Fishing Report

[Bill Babler]

4 guide reports in and all did well in all areas of the lake.

Swimming the grub and dragging seem to be the key with my boys all coming in with middle 30's on fish and great quality with 10 to 20 keepers, catch and release per boat.

Fish seem to be at the same depth lake wide and either wind or calm seem to be producing. The bite just turns on and off at random.

Just get out and fish.

[Sam]

4 guide reports in and all did well in all areas of the lake.

Just get out and fish.

Well, I'm struck by how different the different areas of the lake can be.

My partner and I went out of Gage's the same day, Monday. We've never fished so hard and with so little result in our lives.

We fished north of the 86 bridge, Brushy Creek, and all the coves and points down to Arkansas. Then we went on the Arkansas side and did the same there.

We fished crappie jigs in different weights and colors, up by the banks, in deep water, and around brush. For bass, we swam smoke-colored grubs and worked grubs on the bottom, tried jig-and-pig, Senko worms, several different crankbaits, and we even trolled some. We tried deep water, in-between water, and shallow water. We hit every pea gravel bank, major lake point, spawning cove, and pre-spawn staging area we could find. We fished in the wind, and we fished where it was calm.

I caught ONE 11" Kentucky on a crappie jig, the only bite I got. My partner had two light taps, one on a crappie jig and one on jig-and-pig, and got skunked. We scoped lots of fish, some obviously crappie and some obviously bass, all day long. NO bites, no matter what we did. Water temp was 56 and it was a bluebird day, and it was just beyond tough.

We spoke with guys in about 5 other boats. No one had a single fish to report, not one. Now, my partner and I aren't fishing guides (I think we'd have been giving the client's money back yesterday if we were), but we're not inexperienced fishermen either. I've seldom seen a lake turn off to that extent - to where you just can't buy a bite of any kind, even from short fish. I don't know what to think about that.

Even with good reports, and when you think you know what's going on - that lake can still fool you.

[Bill Babler]

Sam, the Big Cedar Guides did particular well yesterday, near to where you were, but not.

These guys are all swimming grubs between Indian Point and Big Cedar. Most in that area are sitting the boat in 25 to 35 feet. They are making an extremely long cast and counting the grub down about 10 seconds before they engage the reel crank. They are turning it so slow, it makes you sick. It is a full time job to make your clients pay attention to reeling that slow. If the fishing is slow, we all tend to speed up. That is an absolute killer right now.

All most all are flat gravel, some with a bit of chunk. They are starting to catch goggle eye, so if you are not catching the gog's you are in the wrong place.

A buddy told me yesterday, he was sitting in 30 ft. and that was about two casts length off the bank. That should tell you the type of slope they are fishing in the dam area. He had 35 fish with 16 keepers.

Reports today, was just about 1/3 of that, as the bite was really off, from yesterday.

I know this to be a absolute fact...

[Joe G]

The bass seem a little finicky to me. Went out this past Monday, and caught 2 keepers in shallow docks near Kimberlin City during mid-day. However, later when I came back, there were bass all over the place near the surface, and they refused to bite anything. I tried everything, and they would not bite. In fact, I even tossed some live nightcrawlers un-hooked to give them a treat, and they didn't like that either. Could it be they are getting ready to spawn and are uninterested in biting?

[Sam]

Bill - It was just exceptionally tough at that place and time. That happens in fishing, and I tore up both the bass and crappie there just before the cold spell. We fished lots of shallow points just as you describe, and some of my retrieves were so slow that occasionally I'd just let the grub rest on the bottom a little. My partner threw a jerkbait a lot, and worked it real slow.

I know your reports are good, and don't doubt the accuracy. Part of the problem was time of day - we didn't get there until about 9:30 and left about 4:30 so we missed both the early and late bites on a real sunny day.

As far as catching goggleyes to know we were in the right spots for bass, hah. I'd have kissed a goggleye, or anything else that decided to bite that day.

Next time'll be different.