fish report for 6/16-6/23

[Beaver Trapper]

just got home saturday from black lake it was a hard week of fishing WIND! WIND! WIND! started sunday night and kept blowing till friday out of south.we stayed in the north end so it made it real hard to run south, just after going under bridge in big body of water there were 3ft swells till you made it the lower end where eveyone was on one lump staying out of wind.saturday and sunday my son and i lit up the bass in the north end fishing senkos,worms,pitching jigs in 4 to 6 ft of water in the grass fish were real active.then the winds came and water temp rose.we could not find any bass shallow on the shoals fish seem to be well ahead into summer pattern.caught a few on top water hour before dark on chug bugs and buzz baits.fished points with crankbaits had some success.midweek you had to be fishing in 5 to 8 ft of water in north end with 3/16th oz. weigth to get to the fish, water temp thursday was 86 mid day.we had to work for our fish we ended the week with 161 bass,12 pike,1 bowfin, alot of nice bass. my son ended the trip friday evening with a nice 5 lb. large mouth.its going to be a long year to we get back.i'll try to post some pictures if i can figure it out.hope everyone has a great trip.PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE! We figured out how to add pics there are under General Posts.

[bigmouth]

I'd say you did pretty good! I haven't caught 161 Bass in two years and I live here.

[kspako]

thanks for the report. we to were on the lake for the week, fishing was a little slow at times for us but did manage to catch 81 for the week. 58 bass ,22 pike and 1 bowfish with one of the pike at 30.5". we fished a mix of water from shallow to deeper with senco worms, spinner baits and crank baits

[Bugbottle]

Thanks for the report. I've been to Black Lake twice now the last two years and had a great time there. We're going up again on the 7th of July. I'm still learning my way around the lake, but have had some really good fishing there. I was telling my buddy about the lake and was showing him the forum which sparked a debate. We read your post and he insists that you only fished one day in the north section of the lake because of the wind. I said no that you meant the wind was a problem, but you probably fished every day in spots all over the lake. He also said he can't believe the fishing is that good there. (fishing is pretty poor where we live) I assured him that it could be that good although I have yet to have a trip that good cause I,m still learning the lake. I've seen many folks have spectacular fishing there and I have done pretty good Last year on the last day I caught 14 good sized smallies in an hour and a half I don't think any of them where under 2 pounds.

Anyway if you could resolve this debate I would appreciate it since otherwise we will have to have a fist fight over it and I'm too old and he's too fat, and it'll probably kill both of us. Thanks

ps I was also curious what size/make boat you use, and how well it performed in 3ft swells. I have a 16.5 ft alumacraft with a 60hp mercury

[MrSimon]

I can assure you that the fishing at Black Lake, at times, can really be that good.

As with anywhere, the fishing goes hot and cold, but when its hot, you can pretty much catch good size fish one right after the other.

I remember one afternoon where a singe drift across the mouth of a bay in the north end would yield five nice pike for the boat (three fishermen). That's five fish PER DRIFT. Do the math, that's some really big numbers for one afternoon of fishing.

I've also seen, multiple times, a dozen fat smallies be caught by one person in less than an hour. Usually when the action is that hot and everything comes together just right, you are literally catching them on every cast.

And if you know the lake well ... and I mean know the subsurface structure and cover really well .... there are small nooks and crannies all over the place that always hold fish.

My best day ever on BL was 40 fish.
My worst day ever was maybe 4.
In my opinion, it goes like this:

Zero fish - hand in your pole
Less than five - a bad day of fishing
5-10 - mediocre day at best
10-15 - a solid day of fishing
15-20 - a very good day
20-30 - hot hot action
30-40 - a gift from God
40+ - Once in a lifetime day of fishing

PS - I'm talking about bass/pike/walleye .... not crappie or other panfish.

[Bugbottle]

Thanks Mrsimon, I like your chart. Gives me a guide line to shoot for. I'm going to start keeping a log of my fishing this year.

[Beaver Trapper]

bugbottle,i live in southeast pa. the fishing here can be real tough,small bodies of water and lots of anglers,pleasure boaters,jet skiers.we fished both north and south.4 hrs. in morning in south end,afternoon in the north end and evening split between the 2 depending on wind.i have about 15 locations i like to fish a day.i have a 18ft. nitro that takes the waves pretty good.most of the time the winds not a factor this year it just blew all week.lots of luck,i hope to make a 3 day september trip

[Bugbottle]

Thanks for your reply, probable saved me from a fist fight. I live in north east Pa and it's the same here small lakes, too many people, too few fish. It's a real treat to go to a place like Black Lake. Only trouble is it spoils ya when you get back home! Don't worry I won't catch em all, we release all our fish.