Dvl 7/13

[whopperstopper]

Well here it is , me and my dad who's down from nor-cal who's never bassed fished , Hit up Dvl to see if I could get him to pull on some fish, weather was perfect calm and cloudy, water was like bath water, I know this cause I had to take my shirt off and stick my head underwater to put the god dam drain plug in
LOL....out of the marina and tried to get it to plane...oops lol thanks god for good bilge.....So anyhow after the Chinese fire drill... hit the spots where I"ve caught fish before.. right to Ds so we could put some fish in the boat..

We got about 25 all the same ole 1 1/2 -2 lbrs and dinks But did get I guess would say 5 lbr ..saw the big ole head come out the water and shake after a lil fight got me stuck on a branch where I could see, but just out of reach , with 6lb flouro I thought she was a gonner, but after some carful effort she came out any here's a pic of it Big head Skinny body and she had some clear slime on her back....overall a good day with pops.

[BentRod]

Hate to see that big head skinny body thing going on already. Could have been worse, u could of sunk ur boat.

[KILLA]

Nice job out there, I was there as well and had the same kinda day. Where you pulling your boat with a white ford f-150? think I passed you on the highway?

[HawgStalker]

Nice! Way to put Dad on some fish...saw the big head skinny body fish for 1st time back in mid 90's after Barrett started the lottery fishing. Makes you wanna shove a kit kat and a sandwich down their throat before you let 'em go!

[HawgZWylde]

Nice! Way to put Dad on some fish...saw the big head skinny body fish for 1st time back in mid 90's after Barrett started the lottery fishing. Makes you wanna shove a kit kat and a sandwich down their throat before you let 'em go!

Been seeing a lot of those lately. That's a bad sign for the LMB population. Seen it happen at other lakes. And I believe it may confirm what Giusti was concerned about. From what I understand, he tried to convince the MWD to keep stripers out of the lake as they would eat the lake to death. I hope that's not the case, but this is definitely one of the signs that show LMB's are struggling for food...

[Pete Marino]

Lately, Ive actually seen a mix of FAT football bass...thick and healthy and then some really skinny bass with big heads.

Dont be too worried though, ALOT of these bass are still in POST SPAWN so thats how they will look. There are actually ALOT of postspawners right now.. Most all postspawn bass will look thin like an envelope and have sores on its sides... Thats typical post spawn stuff.

I actually caught a 7lb bedfish 3 weeks ago...yes a bedfish.. I located her one day and she was staying in a small area but wasnt commited to a bed... then the next day I went back and made a long cast to the spot and she ate my bait...When I landed her she was totally puckered up and her tail was literally bleeding. Then I moved up tight and saw a very aggressive 2 lb male guarding a bed on the rock.

This spawn was VERY long because of the crazy weather.. I caught my first bedfish of the year in February and my last one at the end of June. (That last big girl)

These bass should start to fatten up big time in the next month.. I just think that the lake is way behind as far as the cycle goes... Its a little different every year..this year is just one of those years when everything is behind..
However, that being said, if Sept and Oct get here and these fish are still skinny with big heads that might be a sign of bad things to come...
Vail is famous for those type of bass.. GIANT DOMES envelope bodies... ITS BAD THERE...

Pete

[TrouTracker]

To HZW- That's definitely the results of the striper thriving population at DVL. I had the rare opportunity to sit in a MWD meeting very early in the development of the lake. To the contrary, Mike suggested that because the lake is so large/wide and deep, that it could successfully sustain several species of fish, including the stripers. He said that the different species thrive in different areas, so they can all co-exist. We all know the other lakes that have been taken over by stripers. But, there's really not a lot we can do but catch them in quantities so that the other species of fish have a chance. Hopefully, in the future the different species of fish will balance out to what it used to be.........
Barry

[whopperstopper]

I used to belong to sundance meadows/vail lake about 5 yrs ago and they had the same kinda bass... but 2wks ago every 2lbr or so was stuffed with minnows spit em out on the deck ...I think the bigger fish gotta work harder for their happy meals...did see some nice one's xploding on those blue dragon flys..thru a buzz bait but nada..water got way warm fast..maybe thats why the hoggs get that ick on them...still a great fishery....and we are all fortunate to have this close to home.....she's gonna be okay...we''ll take care of her

[whopperstopper]

Nice job out there, I was there as well and had the same kinda day. Where you pulling your boat with a white ford f-150? think I passed you on the highway?

yeah that's me, I saw your guys post about the rental, you wanna go sometime I'm always lookin for an excuse..usaully last minute ..Hit me up Im chill...

[HawgZWylde]

Lately, Ive actually seen a mix of FAT football bass...thick and healthy and then some really skinny bass with big heads.

Dont be too worried though, ALOT of these bass are still in POST SPAWN so thats how they will look. There are actually ALOT of postspawners right now.. Most all postspawn bass will look thin like an envelope and have sores on its sides... Thats typical post spawn stuff.

I actually caught a 7lb bedfish 3 weeks ago...yes a bedfish.. I located her one day and she was staying in a small area but wasnt commited to a bed... then the next day I went back and made a long cast to the spot and she ate my bait...When I landed her she was totally puckered up and her tail was literally bleeding. Then I moved up tight and saw a very aggressive 2 lb male guarding a bed on the rock.

This spawn was VERY long because of the crazy weather.. I caught my first bedfish of the year in February and my last one at the end of June. (That last big girl)

These bass should start to fatten up big time in the next month.. I just think that the lake is way behind as far as the cycle goes... Its a little different every year..this year is just one of those years when everything is behind..
However, that being said, if Sept and Oct get here and these fish are still skinny with big heads that might be a sign of bad things to come...
Vail is famous for those type of bass.. GIANT DOMES envelope bodies... ITS BAD THERE...

Pete

Thanks Pete, I pray you're right. Your experience certainly gives me a little solace and peace of mind. After seeing first hand the enormity and frequency of the striper boils last fall, I definitely have a little concern over the LMB population of DVL. My partner caught a 6lb bedfish around the same time as you, we spotted some trash in the back of a cove, when we went to retrieve it, Bill spotted her and threw a d/s. She sucked it up and ran. When he boated her, she bled as well. I thought it was just a fluke or something since the majority of the fish we were catching at that time were in postspawn pattern. Lol, I'll bet the boys (and girls) back east envy a 5-6 month spawn. I've never fished Vail, some have told me it's a great Bass fishery, what happened there? They don't have striper there do they?