clear water tactic

[Guest rich mc]

at shabbona lake we have the clearest water in the past 6years or so .easiley 7-8ft along the dam.mattp mentioned he was getting smallies on topwater in the middle of the afternoon with action slowing toward night. seems like a pattern from the ozarks. any suggestions .i did pick up 2 smallies with a fly rod this morning , bead head leech size 10 down about 10 ft along the dam. rich

[Mike G]

Rich,

 

How was it in the spring? I am asking because we now have very clear water at Lake Summerset. In spring it was murky pea soup. I was surprised to see how it cleared up since I was expecting it to bloom through the summer. I am just getting used to the lake so I do not know if this is standard for the lake. It is the first year I am paying a lot of attention to it. It has some similarities to Shab; so you observations give me some clues too.

[Guest rich mc]

it has been murky all spring then cleared up when the water hit about 65degrees. withthe few storms that dumped in muddy water from indian creek and high winds that kicked up mud lines on wind blown points , it still settled down and is unlike we have seen in years . another interesting fact is the shallow weeds have not spread out and thickened like they usually do. rich

[Gary L]

If we get any topwater action now it is early in the morning and spotty. Down here in the Ozarks we is using the dropshot on Seagaur Fluorocarbon 6lb. test in 35' or deeper. You can also use a Carolina Rig with the same Fluorocarbon line in 10lb test and work the bottom very slowly with worms.

[Guest rich mc]

thanks gary, i figured you would send us a pointer. heading out in the boat shortly. will try the dropshot rig. and yes kd i do have some cutails rich

[Mike G]

it has been murky all spring then cleared up when the water hit about 65degrees. withthe few storms that dumped in muddy water from indian creek and high winds that kicked up mud lines on wind blown points , it still settled down and is unlike we have seen in years . another interesting fact is the shallow weeds have not spread out and thickened like they usually do. rich

 

Rich,

 

Weeds would be a third point of similarity. This morning around 6, I was fishing a sandy flat. The weeds were sparse for 2 ft of water. LM Bass from 5-20" were cruising around. I could not interest them in a buzz bait or a moving chatter bait. To try something different, I cast the chatterbait about 5 feet to the left of a fair bass I spotted and let it sink to the bottom (2 ft). The bass siddled over and sucked the bait off the bottom. I landed this one 17-18" and missed a second using the same presentation.

 

Let's try for a fourth similarity. This bass was gaunt with a caved in belly. That says they are just coming off the spawn. How does this fit your observations?

 

So far my guess is that the murky water and cooler water temps have kept the weeds down. Cooler water also seems to have put the spawn back to mid June. Kinda late for IL waters.

 

It will be a different year, maybe.

 

 

[Guest rich mc]

i noticed sunday a few bluegills caught were still spawning and werein 6ft of water. rich

[Mike G]

i noticed sunday a few bluegills caught were still spawning and werein 6ft of water. rich

 

A couple of times I fished Shab around Memorial Day catching gills off their beds then. I would say that it is unusual for them to be bedding after the 4th this far south.

[Guest rich mc]

things were delayed due to the cold spring . crappies are normally done by memorial day and they were still spawning .also with the clear water they are spawning deeper which is colder water.rich