My Favorite Lake Is Coming Back Strong

[paul.]

hey guys. been a while. despite a busier than usual spring, i have managed some fishing. i have been concentrating on my favorite lake for the past few months. this lake really got hurt badly a couple of years ago. it was drained WAY down to fix a leaky overflow pipe. while it was down, unfortunately a few idiots took advantage and basically just raped the place. on top of that, it stayed very low during the hottest part of summer, undoubtedly killing even more fish. i really had my doubts about whether this lake would ever be the same. well, i have been very pleasantly suprised. since starting to fish there earlier this year, it has been a rarity to have a trip with less than 40 fish. big fish have been a lot more scarce than they used to be, but i think there's still a few in there. numbers have been as good or better as they ever were. in the long run, this drawdown may be the best thing that ever happened to this lake. here's a few pictures.

during the spawn, the rage craw was the hot ticket. this bait single-handedly produced over 200 bass.

after the spawn, i took advantage of some red hot bluegill and shellcracker action. the vast majority of the fish were good quality, this size or bigger. plenty of fun on 4 pound test.

lately, despite the spawn being long done and water temps around 90, i am still finding lots of fish on shallow wood and grassbeds - 3-5 ft deep. there was a large algae bloom on the lake for about 2 weeks. due to light being unable to penetrate, much of the lake's lush grass died - especially in deeper water. only a few patches of shallow grass survived. i have been keying on these and doing fairly well. baits of choice have been squarebills, rattlebaits, and worms. the zoom mag II has been the best producer of all. in fact, the mag has outshined all my other worms by a very wide margin - even the more expensive ones. some plastic companies are charging over $5 for a pack with less than 10 worms these days. it's good to know that worms costing $3.99 / 20 pack will still put a bunch of fish in the boat. here's a decent mag II fish, best of the trip yesterday.

needless to say, i am quite happy with the way this lake has bounced back. take heart if your favorite water has fallen on hard times. given time and opportunity, mother nature does a pretty good job of healing herself. hope y'all are catching some too.

[ICU812]

Great to hear your lake is producing! Nice fish!!

[Fat-G]

Nice to hear from you paul, have been watching your posts on Rage Talk.

Nice fish!

[atlbassin]

those are some nice ones. why didn't you toss that monster bluegill out there for the lunkers to munch on?? glad to hear the lake is coming back