July 17, 2014
Fishing Time: 6:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Rating: 2
Weather Conditions: Overcast with heavy winds and rough, choppy water
Bait: Drop Shot with Green Pumpkin Watermelon Lunker City Ribster scented with JJ’s Magic (clear) and Quick Drop 1/4 ounce weight
Rod: G-Loomis GX2 Jig and Worm
Reel: Quantum Catalyst PT
Line: 8-pound Berkley 100% fluorocarbon
Total Bass Caught: 1
Final Weigh in Weight: 0.5 pounds
I haven’t been able to get out on the water as much in the past week, but today I found some time and launched around 6:30 in the morning. The other times that I had been out early in the morning, it had been really calm, but I noticed that it was really choppy when I got out there. I decided to fish the docks right next to the boat launch, but it was a little too shallow and weedy, so I decided to move over to the sunken forest and give it a try. I usually get a few nibbles over there, but today I couldn’t get anything to bite. At around 7:00 a.m. the wind really started to pick up to around 15-20 mph, which made it extremely difficult to fish. I moved over to Vasa Park, but had some line problems and spent a lot of time fixing that. I fished the docks around their and hooked into a monster bass, but it shook the hook and got away. I then moved over to the park area and fished the piling around there. I missed a bite and then had a bass follow it all the way to the boat for a topwater strike, but it missed and I wasn’t able to hook it. I would say it was a good 2.5 pounder. I then moved on to fish some points that were a little more protected from the wind and I managed to land a small 0.5 pound bass. I kept motoring all over the lake, but couldn’t find anywhere totally protected from the wind. I kept making casts, but the wind was blowing my line all over the place, which made it hard to make accurate casts. The wind also made it difficult to feel the bottom, which is extremely important when drop shotting. I couldn’t get any more bites going and the wind was tough, so I decided to call it a day around 9:00 a.m.
Observations: The water wasn’t as warm as last time and was around 76-78 degrees. The bass still were relating to docks, but seemed a lot more hesitant to bite. Also the bass that I caught was only in 12 feet of water, which leads me to believe that the bass move a lot during the day. Staying at 12-15 feet in the morning, 18-25 feet in the afternoon, and 15-18 in the evening.