Fishing when water being released

[JMCat]

I forget the strategy people recommend when they are running water through the lake. Fish main lake because shad pulled out of coves? Fish relate more to bottom or suspend?  I know there are some thoughts around this but I can’t remember or find any info.  Any insight is much appreciated.  PM me if you’re not interested in putting it out to everyone right now.  I posted here bc this forum gets most activity.  I’m actually fishing bull shoals next weekend and it looks like the core is running a lot of water through it right now
 

[fishinwrench]

It's all speculative, and not anything you can depend on.    Falling lake levels truly only dependably effect fish that are occupying large shallow flats.   And the mild current produced upstream during dam generation does NOT herd shad out of the coves and onto main lake points.   I know this is a long held belief, but if such was the case, then every shad in the lake would eventually be located within a few miles of the dam.    Shad are inherently riverine creatures, and are far more prone to pointing their nose UPSTREAM.   

Only DEAD FISH go with the flow !

 

[Fish24/7]

14 hours ago, JMCat said:

I forget the strategy people recommend when they are running water through the lake. Fish main lake because shad pulled out of coves? Fish relate more to bottom or suspend?  I know there are some thoughts around this but I can’t remember or find any info.  Any insight is much appreciated.  PM me if you’re not interested in putting it out to everyone right now.  I posted here bc this forum gets most activity.  I’m actually fishing bull shoals next weekend and it looks like the core is running a lot of water through it right now
 

Bull has been running 6-8 units daily and darn near around the clock too.  Lake level has been about as stable as it can be moving up and down a just few inches at a time is all. The bass are scattered at so many depths and places now the current draw hasn't really played much into the bite I'm on. Im always finding the shad and fishing according to the weather conditions we're given. Water temp should be considered as well as the wind direction to find the shad.

We had some strong south winds before this cold front and some coves that had wind blowing directly into them we're loaded with fish and shad.

[MarkG52]

Beaver's new pool policy has had the gates open off and on recently. I can assure you shad are still way back in the creek arms/pockets/coves.

[dtrs5kprs]

55 minutes ago, MarkG52 said:

Beaver's new pool policy has had the gates open off and on recently. I can assure you shad are still way back in the creek arms/pockets/coves.

What's the new pool deal at Beaver?

It took me years to pay attention to the current at TR. I've noticed it more in the summer than spring. Mostly on main lake points and flats. Can read that as flat main lake points too.

We've had some good bites that certainly seemed tied to the generation schedule. I know all the reasons that doesn't make sense, but it's hard to argue with feeding fish.

[JMCat]

Thanks for the info guys. I’ll give an update when I get back.  Never thought about paying attention to the previous days wind direction. That’s a really great tip. 

[dtrs5kprs]

35 minutes ago, JMCat said:

Thanks for the info guys. I’ll give an update when I get back.  Never thought about paying attention to the previous days wind direction. That’s a really great tip. 

Yep. Wind will absolutely put them on the opposite bank from the day before, especially pocket and lake fish. Creek fish seem to stay put a little more.

[Champ188]

The only time I notice any kind of current-related bite on TR is in really hot weather, when they are generating a lot of power and shad do seem to collect on points at that time. Of course, bass will join them. But the only lake where I've really seen it make a difference is Truman. They often run a LOT of water up there during the weekdays, and you can deep crank or drag a football jig on points near the dam and get your junk wrecked by 3-6 pounders. You can actually see the water moving at these times and again, it's a hot weather deal. Problem is, they rarely run much water on weekends so that pattern dries up until they open the gates again on Monday. LOL 

[dtrs5kprs]

1 hour ago, Champ188 said:

The only time I notice any kind of current-related bite on TR is in really hot weather, when they are generating a lot of power and shad do seem to collect on points at that time. Of course, bass will join them. But the only lake where I've really seen it make a difference is Truman. They often run a LOT of water up there during the weekdays, and you can deep crank or drag a football jig on points near the dam and get your junk wrecked by 3-6 pounders. You can actually see the water moving at these times and again, it's a hot weather deal. Problem is, they rarely run much water on weekends so that pattern dries up until they open the gates again on Monday. LOL 

That's classic Truman. Run all week, back it up on the weekends. Same thing happens on a smaller, different scale at La Cygne (power plant lake S of KC).

It's been a while since we've been able to get down in the summer. But in '18 we found fish out towards the lake...creek points, big flats, ledge stuff...with no generation they were reliably "loose".

They were up off the bottom, "catching" baits on the drop and such. If you search, there was a crazy Dixie Jet bite then, June '18. With generation, the drag bite went nuts. Swing heads, tubes, Ned, FB jigs... depending on the cover. Generation absolutely fired them up, put them on the bottom, and/or tighter to cover. They ran it around 10am every morning, and the bottom bite would pick up like an alarm had gone off.

[Ron Burgundy]

On 4/8/2022 at 8:44 AM, MarkG52 said:

Beaver's new pool policy has had the gates open off and on recently. I can assure you shad are still way back in the creek arms/pockets/coves.

What’s Beaver new pool policy ?