fishing is rapidly changing

[merc1997 Bo]

i got out yesterday, and covered three areas of the lake.  lots of boat riding, graphing, and searching.  started out at cape fair.  looked from bear den to past piney.  looked every creek all the way to the backs.  loaded up and went to kings river.  looked from viola to the blue hole,  then loaded up again and checked out the big m and eagle rock area.

the lake is fishing extremely small again, but is changing rapidly from colder weather and cold rains.  wt were mostly 65-66 to 61-62, but upper kings got a lot colder because of the amount of rain.  bait fish for the most part are still in smaller pods and on the surface.  this alone will tend to scatter fish.  i have not really looked and how much water is going through the lake right now, but when there is a lot of water going through the lake, it will tend to scattered the shad.

there are some shallower bass to be had, bank to 12 feet, but the ones in 10 to 12, most of the time, you will be a long way off shore.  this is where you guys with the side scan and all of that should be able to quickly pinpoint some bass to catch.  2d will find them too, but takes longer because in that depth, everything tend to move out from underneath the boat when that shallow.

good hunting.

bo

[Quillback]

I was out yesterday too and found it to be extremely tough.  Caught an 18" smallie right off the bat on a swim jig and that was pretty much it.  

[Devan S.]

I fished Kings river on Sunday. Was able to catch 11 crappie. Seen quite a few dead shad floating on top and the crappie were just chock full of 3" shad. 

[willyfish]

For me personally the fall always seems to be tricky. You always hear find or follow the shad. That part of the equation is easy. The problem with that is there is so many of those suckers swimming around that its easy pickings for the bass. They have no need to eat my junk because its like an all you can eat buffet open 24 hrs. I end up just putting the trolling motor down and cover water, they could be anywhere anyway.

[Dock-in-it]

In the Kim City area:

On Oct 6 & 11, we had about 7" of rain and that rearranged the shad and bait fish in the backs. About 75% of the shad seem to have vanished from the creeks and the other 25% moved closer to the center. I routinely try the creeks with little success, so my confidence is on the main lake. I had three shallow keepers this morning on 3 different baits. CB, SB, and jig. And a bonus 20" walleye that smoked a screaming eagle SB on a flat gravel bank in about 4'. I have looked for bass under the shad that are still in the creeks, but no luck yet.

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

We fished the USA Bassin championship on Sat and Sunday out of Mill creek.  Saturday we caught them on mainly jigs up the James pretty good. Then Saturday with all the fog we couldnt go to far so we stopped at a spot my buddy found them schooling a week earlier and we flat went to town catching them on top water over 175ft.  All three species mixed in.  We had a limit real quick and decided to go back up the James and look for a big one on a jig.  Caught lots of shorts but they werent biting it like they were the day before. 

Over all it was really tough for most everybody, very few limits brought in either day. We had a little over 12lbs the first day and a little under 12lbs the second day. Just enough to take the win

[STLbassbuster]

Fished a one day tournament on Saturday and only caught one keeper. Running around and fishing history killed me. Started in big bay and should have stayed. Swim jig, spook, & buzzbait got the nod. Caught a total of 4 all on a 100ft of bank in big bay. 16 lbs won.

[Guest]

so, went back this morning before the rain hit.  we put a smack down on the whites.  they were up on a flat. biters seemed to favor  the 9 to 13 ft. depth.

1/2 chartreuse zinc spoon, and a 1 oz elite blade fished with no skirt and a 3" swimmer on the head  did the damage on them.

 

bo

[Steve McBasser]

awesomwe Merc.....any big ones..?

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Steve McBasser said:

awesomwe Merc.....any big ones..?

most were on the smaller side, but we did have 3 that were in the 3 lb. range.  they are all fun and small ones are better than not catching anything.

when you are just out fishing to have fun, there is not too much that will match the fast paced action of being in the middle of a big school of whites.  lots of bites and rod bowing.  i love finding this time of the year.  get on a good school, and it can be all day fun.

bo