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  1. #1
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    Lake Gaston advice

    This summer I wanting to try and broaden my horizons. Meaning no only fish along bank and boat docks. Have been watching tons of videos of off shore fishing. My deal is last summer I could find fish on my graph but cannot catch any of them. What areas there should I be looking for. Have been trying channel swings that get close to shore line. What else?
    Semper Fi

  2. Member Meadows's Avatar
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    #2
    Take the boat to the ramp, put it on the trailer, drive west about 30 minutes, and fish Buggs Island!
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  3. Member
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    #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Meadows View Post
    Take the boat to the ramp, put it on the trailer, drive west about 30 minutes, and fish Buggs Island!
    That is just not right!!!!!
    Roger Jenks Jr
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  4. Member
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    #4
    Quote Originally Posted by jrbdad View Post
    This summer I wanting to try and broaden my horizons. Meaning no only fish along bank and boat docks. Have been watching tons of videos of off shore fishing. My deal is last summer I could find fish on my graph but cannot catch any of them. What areas there should I be looking for. Have been trying channel swings that get close to shore line. What else?

    I have been doing the same for the last 2 years and it works. I am no pro on off shore fishing but i have gotten better. Things i look for are channel swings, points and my most important is current. I am primarily a river fisherman so i fish alot of current. When they are generating current i have better success. Find the current moving over a particular area and what breaks the current. Most fish positioned there should be active. I too go to alot of places and see lots of fish and cannot catch them, so it happens alot. Also try alot of different baits. Probably my number one offshore bait is a jerkbait. The biggest reason is i can generally find where they are at and if they are active. Then i pull out the spinnerbait, dropshot, c-rig, crankbait etc. One big problem I have with off shore fishing is dirty water. If it is muddy I generally do not try it. Gaston has been muddy more than it has been clear so have not done much. I am heading down right now for a long weekend to hopefully try so off shore fishing but I am hearing that it is pretty muddy. We shall see.

    I hope this helps a little. I hope other chime in here cause I need help as well.
    Roger Jenks Jr
    2021 Bass Cat Lynx
    250 Pro xs 4S Serial # 3B010758


  5. Member
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    #5
    Thank you Roger.

    I was planning on going down this weekend myself. Just found out that sons baseball tournament that was canceled due to rain couple weeks ago has been rescheduled to
    THIS WEEEKEND!! Havent been down to our place at Gaston in over a month.
    Semper Fi

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    #6
    Quote Originally Posted by JINXBASS View Post
    I have been doing the same for the last 2 years and it works. I am no pro on off shore fishing but i have gotten better. Things i look for are channel swings, points and my most important is current. I am primarily a river fisherman so i fish alot of current. When they are generating current i have better success. Find the current moving over a particular area and what breaks the current. Most fish positioned there should be active. I too go to alot of places and see lots of fish and cannot catch them, so it happens alot. Also try alot of different baits. Probably my number one offshore bait is a jerkbait. The biggest reason is i can generally find where they are at and if they are active. Then i pull out the spinnerbait, dropshot, c-rig, crankbait etc. One big problem I have with off shore fishing is dirty water. If it is muddy I generally do not try it. Gaston has been muddy more than it has been clear so have not done much. I am heading down right now for a long weekend to hopefully try so off shore fishing but I am hearing that it is pretty muddy. We shall see.

    I hope this helps a little. I hope other chime in here cause I need help as well.
    everytime I go to Gaston, it’s chocolate milk and no bueno for offshore. I’ve been 4 times and all 4 times there was rain within the previous 2, 3 or 4 days of my trip. Is it always that muddy at Gaston where fishing offshore is mostly a fantasy?

  7. Member
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    #7
    It does seem like that last couple year it has been pretty dirty. There are some area that clear up quicker and some that stay pretty clear.
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    #8
    Quote Originally Posted by jrbdad View Post
    It does seem like that last couple year it has been pretty dirty. There are some area that clear up quicker and some that stay pretty clear.
    I'm going down tomorrow for a few days. I'll be staying on Pea Hill Creek. Do you think the creeks will clear up first?

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    #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Dennyg View Post
    I'm going down tomorrow for a few days. I'll be staying on Pea Hill Creek. Do you think the creeks will clear up first?
    Pea Hill seems to be clearer then the main lake and parts of it clear up pretty quick.
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    #10
    The main lake is still pretty dirty. Don't know about the creeks but Pea Hill will be the cleanest water on the lake.
    Roger Jenks Jr
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    #11
    I don't mind fishing stained water, in fact I usually do well if the visibility is as little as 18 inches.

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    #12
    Up lake was stained. Down lake was not bad. Pea Hill was clean.

    Could not get on any fish. Could not get any fish shallow to bit. Well did get a couple bits but short strikes and could not keep hooked up.

    Finally moved out a little and found fish in 8-14ft of was but could not catch any of them. Need to work on that. I do feel we learned a little over the weekend thought.
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  13. Member
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    #13
    Just returned from 3 days at Gaston yesterday. Had a good trip numbers wise. We each caught at least one decent Spot or Largemouth up to 3 pounds. Wacky worms was
    the main producer with some caught on Texas rigged worms and Little Dippers.

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    #14
    Dennyg, Were they shallow? A friend just told me last weekend they caught them dirt shallow. Which we never found, it was what i initially was looking for.
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    #15
    Quote Originally Posted by jrbdad View Post
    Dennyg, Were they shallow? A friend just told me last weekend they caught them dirt shallow. Which we never found, it was what i initially was looking for.
    Yes, most of the fish were in leass than 6 feet of water, some as shallow as 3 feet. More than half of our fish were in front of or right next to the dormant grass fields.

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    #16
    Well we really stunk it up. Cause we didnt land a fish up shallow at all.
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    #17
    Yeah, that's happened to me too.