Sat 10-12
Ending up getting in later than I wanted to on Saturday morning. Around 9:30 AM…dealing with a preteen and a 13 yr old.
Both were excited though, and we moseyed on over to the Z4 block and found the fish. They were scattered and not stacked up, so we continued to pick at them throughout the day. All of the fish were on the small side with the largest one right around 20".
The schoolies fired up at 1:30 and were all over the #7 area until about 5:30. That’s when we pulled up to go explore Bear Creek. We trolled live bait all through the Y14 and Y1 blocks. It was mostly dead, with us only marking fish around the point at the entrance to creek. Had some pull downs in this area but I think they were gar from the way the bait would come back up stripped.
Catch of the day was a 15# cat fish on a down rod. My son thought he had hooked up to a stump on the bottom. When it started taking drag he was whooping and hollering. When we boated it, he proceeded to dance and scream like a little girl on her first pony ride. “Definitely funny to watch.”
8 fish, one keeper, and a #15 pound cat fish that I “just had” to take home.
Sun 10-13
Tried the entrance to Bear Creek in the morning. Dead! Then went on to join the floating armada at the tip of Shull Island. Schoolies were doing there thing again and faking everyone out. I only saw three fish boated in all of the boats. Both looked to be in the 26-28 range.
Fought the wind for a while over at #7 area, and and went back over to the #9 area. Chased schoolies over there for a while with no results.
Ended the morning being skunked!
I ran into someone going on the way home at the Palmetto X. He was headed to Hollow Creek. He said friends had sent him photos of there sonars that were stacked up with fish. (Anybody know about this??)
David,
I fished there Saturday. Lots of fish as reported and tons of schoolies but never boated one over 21. I hit alot of the places you mentioned. We caught 20 total with only one keeper @ 25 inches…
Richy
“My biggest worry is that my wife (when I’m dead) will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it.”
When I was in Bear Creek the thermocline was insane! It put the moves on me…while moving it would look like some fish on the sonar, but as soon as I slowed down and looked at it for a while, I realized what is was.
Here is the thing though…it even looked like fish on the down scan. Has anyone else experienced this before? I though for sure that the down scan would see down through the thermocline with better clarity!!!
I’m not sure, but I thought the thermocline dissipated when the lake turns over. Anyone else know for sure? I do know however, I have been marking schools of threadfin so thick that they are causing false readings whenever they pass under the boat. I’m sitting still in 25’ marking fish and bumping the spoons when all of a sudden the depth reading might go to 8’ or 12’. Once the threadfin (I’m assuming that’s what they are) move then I read the correct depth again. Sometimes they are in much deeper water. Do you think that might be what you’re marking? Also there are a lot of small stripers hitting the spoons now. They might be too small to hit herring, but would definitely show up as fish.
Richy, reads like you had the exact same day I did on Saturday. I thought about calling you but never got around to it. We all might be scramblin’ during this weekends tourney to find keepers:imp:
I’m not sure, but I thought the thermocline dissipated when the lake turns over. Anyone else know for sure? I do know however, I have been marking schools of threadfin so thick that they are causing false readings whenever they pass under the boat. I’m sitting still in 25’ marking fish and bumping the spoons when all of a sudden the depth reading might go to 8’ or 12’. Once the threadfin (I’m assuming that’s what they are) move then I read the correct depth again. Sometimes they are in much deeper water. Do you think that might be what you’re marking? Also there are a lot of small stripers hitting the spoons now. They might be too small to hit herring, but would definitely show up as fish.
Spoon… the sonar would be a solid red layer for about 4-8 feet thick sometimes. The down scan would look like a foggy haze (like baitfish)in the depth range that the red was showing, along with what looked to be a couple of larger fish (lighter colored blimps) scattered here and there. When I say there was a lot of it I “mean” a lot of it.
I did not realize the thermocline dissipated after the turnover…is this true?
Spoon…you live up my way? Towards the Kempson and Blacks Bridges area?
David,
I fished there Saturday. Lots of fish as reported and tons of schoolies but never boated one over 21. I hit alot of the places you mentioned. We caught 20 total with only one keeper @ 25 inches…
Richy
Richy…I found out that was Lee that I was speaking to on Sunday afternoon. I still have ssssooo many names to learn. (Gentleman driving an older model green Ford truck to pull his boat.) Were you the one who sent him the pics of the Hollow Creek sonar shots? He did tell me that all of the fish that his friends caught were small.
Take 2, I’m in the elbow area of Murray. I may be wrong about the thermocline, just seems logical to me that it dissipates during the turn over. Was hoping some of the more experienced guys would chime in with some input. As I understand it the thermocline divides the warmer water on top from the cooler water down deep. Right now there isn’t a big oxygen or temperature variation between the surface and deeper water. Basically the fish can go anywhere they wish. In the case of the stripers that to me means wherever the food goes, they can follow.
David,
That was Lee and yes those were my sonar shots. Here is a glimse of what we were in. Hard to believe to me that we did not pull more keepers out of this frenzyyyy!
Richy
“My biggest worry is that my wife (when I’m dead) will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it.”
Take 2, I’m in the elbow area of Murray. I may be wrong about the thermocline, just seems logical to me that it dissipates during the turn over. Was hoping some of the more experienced guys would chime in with some input. As I understand it the thermocline divides the warmer water on top from the cooler water down deep. Right now there isn’t a big oxygen or temperature variation between the surface and deeper water. Basically the fish can go anywhere they wish. In the case of the stripers that to me means wherever the food goes, they can follow.
Spoon,
You are correct. By definition there is no thermocline after the lake turns over, until next summer when the surface water begins to warm up.
Take 2, I’m in the elbow area of Murray. I may be wrong about the thermocline, just seems logical to me that it dissipates during the turn over. Was hoping some of the more experienced guys would chime in with some input. As I understand it the thermocline divides the warmer water on top from the cooler water down deep. Right now there isn’t a big oxygen or temperature variation between the surface and deeper water. Basically the fish can go anywhere they wish. In the case of the stripers that to me means wherever the food goes, they can follow.
Spoon,
You are correct. By definition there is no thermocline after the lake turns over, until next summer when the surface water begins to warm up.
Rick K
Dang…you reckon that whole red layer I saw could have been bait? It sure did look like it on the down scan. I mean a solid red band holding up off of the bottom…sometimes 4 to 10 feet thick!
“All of those other bait fish were probably teasing my baits because they were hooked whooped…”
Very possibly could have been bait or even perch. I was blacked out last week with perch. Over time you should begin to notice a difference in perch/gar/striper on the sonar. Perch and gar seem to be a little more “fuzzy”, at least thats the way it seems on my unit.
Couple weeks ago we had a HUGE mark on the sonar come across. Knew it was a big fish but didnt look quite right. Seen it come right up to a bait and take it. Turned around and back rod had every eye but the last one in the water peeling line. Fought it for about 5min or so to see a easily 20#+ gar cime up. Rewinded the sonar to show my buddies why I said it looked wierd. It just didnt have the defined solid yellow like the above marks.
I had screens like the one above every stop with downrods. Hard to believe they’re mostly to all shorts! Happens every October though. Wonder why that is the case??
I heard second hand that the DNR tagged some fish with radio trackers at the dam last year about this time. When they left the dam they went straight to the greenwood dam. He said they made the trip in two days. Figure nobody can ever find many keepers after the turnover, maybe they all head up.
