Guided Bass Trip on 7/30

[GuidedBassTrips]

I had a nice gentleman named Howard from New Jersey for a half day of guided bass fishing on Friday 7/30. I want to thank Chapman's Sport Shop for referring Howard to me. Howard not only had never fished Black Lake but had also never caught a black bass before! Howard lives near the Jersey shore and his freshwater experience was limited to trout.

Friday's conditions were like a passing cold front. Stiff north winds in the morning eventually becoming calm and bright by quitting time at noon. I began the morning trying topwater and senkos quickly realizing this wasn't going to work well with Howard's limited experience combined with the conditions. So I set up on a south facing point with live crayfish. This usually doesn't work well when the wind is from the north but I lucked out on this spot. Howard proceeded to catch bass after bass, somewhere between 10 and 20 with most of them smallmouth and probably half of them around 15" and the biggest maybe 3 pounds. Howard really enjoyed the fight of the smallmouth on the light tackle and I think he will be back to Black Lake again. All bass were released.

I also noticed lately that the natural lake current is beginning to pick up. This is something I pay attention to more each year. Current flow has alot to do with how bass position and their level of feeding. One reason the fishing can be difficult during the algae bloom is the lack of flow. The water just sits there and the bass don't bite as good. I think you will see the water begin dropping and also clearing up. Anglers should see an improved bite on the lake in the next weeks ahead.

Good luck to everyone and please practice catch and release.