was coming down pretty heavy. It was beautiful to be out in though. Pat nailed a drum on his jig and we called it a trip.

Overall, the fishing was slow, but we had a great time shooting the $h!t and slinging baits. I'll be back down for Thanksgiving, and hopefully I can find a better bite.

[WHARFRAT]

Nice Report. I was down there too, but I wimped out going out in the boat. Spent about an hour on our docks. Caught some small crappie, and small white bass. Spent rest of the time doing some chores.

I'll be back Thanksgiving too.

[WHARFRAT]

Oh, by the way, Nice Pics

[conorsixtakc]

About 10 casts later my buzzbait got sucked under and I was able to land one that went 4.16 lbs.

IMG_3347_opt.jpg

Beautiful fish, great report!

[Pat Magee]

I couldn't have asked for a better time. I was bummed we didn't get a couple more braggers but I'm sure we will next time.

Thanks for the post as well, wonderfully written!

[Dman]

Nice shots! Thanks for the post!