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Fishing Report ::4/6/2014
I fished today out of Elm Hill from noon until 5:00.
The first 3hrsmi fished with my 5yo who only wanted two things… FILL THE LIVEWELL with smallmouth [where does he get this stuff?] and catch a MONSTER gar. His words, not mine. Belive it or now, neither thing happened. We fished the pocket where the summer elm hill ramp is for the first half if the day. Back there, we both missed decent fish. I had a fish slam and then in short order shake free of a flat sided crankbait. He missed one on a shakey head that I swear should have hooked itself as fast as it was moving. Water temps in the back were 58-61. The water was still marked up with the green algae and that same rust colored sediment.We then idled across the bluff back towards rhe marina. Then on his request, I started to throw the Alabama Rig. Immediately, I had a good sized largemouth follow up to the boat. On my next cast, I caught a short smallmouth. Next cast, a barely keeper largemouth. Much to my son’s disappointment, I didn’t put it in the livewell. Next cast, I caught a nice keeper smallmouth. While letting him reel on it and trying to keep it down from a passing boat, it broke a wire off the rig and headed back to the depths. Word of advice… Umbrella rigs don’t last forever. Especially if you’ve been catching hybrids on them. I was disappointed, but he thought it was the coolest thing ever. These fish all came in the transition from the bluff to the point entering elm hill. While rigging another rig – the wind changed and clouds rolled in. We headed into the marina since it was time for him to go home. He missed another fish on a swimbait around scattered stumps. I know, he should be sticking with something easier to fish, but he insists on doing whatever I do.
After dropping him off at the dock, I ran to old hickory cove to see if the hybrids were still there. Well, I didn’t catch any hybrids, but there were probably 10 boats in there trolling, casting and vertically jigging for them. The highlight being a wakeboard boat with a multi rod spread idling laps around the entire flotilla. I had a few bumps on the flat side crankbait, but nothing hooked up. This was a sign of my upcoming frustration. Temps back here were 57-59 with better clarity than earlier in the week.
I ran back to elm hill and finished out the day cranking shallow stumps and rocks. I had a keeper largemouth hook up and throw my crankbait on its way back to the boat. I also had a keeper smallie do the same!!! I just put new hooks on last night. So much for preparation… I had a couple more swat a the crankbait or hook up briefly and shake loose. To be honest, I should have changed color or lures to get better bites. I feel like the fish were cruising and just taking swipes at the bait asvt was crashing along. Temps back here were 57-61. Water clarity was stained, but good.
I took out at 5:00 feeling a bit frustrated by all of the missed opportunities. Hopefully the water wrms a couple more degrees before this Friday. I’m supposed to take my boss out to replay a good day on the lake we had last year. At least he used to fish a lot and knows that it can be a crap shoot at this time of year.
summary ::
lake area – Lower End :: Shallow Flats, Pockets, Main Lake Points and Bluff Transitions
Water Temps :: 57-61 [still finding cooler water further back in some pockets]
Water Clarity :: Variable – more clear water. still some of the rust sediment. shallow water had some clumpy algae / snot grass.
Successful Lures :: Umbrella Rig w/ variety of swimbaits, Flat Sided Crankbait in Craw
Unsuccessful Lures :: Jig, Shakey Head [worm and craw]
Keepers :: 1 Largemouth [1-2lbs] – broke off a keeper SMB at the boat. -
1 Reply
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I also fished Sunday afternoon out of Long Hunter. Fished from 1:30 to 6:30. Water temps mid lake were 57-61. I stayed mid lake and caught 13 bass in 2-7 fow. Caught all but two on soft plastics. The other two were caught on a buzz bait and a chatter bait. Mainly fishing around rocky banks, points and one roadbed. Had 2 keepers.
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