BigAngus752 Posted February 22, 2018 Posted February 22, 2018 Our ice is finally gone thanks to some above-freezing temps and a deluge of over four inches of rain over the past week. I have time to fish tomorrow but the boat is winterized and staying that way for a bit longer so I'm a shore fisherman for now. Remember, with all the rain both lakes are higher than they have been in a long time. Here are my choices: Lake 1: 5000 acre cooling lake; not many places to shore fish but enough it might be worth a try; average depth is 15ft; 130 miles of shoreline; not a tremendous amount of cover; best known for it's LM and crappie; had 75 tournaments on it in 2017 and the top five LM were all over 7 pounds with the biggest being 9.3 pounds. Lake 2: 900 acre lake; HP limited and well known for shore fishing; average depth of 20ft; lots of shoreline and lots of cover; best known for saugeye and musky but well-respected for LM also. 20 tournaments last year and the top five LM went from 6.2 to 8. I am leaning toward the smaller lake because of more places to shore fish and the fact that since it's a smaller lake I can reach a greater percentage of the overall water from shore. Also, the smaller lake has more timber, etc. around it and I think the rain has been washing more prey into the smaller lake since the larger lake has more open fields and man-made development around it. Both are about the same distance from home. I've not fished either before so I'm trying something new. Which is your pick? Quote
SDoolittle Posted February 22, 2018 Posted February 22, 2018 I'd pick whichever one has the warmer water temperature. Quote
LadiMopar Posted February 22, 2018 Posted February 22, 2018 3 minutes ago, S. Doolittle said: I'd pick whichever one has the warmer water temperature. I'll second that! Quote
BigAngus752 Posted February 22, 2018 Author Posted February 22, 2018 33 minutes ago, S. Doolittle said: I'd pick whichever one has the warmer water temperature. I thought the same thing. Unfortunately I’ve no way determine that as I can find no one who has been out on either yet. It could be the cooling lake just because it’s a cooling lake. However sometimes the plant output is very low so it could be the smaller lake because it’s much smaller and has received a lot of rain. Hard to tell. Quote
BigAngus752 Posted February 22, 2018 Author Posted February 22, 2018 59 minutes ago, S. Doolittle said: I'd pick whichever one has the warmer water temperature. In reference to the bigger lake, I just found a site that confirmed the plant has not been running. Water temp has gone from 37 to 43 in the past four days. Water level has gone up 2 feet in the past four days. Water temp would be about the same in the smaller lake. And water level will be up there also. Sounds like a draw. Quote
LadiMopar Posted February 27, 2018 Posted February 27, 2018 On 2/22/2018 at 6:15 PM, BigAngus752 said: In reference to the bigger lake, I just found a site that confirmed the plant has not been running. Water temp has gone from 37 to 43 in the past four days. Water level has gone up 2 feet in the past four days. Water temp would be about the same in the smaller lake. And water level will be up there also. Sounds like a draw. So inquiring mind wants to know which lake won out, and did you have any success? Quote
BigAngus752 Posted February 28, 2018 Author Posted February 28, 2018 8 hours ago, LadiMopar said: So inquiring mind wants to know which lake won out, and did you have any success? Tried the bigger lake. Found that the nuke was generating so there was a little bit of warmer water, but that entire section of the lake was closed for some waterfowl something or other. Had a lot of difficulty finding shoreline to fish from. Technically I got skunked but I'm not counting it because I had so little time actually putting something in the water. I still enjoyed being outside and I did a lot of walking, driving, and looking so now I know my way around that lake much better. Looking forward to going back with the boat in a month or so when the waterfowl is done doing whatever they are doing and I can get in the warm area. Quote
LadiMopar Posted March 2, 2018 Posted March 2, 2018 On 2/27/2018 at 9:10 PM, BigAngus752 said: Technically I got skunked but I'm not counting it because I had so little time actually putting something in the water. I still enjoyed being outside and I did a lot of walking, driving, and looking so now I know my way around that lake much better. Sorry about the lack of fish on the line, but you certainly gained some useful knowledge for the future. That I guess is the beauty of this time of year, recon can be the silver lining to a less than productive day. Hope your next trip will be more productive fish wise. 1 Quote
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