Good day fishing at Lake Mercer

[rondef]

I had a good day fishing at Lake Mercer considering the fact that the wind was gusting at about 20MPH and the water is only in the high 40's. I caught three LMBs (1 1.5lb, a 3.5lb and a 3.75lb) and bait.  I caught all of these using crankbaits this morning.

Here is the 1.5lb LMB

[rondef]

Here is the 3.5lb LMB

[rondef]

Her is the 3.75 LMB

[rondef]

Here is the bait that hit a crankbait.

[JCrzy4Bass]

I never knew Mercer had shad in it.  Especially not that big.  Cool deal catching one on a crankbait none the less.  Nice bass.  That three and a half pounder is looking fat.  I guess eating shad that size can do that to em'.  I'll definately be going there instead of Lake Accotink Monday morning for a couple hours.  Hopefully I can catch a nice one.

Looks like you broke your slump.  Now you just gotta catch those at Mattawoman next weekend, but you'll have a bit of competition  

Good job today!  

[AnglerNFuego]

Nice fish Ron!  

[onthereel]

Nice Fish!

I'm a newbie to this forum and somewhat to fishing.  Started fishing seriously last season, although I have been a resident of NoVA almost all my life, just discovering its freshwaters recently.  Today will be my first time at Mercer any suggestions/tips?  I've already put in a couple crankbaits in my pouch, which I didn't have, based off your post .

[osbornj2]

Great fish, Ron!  Glad that things are finally heating up here in the Old Dominion!  Those were some fat bass, my friend.  Can't wait to see you blow your pb out of the park this spring!  Tight Lines,  Jeff

[rondef]

Thanks guys, I threw three different lipless crankbaits to catch those fish.  I was doing countdowns from 5 to 10 seconds to cover a depth of between 5 and 10 feet of water.  I lost what I believe could have been a new PB but I could not confirm it because he came off about 15 feet away from me.  I just know he fought really hard and my rod (BPS Tourney Special 7' MH) bent over pretty hard trying to wrestle him in.  I also know this lake holds some nice hawgs because I caught my two biggest lmbs (5.5lbs & 5.25lbs) in it last year throwing crankbaits.

[cjbs2003]

Did the shad hit the crank bait or did the shad not move out of the way fast enough and get a treble stuck in his side? HAHA

[rondef]

The shad was in the way, I got one hook in the side of it's gill.  You can see the small puncture in the picture.  I probably should have kept him on the hook and used him as bait.

[cjbs2003]

I keep all the gizzard shad I snag for catfish bait, no better bait out there. Less cast netting I have to do! Seem to snag a lot of gizzard shad this time of year... I think they swim slower because of the cold water and can't get out of the way of the lure fast enough.

[dwill]

what part of the lake did you catch the big bass at and you just used crank baits what colors

you fish there often? What other lures have u had luck fishing

[rondef]

I caught them on lipless crankbaits by casting out and counting them down between 5 and 10 seconds to cover the water column in 5ft to 10ft of water.  Sorry I am not going to give up spots on the lake but I can tell you the lipless crankbaits were blue, blue and silver and black and silver.

[dwill]

thank you what other kinds of lures have u had succsess with a mercer

[stunning]

It looks like if your facing the water while standing on the dam, the spot looks to be on the left side of the lake. Right now a lipless crankbait would not be a good choice. C-rig would be the ticket.

[shadchasin]

Stunning you are correct however if you read the very first post would see it was posted back in April an at that point lip less would have been better

[Purpleworm82]

A lipless crankbait is always a good choice  

[stunning]

Stunning you are correct however if you read the very first post would see it was posted back in April an at that point lip less would have been better

      Sorry, I was talking about now. Lipless cranks, dropshots and other cold water styles would have payed off better then. There is no secret to Mercer. People just get blinded by the only form of cover in the "stumps". Fish it from a boat! I am building a caddy for my Jon and will do it again soon.

[shadchasin]

Stunning you have a boat you take out there thats really what do you mean your buliding a caddy

[stunning]

I have a really light Jon boat that I can lift and carry myself for a short distance. Here is the problem, trolling motor, batteries, depth finder and tackle to boot. I should have said I am building a dolly...Load it up and walk it to the water. Last time a carried a canoe,that sucked!