8-24 to 8-26

[ken18621]

Just got back from our trip. We fished Black lake for 2 days and went out with Randy Yager for a guided trip on the St. Lawrence on Friday. ( he posted a report on our trip with him in this section)

At Black lake we mainly targeted smallies on both days. We used a variety of lures including senkos,tubes,jigs,weedless frogs and live bait.


In three days of fishing 3 of us landed 79 bass with about 80% being smallies.
Considering Black lake is more of a Largemouth lake than a smallmouth lake ,I was pleased with our results for the trip.


With an hour to spare before we drove home we got a dozen crayfish and shore fished under the bridge in Edwardsville, We landed 5 smallies and lost a few more. It was a nice way to end our trip.

All fish were released to fight another day.

[Curt7234]

Ken - My buddy and i are headed up to Black Lake this Saturday 9/1 we are staying for 8 days...any tips would be helpful. Where were you guys fishing? Shallow? Deep? What were you having the most success with? Did you fish the rivers as well or just Black lake?

[ken18621]

Like I wrote in my report, we mainly focused on smallmouth bass which like a different structure than largemouth do. I relied a lot on the hot spots map to find changes in depth and then used the depthfinder to fine tune the area once i got close. I like to work a senko or tube off a rocky shoreline that has a steep contour that has deep water nearby. In the past, when we focused on largemouths, with senkos along weed edges in 6 to 8 feet of water.

Try to match your lure to the water color. right now it seems to be clearing up and junebug color tubes and senkos worked best for us. Fish it deep and slow. We also try to fish spots that do not look promising,hoping that it hasnt seen heavy fishing pressure.

If it is your first time on Black Lake I highly suggest hiring a guide for one day. I am by no means a novice angler, but by hiring a guide it saves me many days of guess work and that equates to more time catching fish.

I have booked a trip with Randy Yager each time we come up (this year it was on the St. Lawrence). He is not there to just take your money, trips with him are a learning experience that will carry with you the rest of your life. Some people think that guides are for newbies. Trust me, That is not the case.

If you take time to carefully read through his reports on this site there is volumes of great information that is helpful.