Last outting 2013 report.

[keithdog]

Well, the fishing wasn't bad but it wasn't the best this past Friday, the 18th. But I had a great time and now have a new favorite body of water to fish, Lake Worster. I landed 5 small large mouth and a few wipers. And one sizable gizzard shad. Air temp was in the low 60's, partly cloudy and about a 15 mph wind. All but one of the fish were caught on a rocky flat at the entrance to a large bay. The first bass came on a spinner bait near a laydown, and all the other fish were taken on a Xcaliber lipless crank in Sexy Momma color. I am convinced now that lipless cranks work well in some waters and poorly in others. In my local lakes I have been throwing them for 20 years and have had minimal success at best, with 99% coming in early spring. And that's just a couple a day if at all. However, the fish at lake Worster eat them up! I'm not sure what the difference is, except that lake Worster is a man made impoundment, and has less vegetation, plenty of rocky lake bed, and a shad food base. All of which my local natural lakes lack, except for Flint Lake, which did have some shad for a couple years, but they are mainly gone now from what I can tell. The shad in Flint Lake were never legally introduced but showed up one year. Now it's time to put the boat away and prepare for winter.
Lake Worster is a man made impoundment which is 1:15 minutes from my home, but it is well worth the drive. It's a beautiful body of water, surrounded by forest with NO developments on the water other than the State Park which encompasses it. The lake is 345 acres and only electric motors are allowed. That eliminates water skiers, jet skis, and roaring bass boats. In other words, it's quiet, except for the sounds of the birds, and nearby hikers or bikers enjoying their day. The lake is very well known for it's pan fishing which is what most anglers fish for there. The pan fish grow larger than the states average. The same is true for the bass, which are also growing faster and larger than the state average according to the DNR. In fact, from what I now know about the lake, if a state record bass can be caught in the northern portion of the state, this lake will do it. If your a bass fisherman, you won't have much competition which is a win win situation for me! And if you enjoy fishing for cat fish, this lake is very well known for it's huge channel cats. And the state record bull head was caught here. There is also walleye, pike, perch and small mouth stocked in the lake.
I had always wanted to fish here, but never had because I never had reliable transportation to haul my boat there. The old pick up had it's problems and I never drove it far from home. But with a reliable vehicle to tow the boat, Worster is going to be my go to lake. The facilities are very nice. There are two boat launches with multiple lanes at each, with each lane having it's own pier to tie to. Large parking lots to facilitate, and a very well kept fish cleaning house with electric and running water. The State Park, Potato Creek State Park which Worster lake rests in is very well maintained and offers many nice features for families, including a swimming beach, cabins, walking and biking trails, a nature center, and many picnic areas with bathrooms and play grounds.
The year 2013 was pretty much a bust for the most part for me but the end of the year made up for it and I am really fired up about fish for 2014 thanks to Lake Worster.