Life sometimes gets in the way thus having to attend weddings and other family matters I finally got back on the lake today. I didn't do a write up on my evening Walleye trip because honestly we didn't get anything except catfish.
Today I started early and got the the lake right around 7am. A heavy fog hid the lake as I launched at the dam but I was the third boat in the parking lot. By the way do you know what a pontoon boat looks like in the fog without running lights? Yep FOG. Not a close call because I travel safe with running listed but still it was hard to pick up on the water with no lights.
Ok I will get to the point what a fantastic day of fishing.
The water temp was in the high 70's and the air temp a crisp 49. Heck I'm glad I wore my wool socks, gloves and facemask. The lake was down maybe 10 feet or more. It was so low that most places I fish meant to do so the boat would have to have wheels.
I started in my favorite cove and all's that I did was stick the boat on some mud. I spent the first hour trying to figure the new features and then decided maybe coves wouldn't be as productive today. But you can sure see the little grass flats but they are no longer under water.
So I'm into the day about an hour and a half and did nothing but churn up mud. So I moved to a shoal that I like. It was easy to fish today because I spent the rest of the day there. First very few recreational boats. However a lot of fishing boats. In fact I had so many bass boats passing me looking for bass I lost count.
Now why did I stay on one shoal for 4 hours you might ask? Well first it is large and broad with nice drop offs and a rocky bottom. This is an easy place to find when the water is low just look for the bouy and old house foundations. I honestly wasn't prepared for what happened next. With in 15 mins I have something nice on the line. It's heavy and it wants to fight. On its first jump there was no doubt I had a nice small mouth. It was the first one that ever took me all over the deck on my boat. Front to back then back to front. Then under the boat and a run, that was a first for me. Now I use a light line 6lb to be exact. As I'm getting him close I remember my net is in the locker. Let me tell you it's a lot of fun fighting a fish and getting your net out of the locker at the same time. There way no way I would have got this one on the boat with out a net. For the next 3 hours and forty five minutes I put 6 more in the boat.
I will tell you somebody had to notice I was camped out on this shoal for a reason. But no those bass boats kept passing me by though one or two did come almost up to me. To tell the truth I would have been more than happy to share because it really is a big shoal. But then again except for the first one I was more calm or at least I didn't shout out after getting them in the boat. The first one you might of heard me in Florida.
Ok nice fish story but how did I do it? First I was using a large blue with flakes Senko. I think a 5 hook and some weight. Now this may sound strange but I use a walleye rod about 6 foot. I just love the feel. I very slowly crawl that thing on the bottom. I can feel every pebble, stone and bottom. I crawl it over large stones so it drops. Now when I feel tension I'm not in a hurry to set the hook. In fact you will learn the difference between a bite and getting hung up a little on a rock. Don't worry these big ones will take the Senko and keep it. To give you an example of what I mean, I use those red hooks. When I'm done fishing they have no paint left on them.
Now when I got off the lake at around 1:30 there was another Skeeter pulling out too. A nice 225 with a father and young son maybe 6 or 7 years old. I saw where they were fishing on the way out. They caught some nice big small mouth too as we share some photos. Lets just say he wasnt fishing any coves but they were using shiners. Dad was pretty proud as his son told me that big one was his. When they showed me thier big fish I didn't show them the other ones I caught. His son was so excited it was only fair to let him own the day.
Who knows maybe you have to have a Skeeter to have success.
I guess I forgot a detail. The water on the shoal ranges, at least today 15 to1 foot with large parts far from the shore in the 6ft to 5 ft range. I was in 15 feet of water casting to the foundation that looks like a wall.
https://i.postimg.cc/KcWJ8yXY/20190824-094706.jpg
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