4/19 Lower End

[Bassin4fun]

I launched from State Park about 5pm last night and fished until about 815pm. Wanted to see what the bite was like on main lake. Water was gin clear. I could see the bottom in 12ft of water. I did not see any activity of fish shallow. So I worked a jerkbait (Vision 110+) in deeper water. Water Temps were 54-56. I ended up with 7 in the boat. My largest fish was a 3lb smallie that fought like crazy. It was a lot of fun for the short time I was out. Very windy though. Big rollers on main lake with some white caps. I didn't run full speed in my boat...and I still got drenched from all the spray. Hopefully, the wind is t so brutal o. Saturday when I will be in my kayak. 🤣 I was throwing the jerkbait on a 7ft Med/Fast Abu Garcia Vengeance rod and an Abu Garcia Black Max reel with PLine 12-lb fluorocarbon.  I just bought that rod as I wanted to try something atva lower price point. I was pleased with its performance. It cast the 110+ well with the 12lb line and the tip was just stiff enough to twitch the bait well and yet forgiving enough that I didn't lose any fish. The sensitivity was good (24T graphite blank) as many of the bites were subtle. I had used a $20 off $100 at Academy Sports...so the rig was maybe $90-$95 with taxes and the line I already had at home. I thought I would mention this because I saw someone asking about reels under $100. I have almost 20 rigs setup and pro ably 15 are with the Black Max or Max Pro reels. I am very happy with these from a cost and performance standpoint. I have those paired up with mostly Duckett Silverado rods...but, I wanted to try out some options that are a bit less costly for rods. I love the Silverado rods. But, the Abu Garcia Vengeance rods are half the price...we will see if they hold up as well as my Silverados.

[Johnsfolly]

26 minutes ago, Bassin4fun said:

26 minutes ago, Bassin4fun said:

Great job on catching some big bellied bass! Sounds like a great day to me. Thanks for the report and photos 👍

[rps]

Thorough report. Great pictures of a good day!

[dtrs5kprs]

Fun stuff. Hope you catch some decent weather for the yak deal, but not so decent everyone is out in anything that will float.

Lot of solid "economy" gear out there.

[bobby b.]

3 hours ago, Bassin4fun said:

worked a jerkbait (Vision 110+) in deeper water.

so what kind of ground - i.e. points ?, dephth?

[Bassin4fun]

57 minutes ago, bobby b. said:

so what kind of ground - i.e. points ?, dephth?

I targeted a main lake point that was a transituon bank...ledge rock on one side and then chunk to gravel as you go around it. That pointst was in close proximity to standing timber that is in deep water (30-80ft). I caught those fish at dusk in about 6-15ft of water. Some other fish I caught were fishing in 25-30ft of water with standing timber that was offshore. I also caught a fish on a secondary point that was in proximity to standing timber. That was 6-15ft depth range. The bank had smaller rock and some chunk rock.

[Fallguy]

What color jerkbait do you like in clear water?

[Bassin4fun]

32 minutes ago, Fallguy said:

What color jerkbait do you like in clear water?

Natural shad colors are what I prefer to throw.