Smallies in Abundance

Fishing Time: 7:00 am to 1:00 pm

Weather: Sunny, no wind until noon, T-80s

Moon Phase: 32% Moon

Location: Deer Creek Reservoir

Best Baits: Whopper plopper, curly tail grub, and kietech swimbait

Who Went: Devin, Dayton, Dunc

We have been searching for different locations to bass fish and this week we decided to give Deer Creek Reservoir a try.  We arrived early and the weather was perfect.  No wind and a reprieve from the valley heat. 

We made our way over to the east shoreline near the dam and began casting.  Dayt was throwing a small swimbait, Dev a creature bait, and I went with a whopper plopper.  Dev quickly started getting hits but couldn’t hook up.  I think the creature was a bit big for the size of fish that were biting.  Dayt put some fish in the boat with the swimbait, and I did as well on topwater.  Dayt wanted to throw the topwater, so I gave him my rod and Dev took over the swimbait.  It was never on fire, but we consistently caught smallies all along the east shoreline.

After our east side run, we moved to the west side and Dev switched to a curly tail grub and put on a clinic.  Caught them one after the other.  Dayt was catching them on the swimbait as well, but the grub was king.  I landed a few on the creature bait.

We decided to make one more run to Wallsburg bay and try our luck there, but it was tough in the bay.  We landed a few, but we had to work for them.  Soon the wind picked up, so we changed tactics and tried our luck at trolling.  By the time we trolled out of Wallsburg bay the white caps were rolling and the recreation boats were in force.  We decided to call it a day.

I was hoping we might catch a few different species today, but it was smallies only.  We caught a few decent ones, but most were small.  The topwater bite was a blast though and we had a lot of fun and enjoyed the cooler weather. 

Chasing Bass in Dead Water

Fishing Time: 6:30 -10:30 am

Weather: Strong breeze, partly cloudy, T-80s

Moon Phase: Full Moon

Water Temp: 77 degrees

Best Bait: Texas rigged weightless Senko

Who Went: Devin, Dunc

Devin has been itching to catch some largemouth bass and I have been itching to fish new water, so we started doing a little research.  Mantua Reservoir seemed like a decent option, but it also sounds like there was a major fish kill last fall after the city hired a company to kill the underwater foliage using a chemical that was supposedly safe for fish.  Reports said the dissolved oxygen dropped to a 2 or 3 and there were dead bass and trout floating everywhere.  Doesn’t sound like the safe for fish part was true.  However, I saw some reports of fish being caught this spring and figured some must have survived. 

I guess I should have listened to my gut and chose another spot because the fishing was slooooow.  I ended up catching one bass on a weightless Senko and that was it for the day.  The lake was also inundated with weeds, so not only did they kill all the fish, but it also didn’t do anything to clear up the lake either.  Sounds like a completely failed effort and now it will need a couple years to recover.