08/15 & 08/16 Report

[J-Doc]

08/15/15

Quick report.  Not much to report really.  Bite is still tough. I can find fish, just can't seem to get bites.  

Took a tip and dropped night crawlers on a split shot rig and drop shot to fish.  I know there were fish on the bait because I could watch the fish swim up to investigate the falling morsel of food on my graph. They would look at it, then swim away. When you can't get fish to bite  a night crawler on a super small hook on 6lb line......man it's just tough.  That or I have not found the banana that F&F hid in my boat. I swear I'm jinxed this summer. Found several pods of fish ranging in depths but most were still around the 20ft range.  Some deeper.  Water was 84 in PC when I launched and 86 when I loaded.  

COol thing about a Mercury.  Run from Prairie Creek to Horshoe Bend and into a few coves along the way and Ionly burned 3 gallons of fuel. Man I'm really enjoying this new motor.  Fast enough to get me there, easy on the fuel, starts in a second with no problem. 

I did see this at the Hwy 12 Bridge Ramp. If you know this person, please explain to them that you need a trailer to get a boat out of the water.  Also explain to them that hogging the boat ramp is just bad practice and discourteous. The guy on the right was almost on the other ramp. There are only two ramps there and when the water is high, you have to know where they are.  I guess her lower unit was not important to her....

Fish caught.  A fat spotted bass trolling and a good sized catfish on dropshot nightcrawler.  I piddled and ran around the lake looking for spots more than anything.  But I did troll athe least a mile in a certain area with on the bass below to show for it.  It's just a tough year.  I don't think my baits are getting as deep as I thought they were either.  Which could be hurting me badly.  

Not much to show for a few hours effort but the traffic is getting better, the lake is cooling off, and school starts this week.  After the upcoming holiday, the lake should be back to normal.  :-)

 

08/16/15

First trip for me to Holiday Island.  Nice marina, great scenery, nice area. Will definately go back. 

Ended up taking a boat ride almost to the dam from Holiday Island.  Trout (I call them unicorns) were non existant.  We saw two fish from 62 bridge up to Parker Bottoms past Spider Creek Resort. Yes, I got a 19ft bass boat up to Parker Bottom. It was about 6-8ft up there and 44 degrees if memory serves. No bait to be found until you get to around Beaver.   There was a cool transition in water temp. Dropped from 84 to about 56 or so in a 50yd stretch. That was really neat to see.  

 

Here's the fog cloud at the temperattendance change.

Bridge at Beaver

This is the railroad bridge below Beaver.  It's usually way up in the air.  Not so much today.  

[zarraspook]

Great pictures--Don't know if it is your camera or the new website...

[fisherofmen11]

Nice pics and report. 

[Bradsnation]

Nice report. I saw the boat at why 12 from the hwy. can't fix stupid.  Those fish that have been chasing will get hungry soon I hope. 

[J-Doc]

Samsung S6 phone.  16 megapixels.  It does have a great camera.  And I think the new website does do a great job with photos. 

[J-Doc]

Nice report. I saw the boat at why 12 from the hwy. can't fix stupid.  Those fish that have been chasing will get hungry soon I hope. 

Oh quite the contrary....

 

The fish are getting fat on this years high water threading shad.  I was practicing throwing my cast net and netted some.  A bait ball the size of the bed of my truck was right at the surface and I could see Kentucky bass and whites gorging themselves on the bottom side of the bait ball only 5ft below me at the bow of the boat.  

 

I'm afraid they are going to have plenty to eat this fall and will get target lock again.  They only want that one source of food.  They will eat on it for weeks. 

[Bradsnation]

Sheath bait balls are in abundance right now. I saw one in the cove by hwy 12 boat ramp  that was from the surface to the bottom. 24 ft of water. I have notice with the few degree of water temps the fish are at least little more active. I do hope they are getting fat. 

There is no telling what weather we have this fall. El Niño may be a factor. 78 degrees for the high on Thursday. Loving it. 

[J-Doc]

I forgot to upload my sonar screenshots.  They would make you sick.  Bait balls thick from top to bottom. Up to 30ft deep.  That's a 30ft thick bait ball and no telling how wide. I think side scan picked it up too.  I'll see if I can upload a few shots tomorrow. 

[RyanG]

Those are some awesome pictures. I havent been on the river below the dam beyond spider creek, its cool to see the bridge from that perspective. Glad to see you were able to get a few fish in the boat! I really miss being out there. Hopefully soon, coming up on a month without being on the water. Way too long.

 

[Stump bumper]

Did you try spooning below those bait balls? Don't worry about how big those bait balls are, a few passes from a school of whites and they will be wiped out. I don't think we got below 41 degree water much last winter and did not get a good shad kill so it should lead to the young bass growing bigger faster. When those shad move back into the coves for warmth, the fishing will be non stop, and the deer hunters will miss out!