Its that time of the year, the fish are moving into the shallows and out in front of the spawning bays in preparation for the spawn. The spawn will start once the water temperature hits 60 degrees and stays there. When the fish are moving in as they are now, they will also school up and they also are looking to feed and bulk up getting ready for the rigors of spawning. Currently you can use a whole variety of baits and techniques and if you stay with them long enough, have success in landing fish. Swimbaits, jerk baits, lipless crank baits, Alabama rigs, big glide baits, under spins, are the the bulk of the baits that are being used. The lake is being hit hard with tournament fishing, two big tournaments just finished up this month and we have two more to finish out the month, both big tournaments, to say the fish are getting pounded is an understatement. I attended a weigh in yesterday for a two day 115 boat tournament, and a lot of nice healthy fish up to the eight pound range were weighed in. The winner had somewhere around 45 pounds for their two day total of 10 fish to win the tournament. All of the above techniques and baits mentioned were used to catch those fish.
Currently the lake is slightly lower than it was for this same time frame last year and the long term outlook for rain is not good so low water conditions will remain in effect as it was last year. You need to use caution when motoring anywhere close to shore, it does seem that most of the offshore hazards have been marked with a hazard buoy. Water temperature has been starting out around 53 degrees and getting up to 58 degrees in the warmer afternoons. The crappie bite is still going strong, most of the action has been at the lower half of the lake but is now starting to be good on the upper West end of the lake as they are moving in to spawn.
Based on the results of the last two big tournaments, I would say the lake is fishing very good but you have to put your time in to find them. We are in a cycle of where the big fish are going to be in the six to eight pound range, very few fish are being caught over eight pounds, but catching solid fish in the three to five pound range is a normal thing that most lakes cannot come close to matching. Plan ahead for your trip, check with the local tackle stores to find out when the big tournaments are, be prepared that towards the middle of summer, some ramps will again be closed due to low water. Be Safe, be courteous, have fun,
God Bless
Currently the lake is slightly lower than it was for this same time frame last year and the long term outlook for rain is not good so low water conditions will remain in effect as it was last year. You need to use caution when motoring anywhere close to shore, it does seem that most of the offshore hazards have been marked with a hazard buoy. Water temperature has been starting out around 53 degrees and getting up to 58 degrees in the warmer afternoons. The crappie bite is still going strong, most of the action has been at the lower half of the lake but is now starting to be good on the upper West end of the lake as they are moving in to spawn.
Based on the results of the last two big tournaments, I would say the lake is fishing very good but you have to put your time in to find them. We are in a cycle of where the big fish are going to be in the six to eight pound range, very few fish are being caught over eight pounds, but catching solid fish in the three to five pound range is a normal thing that most lakes cannot come close to matching. Plan ahead for your trip, check with the local tackle stores to find out when the big tournaments are, be prepared that towards the middle of summer, some ramps will again be closed due to low water. Be Safe, be courteous, have fun,
God Bless
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