I'll try to summarize the last couple weeks. Earlier this month I mostly went down lake. The S-Curve, Walton's, around Carter's Island, Strawberry and Bernard's. I frequently saw fish but it was a tough bite. I would get one here and one there. If I didn't get them trolling I would stop to jig and cast. That only worked a few times. I never found a "big" school of fish. None of the fish were noteworthy but all were fun.
This past week I went up lake. I would start out before dawn and start trolling at the bridge, just to get me moving up lake. I don't like to run at night especially up lake. There's getting to be more debris up there. All the while I'm looking for fish in all the usual places but in three days I haven't seen much up to R34. A few scattered fish but the biggest bunch was three. As soon as it was light enough to see I would start to run. Monday a couple boats were working Beaverdam so I looked and saw some fish so started trolling. Nothing for me. After a couple laps I picked up and went. Nothing at Lynville so off I went. Just past Lynville was a big debris field so I slowed to fast idle. Up ahead near the Tennis Courts I saw a old guy pulling bait so I was heading over to chat. All of a sudden fish started bustin'. I dropped to trolling motor and went over. The problem was the bustin' fish were a small school and would only be up for a minute or so. If you weren't right there you didn't get there in time. Plus they were bustin' in a 200-400 yard stretch on the Bedford side. So I dropped an A-rig and a fluke over the side and started casting. I got a 25" on the A-rig and a 22" cast a bucktail. That action lasted til 10:00am, over an hour. I was many times right over fish seeing them on the sonar but couldn't get them to bite anything. I threw spoons, jigs, crankbaits and A-rigs. Darn. So I started pulling A-rigs toward the courts and got another 21". I came back around and started working the active stretch on the Franklin side. I saw a pile of fish near the bank and started casting. The bucktail got me a real nice 30". Yahoo!
Wednesday started the same but this time there was no one at Beaver Dam so I kept on going. Just as I flew past R56 the lake erupted with breaking fish all around me. I chopped the motor and started casting. Same thing. I threw everything and got no bites. I could still see them on the sonar. So I started trolling cranks. Bang. Got a nice 28". I made several more loops but no more bites and then they were gone. So I kept going to that active stretch near the courts. I found the old guy, Steve, there again and he said they were breaking early. As we spoke another guy hooked a fish near the bank. The fish were there but I couldn't get them to bite anything.
Friday started the same again. When it was light enough I ran up to R56 and started trolling. No fish in that area but up ahead near Lynville was a fleet of boats working the area. I trolled through there and saw the fish but got no bites. I didn't see anyone else boat fish either, well, maybe one. I kept trolling to the Tennis Courts and found nothing. I switched up and set out U-rigs and pulled all the way back to LV. By this time everyone had gone. I did spot some fish but no bites. For some odd reason I kept on trolling. Past Beaver Dam and on. Finally at Harbor Ridge I got a pesky 18" on a U-rig but didn't even mark any fish. I kept trolling and told myself that Indian would be my limit. Around R43 I got tired of going slow so I switched back to pulling cranks. I went around inside Indian Creek but saw nothing. It was noon when I was heading out of Indian Creek so I told myself that I would pass R37 and the next dock (a good spot) and that would be it for the day even though I was marking scattered fish. With seconds to spare I got hit. I wrestled it in and scored a nice 28". I made another pass and scored a 25.5". Finally. The third pass got nothing so I was going to give it one more pass. The fourth pass got a 22". Zowie. At that point I stopped and started casting and jigging figuring something was happening. But it wasn't. Thirty minutes of that and I quit. And the weather has been really really great.
Later,
Joel
This past week I went up lake. I would start out before dawn and start trolling at the bridge, just to get me moving up lake. I don't like to run at night especially up lake. There's getting to be more debris up there. All the while I'm looking for fish in all the usual places but in three days I haven't seen much up to R34. A few scattered fish but the biggest bunch was three. As soon as it was light enough to see I would start to run. Monday a couple boats were working Beaverdam so I looked and saw some fish so started trolling. Nothing for me. After a couple laps I picked up and went. Nothing at Lynville so off I went. Just past Lynville was a big debris field so I slowed to fast idle. Up ahead near the Tennis Courts I saw a old guy pulling bait so I was heading over to chat. All of a sudden fish started bustin'. I dropped to trolling motor and went over. The problem was the bustin' fish were a small school and would only be up for a minute or so. If you weren't right there you didn't get there in time. Plus they were bustin' in a 200-400 yard stretch on the Bedford side. So I dropped an A-rig and a fluke over the side and started casting. I got a 25" on the A-rig and a 22" cast a bucktail. That action lasted til 10:00am, over an hour. I was many times right over fish seeing them on the sonar but couldn't get them to bite anything. I threw spoons, jigs, crankbaits and A-rigs. Darn. So I started pulling A-rigs toward the courts and got another 21". I came back around and started working the active stretch on the Franklin side. I saw a pile of fish near the bank and started casting. The bucktail got me a real nice 30". Yahoo!
Wednesday started the same but this time there was no one at Beaver Dam so I kept on going. Just as I flew past R56 the lake erupted with breaking fish all around me. I chopped the motor and started casting. Same thing. I threw everything and got no bites. I could still see them on the sonar. So I started trolling cranks. Bang. Got a nice 28". I made several more loops but no more bites and then they were gone. So I kept going to that active stretch near the courts. I found the old guy, Steve, there again and he said they were breaking early. As we spoke another guy hooked a fish near the bank. The fish were there but I couldn't get them to bite anything.
Friday started the same again. When it was light enough I ran up to R56 and started trolling. No fish in that area but up ahead near Lynville was a fleet of boats working the area. I trolled through there and saw the fish but got no bites. I didn't see anyone else boat fish either, well, maybe one. I kept trolling to the Tennis Courts and found nothing. I switched up and set out U-rigs and pulled all the way back to LV. By this time everyone had gone. I did spot some fish but no bites. For some odd reason I kept on trolling. Past Beaver Dam and on. Finally at Harbor Ridge I got a pesky 18" on a U-rig but didn't even mark any fish. I kept trolling and told myself that Indian would be my limit. Around R43 I got tired of going slow so I switched back to pulling cranks. I went around inside Indian Creek but saw nothing. It was noon when I was heading out of Indian Creek so I told myself that I would pass R37 and the next dock (a good spot) and that would be it for the day even though I was marking scattered fish. With seconds to spare I got hit. I wrestled it in and scored a nice 28". I made another pass and scored a 25.5". Finally. The third pass got nothing so I was going to give it one more pass. The fourth pass got a 22". Zowie. At that point I stopped and started casting and jigging figuring something was happening. But it wasn't. Thirty minutes of that and I quit. And the weather has been really really great.
Later,
Joel