Post by Bill Hall on Aug 1, 2005 7:58:31 GMT -6
The fish have definitely got on their late evening schooling pattern. The last 10 trips or so we have caught fish chasing shad from about 5:00PM until dark. Most of these fish are small fish chasing small shad, but they are much more predictable than the bigger fish. In fact, in my opinion, this is the most predictable pattern of the year. There are several spots that you can expect to find schooling bass the whole month of August and part of July and September.
What I normally do is graph some deep spots that are fairly close to the places where the schooling fish come up. If I can graph some fish, I will drop a bouy and fish an assortment of deep water baits. The deep fish have been much bigger than the schoolers, so if they are biting they get first priority. I haven't found a magic bait that outfishes the others in the deep water. It seems like when they are biting, they will hit spoons, crankbaits, Texas rigs, C-rigs, or swim baits. If they aren't biting, they won't hit any of them. I try to keep rattle trap rods handy so we can quickly get to the schoolers when they come up. Chrome/blue rattle traps are my best baits for schoolers, but they will hit just about anything if you can hit the right spot and get it there in time.
After it gets dark is when we catch our bigger fish. They have been in the grass and will probably be there for at least another month. Most of our fish are coming from 6 to 8 ft with at least 15 ft nearby. Crawworms, jigs, and Texas rigged worms have been the best baits. Finesse worms will get more fish, but big 10" Power Worms are getting the bigger fish.
This is the time when the fish fight harder than any other time of the year. I started spooling up with 25# test at the end of June and have probably had a dozen fish break 25# test already. Be prepared for some good fights!
The lake is getting lower despite the rains. It is probably at least 2 feet low, maybe more. Be careful running across the lake. I'm seeing stumps that I haven't seen in a long time. The water is fairly clear and the grass is matted in lots of places. The See our pictures at www.bassfishing.org/Pictures/Recent.htm
I got a new domain for the Basslog and it is up and running. The new domain is bassercise.com (BASS AnglERs' Collaborative Internet Search Engine). I added a tutorial and I recommend that you look it over. See www.bassercise.com/Tutorial
Through September, I am only doing night trips and late evening trips. The only exception is the week of the McDonald's tournament. I have one day left (Thursday, September 22) during that week for a tournament scouting trip. Standard night trip are from 4:00PM until 1:00AM. For the true "die-hard", I will offer an extended marathon. For $50/extra, we will fish from 4:00PM until 7:00AM. Are you a "die hard"? Can you handle a 15 hour trip? See my article on why you should fish at night at www.bassfishing.org/articles/whyfishatnight.htm
If you would like to book a trip, you can see my available dates and reserve your trip online at www.bassfishingorg/dbaccess/calendar.cfm
If you would like to receive my fishing reports by email, go to www.bassfishing.org/dbaccess/fishingreportrequests.cfm
All you need is your name and email address. If you are receiving reports by email and wish to discontinue receiving them, simply reply to the email and request to discontinue.
Good fishing and good luck. You can't catch them if you don't go.
What I normally do is graph some deep spots that are fairly close to the places where the schooling fish come up. If I can graph some fish, I will drop a bouy and fish an assortment of deep water baits. The deep fish have been much bigger than the schoolers, so if they are biting they get first priority. I haven't found a magic bait that outfishes the others in the deep water. It seems like when they are biting, they will hit spoons, crankbaits, Texas rigs, C-rigs, or swim baits. If they aren't biting, they won't hit any of them. I try to keep rattle trap rods handy so we can quickly get to the schoolers when they come up. Chrome/blue rattle traps are my best baits for schoolers, but they will hit just about anything if you can hit the right spot and get it there in time.
After it gets dark is when we catch our bigger fish. They have been in the grass and will probably be there for at least another month. Most of our fish are coming from 6 to 8 ft with at least 15 ft nearby. Crawworms, jigs, and Texas rigged worms have been the best baits. Finesse worms will get more fish, but big 10" Power Worms are getting the bigger fish.
This is the time when the fish fight harder than any other time of the year. I started spooling up with 25# test at the end of June and have probably had a dozen fish break 25# test already. Be prepared for some good fights!
The lake is getting lower despite the rains. It is probably at least 2 feet low, maybe more. Be careful running across the lake. I'm seeing stumps that I haven't seen in a long time. The water is fairly clear and the grass is matted in lots of places. The See our pictures at www.bassfishing.org/Pictures/Recent.htm
I got a new domain for the Basslog and it is up and running. The new domain is bassercise.com (BASS AnglERs' Collaborative Internet Search Engine). I added a tutorial and I recommend that you look it over. See www.bassercise.com/Tutorial
Through September, I am only doing night trips and late evening trips. The only exception is the week of the McDonald's tournament. I have one day left (Thursday, September 22) during that week for a tournament scouting trip. Standard night trip are from 4:00PM until 1:00AM. For the true "die-hard", I will offer an extended marathon. For $50/extra, we will fish from 4:00PM until 7:00AM. Are you a "die hard"? Can you handle a 15 hour trip? See my article on why you should fish at night at www.bassfishing.org/articles/whyfishatnight.htm
If you would like to book a trip, you can see my available dates and reserve your trip online at www.bassfishingorg/dbaccess/calendar.cfm
If you would like to receive my fishing reports by email, go to www.bassfishing.org/dbaccess/fishingreportrequests.cfm
All you need is your name and email address. If you are receiving reports by email and wish to discontinue receiving them, simply reply to the email and request to discontinue.
Good fishing and good luck. You can't catch them if you don't go.