shimmy

a white perch, aka the nemesis 

i haven't fished it since late April due to graduate school and fishing in MN but plan on heading back out at the end of July when i have more time. The lake is pretty bad from shore so your kayak will do the trick. Beware of the crew team!!! They are everywhere at all times of the day and will drive right up on your spot without an apology. First and foremost, if your going to fish on the main lake, get an anchor. The wind there is ridiculous and i drop an anchor at every single spot i fish. When you launch at Mt. Hope road, start off going to the right if it's early morning and throw a smaller spook or a 1.5 to 2.5 square bill crankbait. Some water comes in on the right cove to the right of the mt hope launch ramp, but fish on the outsides of the cove fan casting until you go inside of it. Fish will stack up on the outsides and there are some good rocks you can't see. The cove is great. Wacky rigging a senko will work out there too. Throwing a spook in the morning along the weed lines along the lake usually gives me three bites or so and you can catch some good fish doing it. Then, you want to go deeper. Like Jon was saying, this lake is brutal because if you fish mainly shallow you will not consistently catch big fish (or maybe you can in the summer and i just stink at it). I actually started throwing the fat ika out there and kill them on it. If you can find the bridge in the middle of the lake, you can get into a few of them that way. I have caught them on a buzzbait before out over the top of the bridge. I took a buddy with me one time and he flipped out when i caught one on the buzzard there since he thought we were deep sea fishing. You absolutely need a depth finder. If you don't, your only chance is trying to drag a carolina rig to feel the structure and you'll end up wasting your time. This lake used to be amazing in the 90's but since the early 2000's has taken a hit. There are still a few big ones in there. In April, i went out 5 times and caught one over 5 and just one over 6, and a few over 4 pounds, but this lake has a ton of 4 pound bass. But, don't expect to get bit like you do in the ashburn ponds. It can be brutal without a depthfinder. Dragging a worm will work but i think crankbaits are your best bet. Maybe tie on three different depth crankbaits and pound the points, then back off and hit them again at different angles. If you can find the channels, you have a chance but even then, the bigger ones are hard to catch. What someone needs out there is side imaging. Because these fish move everywhere at all times, you really need a depth finder that can find them. If you hear fish jumping, it's probably going to be carp. If you're into swimbait fishing, get something that looks like a white perch. Oh, and there are small mouth in there. Caught one over 21 inches last summer on a top water bait. She was skinny though. The lake is weird. Not what it used to be. You may only get 3 bites, but you have a good chance that one of them will be over 4. Go get em.