Got out Saturday, better day.

[keithdog]

Ok, it wasn't a great day, but it was better than the past year. As anyone who knows from reading my post of this years fishing, the lakes in my area this year were adversely effected by the heavy weed kill program that was used by the governing body. Weeds were virtually eliminated overnight and the water has been very discolored for the past 3 months. I believe it has been from dying and decaying weeds. You can still see it on what little plant life there is left.

I'm sure the oxygen content has been poor in the lakes as well due to the above mentioned. Even the bass I have caught have been very thin and almost sickly in appearance. And they have been few and far in between. I have NO idea where the larger bass have gone. They certainly are not shallow, and not in the lily pads which themselves oddly have not been effected by the weed kill. I did however have a pig follow my crank bait to the boat before swimming away without striking, just before I left the lake Saturday. Guessing it would have gone 7 pounds easily. THAT got me excited to get back, along with the improvements I saw. It just so happened to be in a spot where there appeared to be some weeds growing in 8 foot of water near a point, something that's been hard to find this year. Maybe the weeds are rebounding.

But Saturday, while the water quality is still not up to par for what it should be, it looked much better than it has in the past months. Weed beds are starting to reappear again, which has drawn bass back into focus. Normally, Flint Lake which I fish most often has a top water bite that is excellent most days. Bass chase schools of bait fish and shad to the surface which makes for exciting top water action! This often goes on all day off and on. But this year, it was as though there were no bait fish or shad, as I haven't seen a sign of them at all. And no top water bite except for very early morning before sun rise and an occational oddball top water bite after sunrise. But with the reemergence of weed beds and clearing water, baitfish are massing in school nearby and within the weeds. And the bass are in hot pursuit. And I can only hope things continue to improve the rest of the year. Once the sun climbed high in the sky without a cloud in sight, the fishing went kibosh for the most part. Even tossing wacky rigged worms, t-rigged soft plastics and spinner baits into the few weed beds, I had little luck.

The bass in the photo, best bass of the day, hit a 3" popper which turned out to be the best lure choice of the day landing about 6 on it. I did catch 2 on a spinner bait, a couple on a crank bait, and one on a Spook. There was NO action once again on any frog style baits worked in the pads and other surface vegetation in shallow water. Nor did anything else produce in the pads, which I hit hard early on and late both. They haven't produced all year.

So that's it. Sorry it was so long winded. If the water continues to clear up, I may try working a c-rig soon. Actually, it may work now. I have no confidence in a c-rig in off colored water. Haven't even tried it in off colored water, preferring to use techniques that cause more commotion and vibration and flash. Till next time, happy castin!