Cold Summer Day in Maryland

[RandyHolt]

I have a question about the weather and its effect on largemouths. The temperatures have been in the 80's recently, and fishing for largemouths on a local lake has been great this year - any time of day. The lake has its deep points maybe 100 feet maximum and a bunch of coves pretty much filled up with hyrdilla already. Fallen timber but not a lot of structure otherwise. I went kayaking yesterday, and it was cloudy and cold for early July. I think the high temp was 71°F yesterday with average winds. At night it dipped into the high 50's.

So I was out from 12p-6p and the fish were not biting in our usual spots with our normal gear. It seems to be falling into a pattern. When its unseasonably cold, the bass arent biting or have moved and I cant find them. Maybe its the clouds; I am not sure what is up. I went through all my lures and colors. I figured on a cloudy cool day, the bass would be in more shallow water and more aggressive. I figured wrong. I worked points ledges and structures. Tried to go slow. Worked all my lures and colors.

So I turn to the bass-masses for guidance on what happens to the bass when the weather turns cloudy and cold for a few days in an otherwise warm period. What is the pattern would you think they follow.

Or are there bigger factors in play, like oxygen levels? My beer can clanking off the kayak bottom, or a bright colored shirt?

Thanks all!

[JB]

well theres no way it could be the beers fault rofl

Try looking for fish on the fish break or ledge instead of beating the bank.
You may have to fish slower or use plastics like a drop shot or use a jig, or a deep diving crankbait. If you have sonar move around and see if the fish are stacked up over a big break, like 20-25 feet.

[RandyHolt]

thanks jb. hmmm. So i need a deep diver, and to work the drop shot. I did beat the banks pretty good, but did move around and work the ledges from all angles. I didnt try different rigs for the softs - just different colors. I was texas rigging my plastics only, perhaps a mistake. I did go weightless and wacky and stay on top of the hydrilla; and worked various bullet weights to get a senko down in to different depths. I did use a crankbait but he was only a medium diver. I dont have a sonar and doubt I worked any fish breaks proper. I am not sure how to locate them without sonar. I did make sure to work a worm and lizard at about 20 feet off the points of the coves. And a booyah jig PBJ and trailer in the deeper water. May I add there are almost no rocks.

[BassMoJo]

Randy what lake are you fishing? This time of year bass like a steady weather pattern those nights in the 50's can mess them up I fish the Baltimore reservoirs I find sucess in the early mornings fishing flats with top water. Cloudy days SHOULD be your better days but like I said those nights in the 50's will throw the fish off. When that sun comes out you gotta go deep drop shot, Carolina rig, d22, jigs,spoons, etc. For example I fished liberty Sunday and My pattern was main lake oaks (the tops) in 20-35 ft of water and a drop shot rig with a small xps fluke. When you catch a fish you have to take notice of what your doing lure type depth and type of cover or structure once you devolop a
pattern stick with it and don't be afraid to go deep. Look for humps drop offs rock piles long points.... All that good stuff and if the lake has grass you may need need to go all that deep look for the breaks fish rattles and spinners over top plastics Carolina etc. As far as the pads go frogs senkos in the holes and so on

Hope this helps if I know the lake and have fished it before I can be a little more specific

[nofearengineer]

Originally Posted by RandyHolt

I dont have a sonar and doubt I worked any fish breaks proper. I am not sure how to locate them without sonar.

Did someone call me? Look, Randy, I get a lot of eye-rolling about this, but it works for me. You need to tie on a deep crank on one side of the boat and a medium depth crank on the other side. Troll those breaks and any creek channels you can find. Obviously keep the shallower crank on the shore side of the boat. Do that until you find them. If you fish with a buddy you can try even more depths at once if you exercise some care not to get tangled up.

And I totally agree with mojo about the shallows in the morning, though I think of that being more of a Spring thing.

[RandyHolt]

BMJ - I have been working Little Seneca in Montgomery County. Thanks for all the tips. I agree the changes in the weather pattern changes them. I am hesitant to go deep because I have had little luck previously but I think its becoming clear where I need to head. There are no lilly pads but a ton of hydrilla in the coves. Very few patches of grass on the edge. Most of the structure are submerged and downed trees, in some areas there are quite a lot. And again LOTS of hydrilla and some steep drop offs. I need to change up my rigs more and head deeper near those trees.

No Fear - that was exactly the type of information I was looking for - thanks. I rolled the dice and admitted i had no clue on how to find the breaks lol.

[Rebbasser]

Randy, welcome to the forum and I'll trade you a hot day for a cold one. Today is the first day in about 2 weeks it hasn't been over 100 degrees down here.

[RandyHolt]

Thanks Reb i have heard it is a bit toasty down there. I bet the bass there are nice and deep about now. Believe me I saw the temp and knew it was perfect weather to yak around during the day time... but it turned out to be a slow day. Always better than work, thats for damn sure.

[RandyHolt]

So it seems a cold night and then a cloudy day can send the bass to deeper waters. It also seems those weather changes make them less active.

Can anyone recommend me a good deep diver (20-30 feet) and color for my lake? That water is generally clear. There are bluegills and crappies as snacks so those are obvious candidates already. I imagine there is some hydrilla down near the bottom even in the deep areas, but I am not sure. There is definitely hydrilla in the shallower areas and on the slopes that I am bound to run into so I may need something fairly weedless.

Thanks in advance.

[BassMoJo]

Seneca ....the dead sea lol. Ever try Rocky George or Tridelphia ?

[BigBassin144]

There aren't many crankbaits that dive over 20' I believe Mann's makes one that is supposed to go like 30ft, but I don't know if it really does. Also, try a Bandit 400 or 700 series in Chrome Bluegill color.

BB

[RandyHolt]

The dead sea lol. tell me about it. It used to be top water happy many moons ago, but not anymore. I'd swear that lake had questionable issues with the water quality but things are a bit better now. I have gone out once to RG and Tridelphia; and I suspect BMJ will suggest I go back. But Seneca is local so its tough to beat to get a line out when the Potomac is all gummed up.

So i presume that while working that deeper water (lets say 25 feet deep), the bass will be suspended somewhere above bottom, based on water temps perhaps. So taking BB144's lure advice will get a deep diver pretty much where I need to be. Sounds like a trip to dicks is in order.

Thanks for the feedback. Any additional tips on how to work that lake when the dog days of summer get here, would still be appreciated.

[nofearengineer]

A Norman's Splat Black DD-22 does gangbusters for me in my local lake, which is clear, stained. It dives 15-20' depending on retrieve and length of cast. Trolled, it's around 20' I estimate.

[WaffleJaw]

as rebbasser said,its been HOT down here in TX....and well trade any day,lol

for really deep lakes, I always have better luck using a heavier silver spoon....and count down as it sinks and mix up my retrieves........that DD-22 looks good too though.....i never had much luck on my deep divers, but the spoon has delivered some fish outta no where......granted i dont do alot of deeper fishing,so i only suggest whats worked for me......and compared to drop shotting and my cranks.....the spoon won!

[nofearengineer]

Spoons are an oft-forgotten killer lure. Not glamorous, but deadly.

[RandyHolt]

I do have to admit I am spoonless. My dualing tackle boxes already packed to the gills. It sounds like I need to pick up a few spoons regardless. To me, the colors rough me up. What works are colors I wouldnt always think of logically. I will try and go with a silver, any other recommended colors for my lake? If anyone can recommend a particular proven one, even better. Hook up a brother stuck working the shallows!

Thanks waffle and nofear for sharing those tips. I will do some counting to make sure I am working different depths. As usual, itching to get out there....

[Panthrosan]

Dude I fish the private side of Seneca all the time as my buddy lives there. He hooked up with a 5lber there and the other day aside has been fairly decent to us. Hit me up and you can come over to the other side where the fish are lol.

[zooker]

dude get a depth finder in your yak...i got one in mine...


zooker

[RandyHolt]

LOL yeah maybe I have been chasing all the fish up your way Pan. And a depth finder for the kayak seems a wise idea. Thank Zook. If nothing else, get my buddy's boat out there and map the terrain using his. Off to ebay looking for a cheap depth finder.

[zooker]

i use an eagle cuda 168-$80- i glued the puck in the rear compartment and use a jet ski battery in the front compartment..it'll run 3 full days with just the depth finder on it.. i take mine out in the salt flats after red fish and speck trout..

here this link will help

http://www.louiswclarke.com/kayakrig...s/Page1212.htm


zooker

[Hooked on Fishin']

BassMojo,

I would like to learn Rocky Gorge, I have tried a few times with no luck at all. Any tips?

They just increased their season pass to 60.00 BTW

[BigBassin144]

I don't know Zook, I just can't picture you in a kayak...


BB

[RandyHolt]

Giving this thread a bump to alert my fellow Maryland (DC and VA) anglers that there appears to have been a raw sewage dump into the upper potomac recently. You can see it and smell it plain as day. Its nasty. Yes that is used for our tap water. I am thinking who to alert and decided this place was a good idea among others. With no forecast for rain in the near future, this area may not be much fun for a while.

[BassMoJo]

I hitting the spoils Sunday I'll let u know how I do

[RandyHolt]

It looks like my alert above was a false alarm. Sorry about that, just trying to play it safe. I contacted the local authorities and this is what they had to say:

Yep, it's a blue-green algae. I believe it's called oscillatoria. It can look and smell bad and as it decomposes, it can look and smell like feces. Maryland DNR is also certain that is what it is. We were getting calls the last couple of years about it from Shepherdstown on down from people who have lived on and/or paddled the Potomac for years and have seen nothing quite like it until lately. It comes from too many nutrients coming into the water too fast with heavy rains, and then during the drier times this is what happens.

Here is a picture to anyone interested to prevent future false alarms. I dont know how I would ever be able to tell the difference between that and the real deal, to be honest. The smell is near identical.