Milford Lake

bluebasser86 · 09-15-11, 03:02 AM

I got out to one of my favorite smallmouth lakes for a day and half of fishing with high hopes. It was pretty tough. Lots of little fish and WAY more wind than they called for. The highest I saw was 14mph before I left, I only saw winds under 20mph for about an hour Monday night before the cold front blew in and it didn't slow down from there. It is a REALLY tough lake to fish when the wind is blowing. I did enjoy the break in the wind Monday night and caught a bunch of little smallmouth off the dam.

Tuesday the wind was blowing when I woke up but I knew I would be a little protected at the dam so I fought my way back to it. Started catching little smallies and whites right away again. About halfway down I hooked a heavy fish and on 6lb test and light action dropshot rod I fought it for probably 5 minutes before I saw color. It hit a grub and I thought for sure it was a cat, wiper, or drum because it was staying down and not trying to jump at all. When I saw goldish brown I eliminated wipers and was hoping it was a cat. Then I got a good look and saw it was a smallmouth and it got way more serious in the boat. I finally got the net under her and put her on the scale. She bounced back and forth between 4 even and 4lbs 1 oz so I called her 4. Only 19 inches long and very fat!

This was the ONLY fish that made the drive worthwhile. Only caught 1 walleye all weekend, no big wipers, TONS of 4-8 inch whites, and the water is still 14 feet high and stinks to high heaven from the blue-green algae. I didn't catch another smallmouth over 12" even and probably only 3 or 4 fish in general that weighed more than a pound. Fished everything I could in 3 and 4 foot waves and a grub was the only consistent producer. I'm hoping the water comes down enough for dad and I to make one more trip out before the water gets hard.

CamG · 09-15-11, 09:30 AM

Congrats man! Just pull down those pictures though...I don't want anyone else looking at my hotspots.

Bubba_Bruiser · 09-15-11, 09:31 AM

Thanks for the pictures Blue. Eventhough you caught a bunch of shorts, at least something was active. I had the same hopes fishing a lake yesterday. Seems like the cloud cover turned the bigger fish off instead of on. A few smaller fish cooperated. But I get just as excited about the bump as I do to find out what is on the other end.

bamabassman · 09-15-11, 06:08 PM

blue.........that first pic was enough for me to make the trip man, lol. the huge one i know is way better, but i refer to it as icing on da cake. nice, pretty day.

WatterBoy · 09-15-11, 07:45 PM

Sorry to hear the fishing was tough, but "Yeah, baby!" on that 4 pound Smallie. That one is awesome. Way to go!

woody · 09-15-11, 08:04 PM

BB86, way to go, landing that smalljaw! I bet that rod was fully loaded, to say the least.

-Mark

bluebasser86 · 09-16-11, 02:45 AM

Thanks for the congrats guys. That big smallmouth was probably the longest fight I've ever had from a bass. I was using a 6' 8" Shimano Crucial M/L dropshot rod with a Shimano Symetre 1000 and 6lb Stren Magnathin line with a 1/8oz homemade jighead with a Chartruese and green 4" grub and she fought so hard my wrist was starting to hurt.
CamG-as high as the water is at Milford right now everything that you can see in my pictures will be 10 feet on dry land by the time the water gets back to normal. I heard they were going to double what they were releasing from the outlet, starting today I think. Hopefully that will help with the high water and the stinking algae!

CamG · 09-16-11, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluebasser86

Thanks for the congrats guys. That big smallmouth was probably the longest fight I've ever had from a bass. I was using a 6' 8" Shimano Crucial M/L dropshot rod with a Shimano Symetre 1000 and 6lb Stren Magnathin line with a 1/8oz homemade jighead with a Chartruese and green 4" grub and she fought so hard my wrist was starting to hurt.
CamG-as high as the water is at Milford right now everything that you can see in my pictures will be 10 feet on dry land by the time the water gets back to normal. I heard they were going to double what they were releasing from the outlet, starting today I think. Hopefully that will help with the high water and the stinking algae!

Yep, the water is high for sure. But, those spots will still hold out when she drops!

May have to meet up one of these days down there!

bluebasser86 · 09-17-11, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamG

Yep, the water is high for sure. But, those spots will still hold out when she drops!

May have to meet up one of these days down there!

Sounds good, I love fishing Milford but it sure gets rough out there fast! It's a pretty good drive from KC but it's almost always well worth the trip.

woody · 09-17-11, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluebasser86

Thanks for the congrats guys. That big smallmouth was probably the longest fight I've ever had from a bass. I was using a 6' 8" Shimano Crucial M/L dropshot rod with a Shimano Symetre 1000 and 6lb Stren Magnathin line with a 1/8oz homemade jighead with a Chartruese and green 4" grub and she fought so hard my wrist was starting to hurt.
CamG-as high as the water is at Milford right now everything that you can see in my pictures will be 10 feet on dry land by the time the water gets back to normal. I heard they were going to double what they were releasing from the outlet, starting today I think. Hopefully that will help with the high water and the stinking algae!

BB86, those are great rods. I have the 7'2" Crucial M/L Fast dropshot rod. These rods can handle a load, that's for sure! Congrats again.

-Mark

keithdog · 09-18-11, 09:33 AM

Boy oh boy is that a beautiful smallie in that second pic! Congrats.

09-15-11, 03:02 AM	#1
bluebasser86 BassFishin.Com Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Gardner, KS Posts: 605	Milford Lake I got out to one of my favorite smallmouth lakes for a day and half of fishing with high hopes. It was pretty tough. Lots of little fish and WAY more wind than they called for. The highest I saw was 14mph before I left, I only saw winds under 20mph for about an hour Monday night before the cold front blew in and it didn't slow down from there. It is a REALLY tough lake to fish when the wind is blowing. I did enjoy the break in the wind Monday night and caught a bunch of little smallmouth off the dam. Tuesday the wind was blowing when I woke up but I knew I would be a little protected at the dam so I fought my way back to it. Started catching little smallies and whites right away again. About halfway down I hooked a heavy fish and on 6lb test and light action dropshot rod I fought it for probably 5 minutes before I saw color. It hit a grub and I thought for sure it was a cat, wiper, or drum because it was staying down and not trying to jump at all. When I saw goldish brown I eliminated wipers and was hoping it was a cat. Then I got a good look and saw it was a smallmouth and it got way more serious in the boat. I finally got the net under her and put her on the scale. She bounced back and forth between 4 even and 4lbs 1 oz so I called her 4. Only 19 inches long and very fat! This was the ONLY fish that made the drive worthwhile. Only caught 1 walleye all weekend, no big wipers, TONS of 4-8 inch whites, and the water is still 14 feet high and stinks to high heaven from the blue-green algae. I didn't catch another smallmouth over 12" even and probably only 3 or 4 fish in general that weighed more than a pound. Fished everything I could in 3 and 4 foot waves and a grub was the only consistent producer. I'm hoping the water comes down enough for dad and I to make one more trip out before the water gets hard.

09-15-11, 09:31 AM	#3
Bubba_Bruiser BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: South MS Posts: 3,659	Thanks for the pictures Blue. Eventhough you caught a bunch of shorts, at least something was active. I had the same hopes fishing a lake yesterday. Seems like the cloud cover turned the bigger fish off instead of on. A few smaller fish cooperated. But I get just as excited about the bump as I do to find out what is on the other end. __________________ \,,,,/ ROCK ON! HRN4L!

09-15-11, 06:08 PM	#4
bamabassman BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: cedar bluff, alabama Posts: 15,292	blue.........that first pic was enough for me to make the trip man, lol. the huge one i know is way better, but i refer to it as icing on da cake. nice, pretty day. __________________ so many lures, so little time.

09-18-11, 09:33 AM	#11
keithdog BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: IN Posts: 8,308	Boy oh boy is that a beautiful smallie in that second pic! Congrats. __________________ Just one more cast, and then some!

09-15-11, 09:30 AM	#2
CamG BassFishin.Com Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Superior, NE Posts: 974	Congrats man! Just pull down those pictures though...I don't want anyone else looking at my hotspots.

09-15-11, 07:45 PM	#5
WatterBoy BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Owatonna, MN Posts: 2,280	Sorry to hear the fishing was tough, but "Yeah, baby!" on that 4 pound Smallie. That one is awesome. Way to go!

09-15-11, 08:04 PM	#6
woody BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Jonesville, Indiana Posts: 3,597	BB86, way to go, landing that smalljaw! I bet that rod was fully loaded, to say the least. -Mark

09-16-11, 02:45 AM	#7
bluebasser86 BassFishin.Com Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Gardner, KS Posts: 605	Thanks for the congrats guys. That big smallmouth was probably the longest fight I've ever had from a bass. I was using a 6' 8" Shimano Crucial M/L dropshot rod with a Shimano Symetre 1000 and 6lb Stren Magnathin line with a 1/8oz homemade jighead with a Chartruese and green 4" grub and she fought so hard my wrist was starting to hurt. CamG-as high as the water is at Milford right now everything that you can see in my pictures will be 10 feet on dry land by the time the water gets back to normal. I heard they were going to double what they were releasing from the outlet, starting today I think. Hopefully that will help with the high water and the stinking algae!

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