Mid Lake LOO Bass Report

[Kathy E.]

Okay, so we tried crappie on Wednesday but there were a bunch of people on our community dock -- only two of whom belonged there -- and they had cleaned out the crappie.  We went out in the boat but had no luck.

But we went out yesterday and I did catch a short bass on the orange Wiggle Wart.  I would cast it all the way to shore where it would snag on leaves under the water 30% of the time.  I mean, the fishing was sloooow BUT I did have THREE other strikes, even though I caught none of them.  I was retrieving fairly slow most of the time although I would alternate with a retrieve, stop, retrieve.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember precisely what I was doing when I got the strikes.  By the way, all of the strikes took place midway from shore to our boat.  BUT I also tried fishing the depth of water where the strikes were coming -- about 10 to 12-feet -- but got no strikes in that area.  It is like they were following the bait out from the shore or close to it. 

Water is clearing up nicely.  It is still stained but better than it was the last time I reported in.

I think we will try to go out again on Monday or Tuesday.  I'd been hoping to go out over the weekend but the weather is looking sort of 'iffy.'

Thank you for your report, slothman.  I had tied on a spinnerbait but I didn't use it.  I did use the Ned rig with no luck; I used a black lizard Carolina-rigged with no luck; and the WiggleWart seemed to do the best even though it was just one fish.  My husband never had a single bite but then he was using a FireTiger Wiggle Wart and maybe that made the difference.

Oh, two of my bites AND the one fish were off of or near secondary points; the other bite was about halfway down a gravel bank off of a main lake point that was NOT on the channel side.  The wind, which was fierce yesterday, sort of dictated where we were fishing.  Our trolling motor is simply no good at handling the wind and my husband will NOT buy another one.  Go figger, right?  No matter where we went, we were in the wind as it was shifting around pretty good.  Another factor probably against us was that the prevailing winds yesterday here where we fish were from the east and southeast.  Sometimes wind direction doesn't seem to matter; yesterday, perhaps, it did.

Not many anglers out yesterday so I think the bite is slow or fairly non-existent.  The ones that I did see, including two with dual power poles (which means they are serious) were concentrating solely on secondary points, if that helps anyone. 

[Kathy E.]

Water temp was 57.8 to 58.6, which should have been getting into ideal territory.  NO signs of bedding activity yet.  All hell is getting ready to bust loose, though.  Maybe I should have tried a jig and pig  but I did not.

[mixermarkb]

If only MY wife was complaining about me not buying a new trolling motor...lol 

[fishinwrench]

Here's a Lake O tip for ya that should be perfect timing.  

As it warms up to near 60° water temp and the lake is still at winter pool levels the crawdads that burrowed under seawalls and big rocks when the water was up last fall/early winter begin to wake up and will crawl to the edge of the waters new level.   Wiggle warts, hula grubs on stand-up heads, or a 3/8 football jig worked from dry ground into the water and down to about 3-4 ft. is a solid pattern.    Bass will cruise those rocky banks at a depth that is just out of sight and will pounce on anything that enters the water from the shoreline.   

If your casts are landing more than a couple inches from the waterline though.... you're screwin' up.    

My personal fav is a 5" Chomper hula grub on a 5/16 Mitch Fields jighead, or a 1/4oz. mushroom style standup head. 

[nomolites]

7 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

Here's a Lake O tip for ya that should be perfect timing.  

As it warms up to near 60° water temp and the lake is still at winter pool levels the crawdads that burrowed under seawalls and big rocks when the water was up last fall/early winter begin to wake up and will crawl to the edge of the waters new level.   Wiggle warts, hula grubs on stand-up heads, or a 3/8 football jig worked from dry ground into the water and down to about 3-4 ft. is a solid pattern.    Bass will cruise those rocky banks at a depth that is just out of sight and will pounce on anything that enters the water from the shoreline.   

If your casts are landing more than a couple inches from the waterline though.... you're screwin' up.    

My personal fav is a 5" Chomper hula grub on a 5/16 Mitch Fields jighead, or a 1/4oz. mushroom style standup head. 

My best days ever have been doing this in the backs of pockets with a slow rolled wart...they usually want It slow and Man do they choke it.

Mike

[Kathy E.]

I have LOTS of Chompers AND lots of Warts.  This is sort of what I was doing with the Wart this past week. We are heading out tomorrow.  I will give this a try. 

What color chomper would you suggest?  I doubt we had enough rain to muddy the water so the color should be excellent, just partially stained and clearing near the shoreline.

Thanks, Mike.

 

Kathy

[fishinwrench]

25 minutes ago, Kathy E. said:

What color chomper would you suggest?

Not too sure that it matters, but I only carry 2 colors.  Green pumpkin, and Pumpkin pepper (basically deep dark green, and/or tannish brown).   

How you work it is probably more important.  I just slowly drag it....we call it "counting the rocks".

[Kathy E.]

Great.  I have both those colors.  Good deal.  Thanks, again!! 

[Bill Babler]

5 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

Not too sure that it matters, but I only carry 2 colors.  Green pumpkin, and Pumpkin pepper (basically deep dark green, and/or tannish brown).   

How you work it is probably more important.  I just slowly drag it....we call it "counting the rocks".

Old School, Old School.  Sea walls/ don't forget ramp edges with a Hula Grub and a wart. Don't hurt if its on a secondary and old as sin either.  If there is any gravel there mixed in I think you got a winning hand.  

Nice Call Wrench.

I like it hard.   She has got me wanting to run up there and test my  limited skills on the Home Pond.

[slothman]

21 hours ago, Bill Babler said:

 has got me wanting to run up there and test my  limited skills on the Home Pond.

Come on up! It is starting to pick up a little.