| Oct 13, 2007…7:30am-11:30am.
This was one cold morning. The temperature was 41 degrees. The rain that was forecast
never came but the wind, which was SW, started at 7 mph and increased to 15-20 mph. The
water temperature was 63.4 degrees. It had dropped over 10 degrees from last Monday.
Fishing was tough. No smallies in the usual spots so we tried and old reliable, Lighthouse
Point. Using a white spinnerbait burned over the big rocks there we got 2 nice largemouth,
2 ½ pounds a piece. We moved down to the north end of Warner’s Bar and jigged the
weedbed along the buoy markers but never got a bite. The heavy wind made holding on the
weeds very difficult. Moving again we fished Long Point along the north side fishing 12-20
feet deep with a tube and caught 3 smallmouth less than 2 pounds each. We drifted way to
fast even with the drift sock out. To be honest, the college football games seemed more
desirable than the cold wind so we headed in. As I type this, the games are good and so is
the warm coffee. Oct 8, 2007…9:00am-2:30pm. We made it a late start today.
The water temperature was 73.6 degrees with a WSW wind at about 5 mph. The lake was flat
to a slight ripple. The air temperature was an unusual 83 degrees. The algae bloom was
still going strong. We fished shallow weeds (4-6 feet) in Sherman Bay flipping a 4"
tube and a black/blue Berkley Chigger Craw. The fish were small, no more than 2 pounds but
we caught 6. We fished some of the few docks left below Midway Park but caught nothing
there. The wind picked up to 15+ mph and made the fishing difficult along the shoreline
structure so we tied on spinnerbaits and moved in and out between 2 to 10 feet on the
Colburn shoreline. Nothing going with that either so we called it a day.
Sept. 29, 2007…7:00am-3:30pm. There was fog that lasted until 9:30 am making
moving around very difficult. The water temperature was 69.4 degrees, the wind was N at
about 3 mph so the fog wasn’t moving. The air temperature was 49 degrees. We were
able to get to the Midway Park area without too much trouble. We fished for muskie
throwing big spinnerbaits along the weed edge out to 18 feet. No fish there so when the
fog gave us an opening we ran up the lake to Crosswinds and worked our way back south
casting for the elusive toothy critter. We switched colors and also threw a perch color
giant crank bait. We did the same off the Mayville weed line with no luck. We also tried a
tube jig for some smallmouth. This produced one VERY little smallie and a not much bigger
largemouth. Both came off the weed line in 13 feet. Many people we saw on the lake were
struggling just like us. By 10:00 am we decided to run south to Greenhurst Point and fish
some submerged rock piles and pilings. We caught 2 largemouth using Salty Slings rigged
Texas style. We then moved to the Lakewood Beach area fishing another rock pile, but no
luck there. We fished docks in Maple Bay and Shore Acre landing 4 more largemouth and
losing 2 or 3 more. None of the fish were bigger than 2 pounds. Most were less. It was a
nice day out but a tough day of fishing. Still it beats work!!!!!
Sept. 22, 2007…7:30am-1:30pm. The water temperature was 69.7 degrees, air
temperature 71 and the wind was WSW at about 10 mph. By noon it had switched to the north
and was blowing 10-15 mph. We did a run and gun day starting at Warner’s Bar then the
Viking and Mission Meadows. We only caught 2 bass, one very small largemouth and a 4 ½
pound smallmouth. Both caught on a tube. By 9:30 the sun was up and warm so we ran south
to take advantage of the shorelines in Maple Bay and Whitney Bay that were sheltered from
the wind. We fished shallow, 3 feet or less, with flukes and soft stick baits and caught
13 largemouth ranging from 12" to about 2 ½ pounds. We didn’t find anything
real big but they were still fun to catch. Once the wind shifted to the north and
increased we decided to end the day.
Sept. 15, 2007…7:00am-1:00pm. This day was one of the most miserable weather
days of the season. The wind was from the WNW 15-20 mph and the temperature was 49 degrees
when we started. Water temperature was 72.8 degrees. We were looking for muskie so we
headed north to the Crosswinds area. Using the wind we drifted casting large spinnerbaits
and in line spinners over the weeds and outside the weeds out to 18feet. We hooked one
good muskie but it eventually got off. After 3hours of working the area we decide to go
looking for some bass and calmer water. We ran south and fished Driftwood and Bellview
Points. The wind was driving the water up on the points and the fish were right in the
surf. We used tubes thrown in the shallow surf to catch smallies. With the cold wind and
water making things very uncomfortable we called it a day at 1 pm.
Sept. 7, 2007…7:00am-1:00pm. This was a trip set up to locate fish for a later
date tournament. Smallmouth were the target fish for the beginning. We fished the Mayville
area on the outside weed line. No smallies, but strangely enough two muskies. The first, a
35" fish made it to the boat. The other MUCH bigger didn’t. Both hit a 3 1/2
" melon pepper tube on 8 pound test. Oh yes! It was some fight. We next moved to
Mission Meadows where we caught one smallie and then the Lutheran Camp where we took 2
more. Warner’s Bar produced one for us but there was a guy who was fishing a DD16 and
killing them in 13 feet banging the bait on the bottom. We recorded the info and left. We
moved to Victoria but the forecasted T-storms blew in and ran us off the lake. The wind
was N when we started at maybe 3 mph and the lake was nearly dead flat. Water temperature
was 73.2 degrees.
Aug 31, 2007…7:00am-12:00pm. Fog and 58 degrees
with a water temperature of 70.2 degrees greeted us this morning. A very light north wind
did little to move the fog. It stayed until about 9:30 am in patches. We started on
Warner’s Bar but had no bites after and hour of fishing hard. We moved to Midway Park
and promptly caught 2 very nice smallmouth, one being around 5 pounds. We made 2 more
passes and caught 2 more, both about 2 ½ pounds. We then moved up the lake and fished the
weed line off The Crosswinds. There we caught 8 more smallies and 3 largemouth. We also
lost 4 nice fish. The wind started to pick up to 10-12 mph so we moved down the lake to
Victoria. We caught 2 more smallies before ending the day at noon. All the fish we caught
on a watermelon tube on ¼ oz jig. Depths ranged from 9-15 feet.
Aug 4, 2007…6:00am-2:00pm. This was a tournament day. We began at the Viking
where we caught 4 keeper smallmouth. Water temperature was 76.7 and the wind was light and
variable. The fish were caught on Senkos, tubes and dropshotting a Gulp 4" sinking
minnow. We then ran south to Maple Bay and fished some of the docks out of the reach of
the SW wind that came up at 5-8 mph. We caught 7 largemouth skipping soft stickbaits and
casting spinnerbaits. Next stop was an area with rock piles/weeds and pilings, all
submerged. One 4 ½ pound smallie and 4 largemouth came from there. All were caught on
Venom Salty Slings. We stopped and fished the bridge pilings but caught nothing. The last
stop was Bemus Bay where we caught 2 more largemouth. A very good tournament for me with a
4th place with 13.41 pounds.
July 25, 2007…6:00am-11:30am. Cooler temperature, 60 degrees, and overcast
skies were the order today. Showers were forecast but never showed up. The wind was from
the south at 5 mph and the water temperature was 72.3 degrees. We started at Warner’s
Bar fishing watermelon tubes. Almost emmediately we caught a 17 inch walleye. We send the
next half hour looking for another bite but it never materialized. We moved to the
weedline above Midway Park. There we caught 3 very small smallmouth. Then moving up the
lake we fished Mission Meadows and could only get one very small largemouth. At that point
we changed tactics and ran south to fish some docks for largemouth. We ran to Maple Bay,
pulled up to one dock and caught 6 largemouth and one smallmouth of one dock using soft
stick baits. None of the other docks produced so we made one more stop on the way back
along the Colburn shoreline and caught a real nice 3 ½ pound largemouth.
July 11, 2007…7:00am-1:30pm. The skies were overcast and the wind was from the
SW at 13 mph. Rain was in the forecast with T-storms for the am hours. The air temperature
was 77 degrees and the water temperature was 75.6 degrees. We started our morning at
Warner’s Bar but quickly found that the fish were not anywhere to be found. We fished
along the Long Point shore line and missed 3 small smallmouth bass. We moved to the other
side of the lake to Victoria and fished the weed line edge above the point. We caught one
short walleye. We fished some of the docks above Victoria. We caught no fish and were run
off the lake by rain and a T-storm. We waited the storm out, about 1 hour, at Long Point
in the snack bar. Once the area was safe we headed south to the bridge. Another storm
started to move in so we stayed under the bridge fishing the west piles and caught 2
smallmouth and 1 very small walleye. The storms were very nasty but we stayed reasonably
dry and out of the reach of the lightning. We continued to spend the rest of the trip
fishing the shallow (4-7 feet) bridge pilings using tube jigs. We caught 2 more smallmouth
and 5 largemouth and losing 3 others, all on watermelon color tubes.
July 9, 2007…8:30am-1:30pm. The wind was from the SW at 10-15 mph. The water
temperature was 75.6 degrees and the air temperature was 88 degrees when we started. We
fished nothing but docks today. They were in the Ashville Bay, Shore Acres and Hadley Bay
areas. We fished Power Bait Sinking Minnows in smoke/black fleck, Venom Salty Slings in
smoke and Tiki Sticks in Black/Chartreuse. The bass were cruising in the shallow grass
between the docks and holding way back as far as 4 sections. We got 5 largemouth, all in
the 2 ¾ pound class and one smallmouth about 2 pounds. The wind increased to around 17-20
mph and basically did us in for the day.
July 7, 2007…6am-11am. The temperature was 59 degrees with clear
skies. The water temperature was 73.9 degrees. We had a mild wind from the SW at less than
5 mph. This turned out to be a really tough day of fishing. We fished the weed line from
the Bell Tower to the Packard Mansion using melon tubes. Water depth was anywhere from 10
feet to 20 feet as we zigzagged to try to locate the fish. We only caught 1 smallmouth and
one short walleye. Moving into the docks we fished back toward the Bell Tower but only
caught rock bass. We then headed to Mission Meadows. There we caught one smallmouth and
another short walleye fishing the 11-13 foot weed line edge. Trying some docks below
Midway Park as our next stop we came up empty. Continuing to move south we tried
Warner’s Bar but caught nothing. We then made a long run down to Maple Bay and fished
the south shoreline docks. We caught 3 largemouths, one being a nice 3 pounder.
July 6, 2007…7am-3pm. The temperature was 57 degrees with clear
skies. The water temperature was 73.6 degrees. The wind was from the south at 5 mph. We
started on Warner’s bar fishing a watermelon tube. We caught 3 walleye, both short,
in 13 feet. We moved up the lake to Mission Meadows and caught 2 walleye and 4 smallmouth,
all in 12-15 feet of water on the outside weed edge. The wind shifted to the NW so we
moved to some docks around Prendergast Point. We caught 1 largemouth on soft stick baits.
We ran down below the bridge and fished some docks but the wind move to the north and made
boat control difficult. We made the run clear up to Mayville to get some protected
shoreline and caught 4 nice largemouth off the docks. By now the wind was from the north
at around 10-15 mph putting white caps on the lake. We ended our day at that point.
July 4, 2007…6am-11am. The temperature was 57 degrees with an
overcast sky. The wind was south at 3-5 mph. The water temperature was 73.6 degrees. We
started at Warner’s Bar fishing the weed line going from 11-18 feet. The first cast
produced a smallmouth. From then on it was all walleye. No keeper size (18") fish,
but a total of 5 were all caught on a watermelon tube. Other’s in the same area were
using crawlers and leeches and catching fish. The wind increased to 8-10 mph so we moved
to Victoria Point and fished the same depths but could only hook up on one walleye. The
wind continued to pick up so we ran south to Maple Bay to calmer water and fished the
south shoreline docks. We took 7 largemouth off these docks using a soft stick bait,
fished weightless and skipped to the back of the docks. The forecasted storms and rain
started to move in so we called it a day and headed for the safety of the ramp and home.
July 2, 2007…6am-1pm. A
slight fog was over the north end of the lake. The air temperature was 49 degrees. The
water temperature had dropped to 74.6 degrees mainly because of all the cooler nights. The
wind was light from the north. We headed to the far north end of the lake and fished the
outer weed edge off Mayville. We started by trying for smallmouth but there was no
activity. We managed one very small walleye. We switched up and worked the edges with
in-line spinners for muskie but couldn’t even get one to follow. We worked the edge
toward the NW corner for the smallies and had some surface action going on but no strikes.
The next stop was Mission Meadows working the same baits for both smallmouth and muskie.
We came up with the same results there. We then changed up and fished the docks below
Midway Park using soft stickbaits. We missed a few fish and then caught a nice 5+
largemouth inside a boatlift. We continued fishing this shoreline and lost 4 more
largemouth, some under the docks a some in between running the baits over the top of the
weeds. The wind, still from the north picked up and made fishing this shoreline difficult
so we moved to the Bemus Bay area and lost 3 more largemouth. We got lots of bites on the
docks but did not successfully hook up enough to get them in the boat.
June 27, 2007…8am-12 noon We
got a bit of a late start because of the weather report for potential rain and T-storms
early. They never got here until around 4 pm. Good thing we went anyway. The water
temperature was 76.8 when we started and climbed to 79.2 by the time we stopped at noon.
Air temperature was 88 degrees. The wind was from the SW at 5-8 mph. The first stop was
Bly’s Point. We fished the docks to the north and caught 1 smallmouth on a Berkley
Sinking Minnow. We followed the shoreline around Cheney’s Point and fish both the
weeds in 4-7 feet with a Power Bait Beast and a few of the docks with the Sinking Minnow.
Only one largemouth was caught off a dock. Next we moved south to Maple Bay and caught 4
largemouth on a 50 yd stretch of docks. All were caught on th Sinking Minnow. The last
stop was the I-86 bridge pilings. Using a watermelon tube we got 1 walleye and 4
smallmouth.
June 17, 2007…6:00am-1:00pm
The sky was overcast and the temperature was 60 degrees when we hit the water. Water
temperature was at 72.3 degrees and the wind was SSW at 5-8 mph. We fished Mission
Meadows, Warner’s Bar until 9:30. Only 4 walleyes, all under the 18" limit, 1
smallmouth and one largemouth. There was no surface activity today and very little
response to the tube jig that has been working all season. The water depth on the fish we
caught ranged from 10-22 feet so there was really no consistency in location. As the day
warmed up the water temperature went to 74.8 degrees and the wind shifted to the west at
10-15 mph. We moved to the docks and caught 3 largemouth on a watermelon black fleck tiki
stick. The wind made it difficult to fish efficiently and we left a lot of fish untouched.
Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.
June 16, 2007…6:00am-12:00
This was a beautiful day for the opening of bass and muskie season. The sky was clear and
the early morning temperature was 64 degrees. The water temperature was 70.2 and rose to
72.6 degrees by noon. The wind was light and variable then turned NW at 5-7 mph. We fished
for smallmouth and walleye at Victoria Point, The Vikings, Mission Meadows and
Warner’s Bar. In all we caught 5 nice smallies and 5 short walleye. Water depth was
11-13 feet. All the fish we caught on a watermelon tube and a Milky Pepper Power Grub. By
9 am the deep bite quit so we moved to the docks along the Colburn shoreline and others
above Cheney’s Point. We fished a Venom Salty Sling and a Tiki Stick and caught 7
largemouth. All the largemouth were between 2 ½ to 4 pounds.
June 9, 2007…6:00am-9:00am
Today was very cold for a June morning, 48 degrees with overcast skies. We fished a very
short time because the wind came up hard from the north at 15 mph which made fun fishing
very uncomfortable and the thought of breakfast and a hot cup of coffee a temptation we
easily fell prey to. We started at Victoria and caught 2 walleyes and 3 smallmouth using a
watermelon tube on a ¼ oz jighead. Wanting to fish a different area and someplace out of
the wind we headed below the I-86 bridge to the Shore Acres area. The wind made to too
rough to fish the docks in that area so we changed and threw spinnerbaits and topwater
between the docks. Before we left we caught 4 largemouth along the Colburn shoreline on a
Pop’R in 2-3 feet of water on the inside weed edge. Yes, the water was still
rough….topwater? It worked, go figure!
June 6, 2007…6:00am-12:00
The weatherman proved today that you never know what to expect until you look outside.
Nothing that they said would happen, happened. So what’s new? We were met with misty
rain showers and colder than predicted temperatures. It was 48 degrees when we started and
51 degrees when we stopped. The water temperature ranged from 65.3 to 66.5 degrees
depending on where we were. The wind started out light and variable and shifted to the
west at 5-8 mph. The water is still very clear. We fished Victoria Point, Warner’s
Bar and a small point on the north end of Bemus Bay. We caught 5 smallmouth, 1 largemouth
and 3 under sized walleye. The smallies took a Pop’R in 23 feet of water. The biggest
was just over 5 pounds. All the walleye and the largemouth were taken on a watermelon tube
jig.
May 26, 2007…6:00am-11:30am With this trip we could take advantage of the new catch
and release regulation for bass. This new regulation allows pre-season (before the 3rd
Saturday in June) specific targeting of bass using artificial lures only, with immediate
release.
The water temperature was 66.4 degrees with an air
temperature of 61 degrees. The wind was from the north at 5-10 mph. The forecast called
for early morning showers but we never got any. It did remain overcast, which helped keep
the smallmouth that we were after, active. We fished a white Berkley Power Jerkshad to get
some reaction bites on the surface. Then we switched to a deeper presentation. Most were
caught using a 3" watermelon or green pumpkin tube on a ¼ oz jighead. In the mix we
caught walleye. They were right in there with the smallies. They bit the same tube. We
fished the Victoria Point, Warner’s Bar and Mission Meadow’s areas in depths of
10-18 feet. In all we caught 5 walleyes, 11 smallmouth and 2 largemouth. The largest
walleye was 24" and the largest smallie went right around 5 lbs. All were released to
fight again. |
