Skunked All Weekend!

[Clint C.]

Well this was the roughest weekend I've had in a while. Two days in a row not one bite. Couple buddies at the lake said it has been horrible for them too.

To my surprise I saw a guy just burning a crankbait get about 2 pounder (making what seemed to be just random casts). Has anyone else had luck with cranks this time of year? It's been really nasty hot out here with a recent cool down and the water level is about 2-3ft low.

[NoBassPro]

We got several today burning cranks over and around weedbeds. Seemed to me like the fish were suspended in shallower water and you had to get the bait at or just above their level to get bit, the fast the better. Thing is, we couldn't get anything over about 2 lbs, though.

[jimmykm21]

It's not so much that they are not hitting crank baits but more so the fish are deeper.

Try some deep diving , or count down crank bait. I use both

This time of year I really like the deep diving suspending cranks. Reel it down to the max depth and use a stop and go .

[Nitrofreak]

Did you go over and look at where he was fishing when he moved off?

There may have been some stumps, grass or maybe some cover he was fishing, that could have opened a couple of doors for you and given you some insite on what they are doing.

When it's nasty hot as you stated, I like looking for some feeder creeks that will cool the water and give it some much needed o2, even deeper water will have the disolved o2 used up and make the fish move when the water gets really warm, unless there is a good current flow in the area, grassy areas that are still green will offer a lot of cover and enough o2 to make the fish happy.

[Brad in MS]

we actually had a pretty good morning saturday although the wind at pickwick was pretty bad.

managed 10 fish or so with a couple of decent smallies.

most were on a drop shot and 2 or 3 on a 5xD crankbait.

the fish were on the usual deep spot/ledges but we caught most of ours in water less than 10 feet deep.

[fishking247]

It is august and it's been hot...everywhere. you really have to work for them this time of year. i'd recommend slow dragging plastics or frog scum mats and lily pads.

[Clint C.]

Yeah, I did the usual. Drop shot, mojo rig, Carolina rig, frog over pads and scum and the go to rage rig.

the guy that caught it was on a boat and I was on shore. He was casting to a small channel I guess you'd call it back to his boat on the steepest drop off on the lake. I was hitting ot from shore but from a different angle.

I'm thinking the thermocline set in and I was mostly fishing under the fish this weekend. He must have been running the crank right above the cline.

[NoBassPro]

Did you get much rain with that cooldown? We got two solid days of cool rain and it dropped the water temps almost 10 degrees from what I was reading earlier in the week. I was on two different lakes, but similar enough that there wouldn't be that great a difference. JMO, but the cooldown and rain was pushing fish shallower, but putting them in a funk at the same time. Once things stabilize a little I think fishing should start to be really good.

[IMPACT01]

I use cranks all season long. Match the hatch and remember fish are like cats. Drag it by slow nothing, drag it by fast nothing, drag it by and stop and jerk bam. Just like a cat .... my take on it

[Clint C.]

Yeah I'll be the first to admit that if there is a level below beginner as far as crankbait fishing goes, I'm that level. I guess I'll pretend I'm trying to entice a cat next time! That's a pretty neat way to think about it....

Also yes, we had two days of a lot of rain and about a 20 degree drop in temp. Unfortunately I left my depth finder in the car and didn't feel like going all the way back to get it, but I would bet the surface temp was down at least 5 degrees.