Help me out tomorrow!!

[Trappernewt]

I thought this might be a fun topic...

 

  I have been sitting here trying to decide all evening where to go fishing in the morning. I can’t make up my mind so I’m hoping you folks can help me out. We experienced a heavy thunderstorm this evening that muddied up the small streams and the air temps dropped from the high 80’s to the low 70’s. Below are the lakes....all 3 are under 60 acres and feed by a small stream. Bluegill, small shiners and crawfish are the main food sources. Im in the eastern panhandle of WV. 

 

Lake 1: Average depth is 9’ with a max depth of 20’. Has a Creek channel through the majority of it. It’s full of hydrilla and other aquatic vegetation that makes up about 70% of the lake. Mostly mud bottom. 

 

Lake 2: Average depth is 12’ with a max depth of 38’. Lots of standing timber and submerged structure. Very steep drop offs on most of the banks going from 6” to 10’ in a short distance. Mud bottom but not much vegetation other than reeds and cattails along the bank on one side. 

 

Lake 3: Average depth is 10’ with a max depth of 26’. Very little standing timber but a lot of submerged timber with a mix of mud and slate bottom. Not much vegetation at all. 

 

All three lakes produce LMB nearing 8# (I know small for a lot of you) and have a decent population of fish. Lake 1 has Northern Pike and Lake 3 has gotten several stockings of Musky over the last ten years. 

 

 I know the info is vague but please share your thoughts on where I should try given the weather and time of year. Feel free to offer styles and lures you would try. I’ll be on the water at daybreak and will update this thread with pictures and a summary tomorrow afternoon. 

[JediAmoeba]

I miss my muskie so much so I would tie on and go to lake 3! 

[drscholl14]

I don't know your area at all but after we get a good rain I tend to find a lot of fish up in shallow structure because the rain washes a lot of nutrients and forage into the lakes.  So I'd probably go with #2 and throw T-rigged creature baits up shallow and if that doesn't produce move out to the standing timber and throw cranks or something else that moves a lot of water through the timber.

 

I'm no expert though.

[A-Jay]

Dropping temps -

Go Flip the Jungle.

Lake 1

A-Jay

[Hammer 4]

Just now, A-Jay said:

Dropping temps -

Go Flip the Jungle.

Lake 1

A-Jay

Beat me to it..Yeah, lake #1.

[Trappernewt]

3 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Dropping temps -

Go Flip the Jungle.

Lake 1

A-Jay

 

2 minutes ago, Hammer 4 said:

Beat me to it..Yeah, lake #1.

This is a technique I’ve not done a lot as this is basically the only lake within 80 miles of me with this type of vegetation. I do have a rod specifically setup for it (just got it actually) and I have the tungsten, stops, hooks, baits etc. how do I know where on earth to start in 50 acres of weeds?  Lol 

 Just pitch to  the holes or gaps? Starting deep and working up shallow so I don’t spook them?

[Hammer 4]

Me personally, I would start by tossing a frog over the vegetation, if nada, then I would be punching in the green stuff, and work from there..

[A-Jay]

9 minutes ago, Trappernewt said:

 

This is a technique I’ve not done a lot as this is basically the only lake within 80 miles of me with this type of vegetation. I do have a rod specifically setup for it (just got it actually) and I have the tungsten, stops, hooks, baits etc. how do I know where on earth to start in 50 acres of weeds?  Lol 

 Just pitch to  the holes or gaps? Starting deep and working up shallow so I don’t spook them?

To start, ignore the weeds and focus on the bottom; the depth and the composition.

Look for humps, holes saddles & drops - something different.

And if there's any wood or rock mixed in there - that could be a magnet.

Once you catch a few, you may notice that a certain type of weed or weed transition from one to another may coincide with that depth and the fish like being there.

Might be the presence of bait.

Braided line helps here - 

Good Luck and enjoy the opportunity to learn something new.

A-Jay

 

[Trappernewt]

11 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

To start, ignore the weeds and focus on the bottom; the depth and the composition.

Look for humps, holes saddles & drops - something different.

And if there's any wood or rock mixed in there - that could be a magnet.

Once you catch a few, you may notice that a certain type of weed or weed transition from one to another may coincide with that depth and the fish like being there.

Might be the presence of bait.

Braided line helps here - 

Good Luck and enjoy the opportunity to learn something new.

A-Jay

 

Thank you. I will throw some top water really early. Then try the things you suggested. This lake doesn’t see a ton of pressure cause it’s nearly impossible to fish from shore and the vegetation makes it very intimidating to fish. I’ve caught a lot of fish here early in the spring and late in the fall but have struggled during this time of year. 

[Hower08]

Throw topwater all day not just morning. Biggest mistake I see people make is not keeping a topwater bait at the ready during all hours of the summer months

[Trappernewt]

Well.....I went this morning and unloaded the boat, parked the truck and hoped on the front deck. Shoved off the dock and dropped the trolling motor....hit the button and nothing. Checked the plug and all the batteries  and connections and everything was clean and tight. Apparently between when I unplugged the onboard charger (I looked this morning when I  and when I arrived at the lake one of the batteries went bad. So I paddled my happy butt back to the ramp and loaded up. Bad part is the batteries are only 10 months old but they replaced both under Warranty. 

[Hammer 4]

3 hours ago, Trappernewt said:

Well.....I went this morning and unloaded the boat, parked the truck and hoped on the front deck. Shoved off the dock and dropped the trolling motor....hit the button and nothing. Checked the plug and all the batteries  and connections and everything was clean and tight. Apparently between when I unplugged the onboard charger (I looked this morning when I  and when I arrived at the lake one of the batteries went bad. So I paddled my happy butt back to the ramp and loaded up. Bad part is the batteries are only 10 months old but they replaced both under Warranty. 

Bummer..

[A-Jay]

3 hours ago, Trappernewt said:

Well.....I went this morning and unloaded the boat, parked the truck and hoped on the front deck. Shoved off the dock and dropped the trolling motor....hit the button and nothing. Checked the plug and all the batteries  and connections and everything was clean and tight. Apparently between when I unplugged the onboard charger (I looked this morning when I  and when I arrived at the lake one of the batteries went bad. So I paddled my happy butt back to the ramp and loaded up. Bad part is the batteries are only 10 months old but they replaced both under Warranty. 

If it happens again - check your charger.

?

A-Jay

[Trappernewt]

Just pulled up to the ramp. I’ll update y’all later tonight. 

[Trappernewt]

Fishing was ok while the wind was blowing. I caught 2 and had one get off on a spinnerbait slow rolling it just over the grass in about 8ft if water. Once the wind laid the spinnerbait bite stopped. I flipped some lay downs and grass. Threw a swim jig on weed lines and punched mats. About a half hour after sunset I threw a frog in the mats and a WP90 in the open water between mats and picked up one more fish on my way back to the ramp and had another one get off. 

 Tough evening but didn’t get skunked. Boat that was loading up when I got there had been fishing since 12:30 and never caught a fish.