Striper/SMB report Friday 9/19/2014
Got on the water not long after opening. Weird to be prepping the boat in the dark, but nice to be able to get out at first light. Gate attendant said they will be opening 1/2 hour later starting next week.
Saw a few sporadic risers in the marina area, but they looked like dinks and did't bother too much with them. Zoomed to the far side of the lake for my favorite Pyramid fish -- Smallmouth. Love catching them on topwater, but I have the best luck only in the hour or so after sunrise. Flylined flukes right against the shore, in areas where the rock meets the water directly, for a few of these guys.
Love them, they fight better than any other freshwater fish, and I feel like they're smarter than the average LMB (and loads smarter than stripers). I've noticed that every year I catch more and more of these. Hope the trend continues - would be awesome to have a great Smallie lake.
Water temp in the AM was about 72.
Waiting for the boils to show up, like last week. Went out twice in the past week and a half, and it was crazy boils throughout the day, staying up for minutes at a time. But other than a few single poppers here and there, that didn't reappear, I didn't see any boils at all. Not sure if it was the sudden temp drop that pushed them down. It wasn't for a lack of shad, was able to find many areas where the shad was right on the surface, dancing around without a care in the world.
Given the lack of boils, started trolling around the lake to find some. Did a whole lap around the main lake, with very little activity. Yellowbar - nothing. Bear trap - nothing. Got a few dinks between the island and Serrano. Metered tons of fish at 60-70 feet, but couldn't get down that far. Was able to FINALLY find where the willing stripers were - right in front of Serrano. Did a few laps around that area, between Serrano and the Del Lago visitor center, and the action was slow but steady on 1oz leadheads with white ice super flukes. Water temp by this time was 74.
Beautiful day to be on the lake - wind was dead calm until around 11am or so, and much cooler than last week's heat wave.
Lots of bass boats on the lake for a Friday -- perhaps they were pre-fishing a tournament? Jet skiiers and wakeboarders started showing up at 1pm, so it was time to get off the lake.
Saw this guy playing with his new toy, he was behind the bouy line by the Sheriff's station, guess he got special permission to be back there:
Catch for the day, perfect for Cioppino stew this weekend:
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Originally Posted by Ian
