Guided Bass Trip on 8/27

[GuidedBassTrips]

Friday I had Josh and Patrick on board for a guided bass trip on Black Lake. They had fished Black Lake several times before and had good success but were looking to learn more about the lake. We had gotten a late start but since it was a cool post-front morning I wasn't expecting the bite to be good yet. Lately the afternoons have been the best. Josh and Patrick are good anglers so we started with artificials and found the bite difficult. Of course the Senko produced the most bites but they were small fish, all largemouth. Later in the day we spent more time with the crayfish on the bottom. But that bite was also slow. I tend to like to see my customers catch smallmouth on light tackle but there are times when it can be slow. It seems there are just times the smallmouth are after the crayfish and you really catch them. And other times they're not. Josh did catch a solid 3 pound smallmouth on the crayfish but they only caught 3 smallmouth total on them. The senko produced 2 other smallmouth and the rest were all largemouth. They totaled around 20 bass and all were released.

The water has risen quickly in the last few days. I'm unsure how much this effects the fishing but it seemed tough with the techniques I use with my customers. Anglers that like to fish shallow for largemouth with frogs could do well right now. Largemouth are notorious for moving shallow with rising water.

Good luck to all fishing the lake. Please practice catch and release.

[bulldog58]

Nice report Randy, I look forward to your reports. We have some 80 degree days coming in this next week, then I think we will turn the corner for cooler days. I am getting ready for our trip in Oct.
Later Doug

[Niagara-eyes]

I always try fishing shallower, close to the banks under rising water conditions and deeper when water levels are dropping. Its probably a good time to try shallow running lures or topwater along the banks or the inside weed edges and pockets. Even under cold front conditions, its a good pattern to try. Stable or falling water I would fish the deeper weedlines and drop offs after a front passes through using slower presentations or live bait.