4/9/14

I started up lake at about 6am looking and poking here and there. There were hardly any scattered fish around R31 like there have been the past 3 weeks. I started trolling outside Indian Creel near R37 and was spotting some scattered fish. As I entered Indian Creek I saw the birds fluttering but some were diving and hitting the water. As I eased around I would see ONE fish bust on top and then go away. 5-10 minutes later another fish would bust up but 300 yards across the bay. Then 5-10 min later another ONE fish some where else. This kept up for over an hour. I stowed the trolling rods and started casting around the points. Nada. I switched out 7-8 different baits but got nothing. I had noticed an old timer casting across the way from the motel and as I passed him we chatted some. He said he got 6-7 fish just sitting there casting a bucktail. I came around and started casting around the area and the little cove there. Still, ONE fish would bust up every 10 min or so. Very frustrating. He got one smallish fish while I was there. Again I was switching out baits trying a bunch of different stuff.

After a few hours of this exercise, I started trolling again. It was windy. Boat control and speed control were tough. I trolled around outside Indian Creek seeing only a few scattered fish. Just past R37 and the boat dock I spotted a "pod" of 6 fish and after turning in their direction I got one to bite. A plump 22". I went around again but the pod was gone. I worked around the R35 bend and kept going to R34. Didn't see anything. I quit.

From all I've been hearing maybe I haven't been going up lake far enough. I do hesitate to run at speed in the dark and low light conditions. I fear hitting debris and damaging my pretty (almost) new boat. But I think I have to try something else. Later Joel