So I started out early enough to catch some bait. I eased over to Captain's Quarters and the second toss got a good load of shad, about four dozen. Unfortunately I'm still having bait tank problems. Yes, I did clean it on Tuesday but I must be doing something wrong there too. My bait all died in the first 30 minutes. I got some more good instructions on cleaning and filling so that comes next. And I cleaned it again when I got home.

On good advice, I headed straight to Becky's and did indeed find some fish. With no live bait I was restricted to working cranks, A-rigs, casting and jigging. I marked many fish but only got one measly 20" to bite an A-rig. Oddly enough I was able to point out some fish to other folks and THEY caught them on bait. Of course, that's how it works.

After that it was a repeat of the last two weeks. I trolled out of Becky, checked the mouth, trolled into and through Betty. I marked a few fish but nothing good. Trolled the condos and followed the creek channel across the lake. Zip. So I ran down to Walden's and trolled all around looking but not seeing much at all. I trolled out and down to the S curve. I marked a few fish around R16 but still no takers. I made a big lap all the way around the curve but only saw a few scattered fish. I came back to the condos and checked there and the creek mouths but still saw squat.

Hey, the weather was great.

Later Joel

Wow what a day. Today was take a newspaper reporter fishing day. Jason Dunovant from the Eagle wanted to learn about and experience striper fishing here at the lake. Well, he got the learning part alright, but the experience was lacking.

I was REALLY early today in order to try and get bait. I was in the water at 4:00am and cruised over to Captain's Quarters. I couldn't see any bait under the light but did notice a flash or two once in a while. So the first throw got about a dozen shad. So OK. The second throw I let sink deeper than the first and pulled up a big load. More bait than I've ever seen. My problems started immediately with shad dying. With later advice I found that I hadn't cleaned my bait tank enough and it was probably contaminated. Seems I had forgotten all the stuff Bob told me about maintaining a bait tank. Shad continued to die. And one gizzard too.

I putted around a little after getting bait but didn't mark anything in the bridge area. So back to the ramp to pick-up Jason. He arrived right on time and off we went. I knew of folks heading to Becky's so I went into Betty's. I always think its good to spread out the scouting. Toward the back of Betty's we ran over a fair size school of fish. After a little more scouting I ran back to the "fish" spot to find they were gone. We did see some marks so I dropped bait. All the while now I'm talking striper fishing with Jason. Telling him as much as he wanted to know about the fish, the fishery, and the Club. So we eased around that area marking fish but not getting bit. I was also casting and jigging as we went. This was the spot I got 5 fish on Tuesday with bait and casting a jig. Finally got a fish to bite but it let go after a few seconds. Bummer. Of course in the middle of this I got a call that fish were biting in Becky's and some even came up on top. Darn. I'm heading to Becky's next time.

By this time all but two of my bait was dead so I emptied the tank and refilled. It actually looked like the two survivors got revived. So after a while, we pulled up and headed to Becky's to look around. All the boats were there in Becky's and we didn't see anyone in Betty. We trolled some crankbaits while searching and did mark some scattered fish but none bit. Still talking fishing to Jason. We trolled out of Becky's and passed over some good fish right there at 20-25ft but nothing was interested. Kept trolling out of Becky's and past the condos seeing nothing. I figured I give Walton and the hump a try almost as a last resort. We ran down the lake and cruised the hump. One or two but nothing worth going after.

So as I start to circle around I started seeing schools of fish. WOW. I made one lap of the creek mouth and saw more fish than I've seen all Spring. There were bunches and bunches and bunches of fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had crankbaits out but nothing was biting. So we tried umbrella rigs for a couple laps. Nothing. FRUSTRATING!!!!! Tried Alabama rigs for a couple laps. NOTHING! It was beyond incredible to see that many fish and work them for 1.5hrs + and not get a single bite. By now it was nearing noon and Jason needed to head back to the office. Since we were in the area and Jason hadn't seen it yet I cruised him past the Osprey nest for a peek at the birds, just a little side point-of-interest. That's it. I got him back to the ramp and then went for the temps. I did so much "fish" talking today that I'm losing my voice. Tomorrow is another big day with Darius Minnis, a winner in the Aspiring Anglers fishing contest sponsored by the Friends of the State Park. I really hope we do better than today. Later Joel ps. Cleaned the bait tank as soon as I got home. It even smells good now.

I started really early at 4:00am to try and catch my own bait. Rudy had his dock light on so I tried there. I didn't see much bait but a bunch of fry clouds. What fry I don't know. I "threw" my net for half an hour and hit the dock/pilings half the time. I ended up with zip. Fortunately after I delivered Kathy F's T-shirt she most kindly and generously offered some bait from her cage. I graciously and enthusiastically accepted.

A big goal for Wed was to scout for fish in preparation for the DGIF Striper Workshop on Friday. So I started trolling as I left Kathy's and just across the river banged the first fish at 5:50am. A very nice 26.5". I don't think I even saw anything on the sonar. So I kept trolling that side all the way to the Coast Guard Station. I only saw a few scattered fish but it was much than I've seen all this spring. Nothing popped so I ran down to Betty's.  As I trolled in I was seeing scattered fish and a couple small pods but no schools. I did see a good group way in the back and turned around to try them again. Before I got there I ran over a really good bunch of fish. It was enough for me to stop the boat and drop some bait, and that's really saying something. Another boat or two were there but nobody hooked up.

I was hanging around Betty's waiting for club member Bruce to deliver a reel to be fixed and got a call that the fish were on in Becky's. Needless to say I was late getting to Becky's after waiting for Bruce. I stuck it out back in Becky's and zig-zagged the river channel and finally picked up a frisky 23". I wasn't going to keep it but even using circle hooks he was hooked deep in the throat and bleeding. That was the first time (in many years) that I had a circle hook that deep. One more place to check, so I ran up to R31 and started trolling that stretch. When I got to R34 I saw a bunch of fish strung out along the bank. Nothing hit trolling so I dropped bait. As I was slowly moving along the shore I started throwing a jig, letting it sink to the bottom, then swimming/hopping/sweeping it back to the boat. I hooked up with a good fish and almost had it in the boat when he spit the hook, or something. I don't know exactly what happened there. So I kept pulling the bait around and finally got a nice 28" in the boat. Too bad I already had two smaller fish in the livewell. By then it was past noon and already VERY hot and humid, so I called it quits. I'm sure we'll get some fish for the Scouts on Friday.

Later Joel

Goodness, it sure does get light early in June. I thought I was early as I launched at 5:30am, but it was already light enough that I didn't need a flashlight, cap light, or anything else. Started trolling from the ramp and turned up toward Webster's Marina. Saw a few fish here and there but no bites. Crossed the river and went past Captain's Quarters and just under the bridge I got a smashing strike. Had the fish on for about 3-4 seconds. Darn. Trolled past Coast Guard but saw nothing - probably should have looked further in.

I ran down to Betty's and trolled my way back. Sure enough a pile of fish was back there by the big white house. This time I stopped immediately and started casting and jigging. I understand now that those fish were sworn to secrecy and wouldn't open their mouths for anything. A couple other boats were working the same area and I didn't see anything boated. So I ran over to Becky's and started near the back and the first big cove. Not much. But sure enough there was a pile of fish back by the "motel" house.

As I rounded the opposite point I finally got bit. This one was a fighter. Tons o' fun. A nice 28" and I almost dumped him back but hesitated while I computed the calendar. By golly, It's June.  In the box. Kept trolling out of Becky's and past the condos. I saw a few fish but nothing looked active. I followed the creek channel all the way to the other side but didn't see any more fish like I did last week. I looped around and ran the outer track by the condos and back into Betty's. I was only going to swing past the gazebo and out and I kinda miscalculated and bumped up close to the gazebo and shallow water. Glad I did.

As I was following the point I got the King Kong smashing strike. This guy ran off 150 ft like nothing. I cleared lines and wrestled with the fish. As I first saw it I almost fainted cause only one little hook of the treble was in his mouth. But I got him. 31" and 10+lb. Ya Hoo. So, I decided to go looking. Down to the hump at Walton's. Nothing. Over to the S-curve. Yousa, bunches of fish out along side the osprey nest and out along the R16 point. I just couldn't get them to bite anything. So I crossed over and looked up into Strawberry Banks. Nada. I trolled back out and in front of the water tank but nothing there. I did see a few fish off the beach but no takers. I went back to R16 and the fish were still there. I cast and jigged all kinds of stuff but nothing bit. Darn again.

So it was a nice day. Can't wait for Thursday.

Later Joel