8/4-8/11

[brian_c]

Very tough fishing conditions last week - if nothing else, from a safety standpoint! Night and day difference between last year and this as well.

Arrived Saturday in extreme heat and didn't launch. Was going to launch Sunday but Severe T-storms and high winds kept me off the water. And I do mean high winds.

Launched Monday morning and went out in the evening due to it being yet another windy day with white caps on the lake. My dad caught a 4" Largemouth bass (on a #3 Mepps), I caught a 10" Largemouth bass and my wife caught a 6" perch. That was it for the day. And we tossed everything but high explosives.

Tuesday morning same party went out and caught bubkiss. My wife lost a couple fish at the boat - crappie and a bass. Evening went out and did the same as the morning.

Wednesday morning my dad, wife and I went out. Caught a 17" Largemouth bass (watermelon & white senko) and that was it. Evening - bubkiss.

Thursday morning my dad and I went out as my wife was frustrated with the lack of panfish. Fished for about an hour and watched the skies over The Log Cabins get pitch black. We tore out of the bay we were in as we were hearing thunder. By the time we were out of the bay, it looked like every boat was high tailing it to the docks. Reached them just in time to cover the boat and get (2) more claps of thunder before a deluge struck. Didn't go out in the evening as I believe it was raining yet again.

Friday morning my dad and I went out. He caught a small perch and I ended up with a perch and a sunfish. That was it. Came in with...wait for it...rain!

The weather patterns really threw us for a loop as it was very difficult to get out on the water safely.

Algea bloom was in full effect and there was small green "pellets" floating on the water surface almost everywhere we went. And I do mean everywhere we went. Even our favorite swimming hole, which in years past had been clear of this glop was covered over. Yuck.

**We tried the North end of the lake for a bit but didn't change our luck so we stuck to the South end.


Best luck was off the dock by my 2nd cousin. He's 11 years old, borderline autistic, and ended up with a 19 3/4" Largemouth bass on Friday! Very happy for him!!!

[sasnyder]

We were also at the lake. our best fishing was right from the dock. between the weeds and algae and wicked wind we did not go out much to fish. My grandson was having a ball catching bass right from the dock not big, but he was having fun and we did alot of relaxing. That is the important thing to me . Good luck to everyone! We plan on trying the hard water for the first time at black hope to have some fun with that this winter.

[obageegee]

We had about the same luck this past weekend. Dodging Thunderstorms, wind, rain and blue/green algae. Managed one decent large mouth and one medium small mouth. Was very tough fishing. Going to try again in a few weeks and see what happens.

[brian_c]

Hate to say it but glad to know that we weren't the only party being skunked.

Senkos seemed to be doing better this year than last. I was getting nibbles on black&red but couldn't set the hook - probably small panfish from the way the lure was getting hit. I had something tear off the last section of my watermelon&white senko but never saw it and couldn't raise it again after it got the part it wanted.

Just tough all around. We had (2) other boats in our group and they had very similar results. Only thing that seemed to work were drop shot rigs with sections of worm or Gulp for the kids - and that was little panfish. Just off shore of one of the islands but again, nothing like it was last year.


Don't get me wrong, we were due for the weather and the rain is desperately needed but I only get a week on the lake a year so it's not too much to ask that next year the weather cooperate a little more is it? I know my wife would be very happy if it did!!! (And of course if the fishing rebounded to what I'm more familiar with).

Water level was very low. I couldn't believe the depth. Luckily, I didn't hit anything. My cousin's 70HP Evinrude managed to find a submerged rock at speed leaving a good scrape down the side of his lower unit. No real damage other than the missing paint and a dinged ego.

[basscop203]

Brian coming up the week of Aug,18 with the water as low as you say, is there any new unmarked rock piles within the lake that I should watch out for. Been on the lake several times but the lake as always been up thank you.

[brian_c]

When I pulled my boat out of the state launch, there was about 1' of water covering the very end of the metal retaining wall. This is no where near what I'm used to - usually there's about 2-3' covering the retaining wall. It's that low.

Now, I was told the water level was coming up when I launched as the week previous there wasn't any water covering the retaining wall. We were told this by a couple launching their boat and they *seemed* to be locals so I'd trust what they were saying. With the rain that we had last week, and the forecast for more rain this week, I'd wager the lake will come up a bit.


I need about 2' of water under my boat (19'6" I/O) to be comfortable and I didn't hit anything. Then again, mine's fiberglass so I tend to avoid putting myself into a situation that involves glass repair.

I'm pretty certain the rock pile my cousin hit was near a bouy and he just wasn't paying attention to his location. Everything has been clearly marked (as far as I'm concerned anyways) as in the years I've been up I've yet (knock on wood) to hit anything. If you're careful, watch your depthfinder/water levels you should be fine.

[basscop203]

Thanks for the information on the water level, I ran a 21 ft triton and i sure don't need to find any rocks.

[tr21]

Iwas on the lake from 7-21 thru 8-11 . Having been on the lake since the very early 50,s I saw rocks I did not know were there. Be careful.