I got up early again and headed out to my favorite lake this morning, hoping to have a repeat of last Saturday’s fishing experience. Much to my surprise, the water level had dropped at least 5 feet since last week which is good and bad; good because I didn’t have to walk the “hill of death” to get to my favorite spots and bad because a sudden drop like that screws up the fishing. Oh, it’s also bad because if I can get to my favorite spots easily, so can every other fisherman out there who usually wouldn’t come over as far (The solitude is the main reason I fish the areas I fish). The water wasn’t only low, it was also very murky today for some strange reason. This lake is usually very clear, and we haven’t had any rains lately so I’m not sure why the water was as muddy as it was today.
At least I did catch a few bass:
That last one was a little shy of three pounds. Today, I couldn’t get a bite on a Senko to save my life, but the bass do like those Chatterbaits. The first bass I caught was kind of cool – the chatterbait has a lot of “resistance” as you’re reeling it in – a bit more than a regular spinner bait, so there’s always lots of tension on the line. As I was reeling the lure in, the line suddenly went completely slack and I thought, “WTF? This is weird” and then it registered that a bass had come from behind and grabbed the lure (remember, I haven’t fished very much with spinner bait type lures). I caught two fish almost back to back, and on the very next cast, snagged my lure and had to break it off. I didn’t have any more of the 1/2 ounce Chatterbaits so I switched to a 3/8 ounce, which I couldn’t cast out as far as the 1/2 ounce one – and the fish were out deep. Once I switched lures, no more bites. I tried a few different spots until the sun started frying me, and decided to call it a day by 9:30, which was probably 2 hours longer than I should have stayed. One thing I do know about this lake; come early, come late, or don’t bother coming at all, if it’s bass you want. All in all, not a bad morning.
I can’t remember who it was, but somebody used to make fun of me for fishing with chatterbaits.
Nice pics!
LOL Rob.
You converted me last Saturday
Say…you don’t happen to have another black/blue 1/2 oz, do you?
Rob and Nomad, planned to go out there this morning as well, but unfortunately, a few things pointed me somewhere else, so we went back out to the hwy 82 lake instead. First of all it rained like crazy at my apartment late last night, I figured the dirt road would be muddier than hell. Low and behold I get out there and it didn’t even rain at all over there. According to google earth, it is only 8.1 miles away. Go figure.
Second, I had to pick up a friend at the base and I had to wait until curfew hours were over. By the time I picked him up at a quarter after five, the sun was already up. It sure would be nice not to have to worry about fishing during curfew hours.
I may try to go over there sometime this week after work.
Anyway, hwy 82 lake was pretty much a bust. One small bass and lost a small carp right at the bank. Didn’t even see a bluegill. Their spawn in there is definitely over. It was down as well, more than a foot from last week. It was also kind of murky as well. Don’t know what was going on.
Packed up and went over to the cove at Idong about 0930 just to check it out, must have just missed you. Did run into one of your old friends down from Yongsan and chatted with him a while.
dave
I had no idea it rained so much Friday night. That explains the murky water and the lack of bluegill and bass.
What’s a “water lever”?
I know, I’m the king of the typos…but it was too tempting to pass up.
Let’s see…I’ve been here too long and get my “l’s” and “r’s” mixed up from time to time? Or, I intentionally put that there to see if anyone out there actually reads my fishing posts
It’s fixed, thanks for the heads up.
I went out to Singal Saturday and the water was so low that I couldn’t launch my boat. The water was about 300 yards from the ramp, so I went back to where the water is still in abundance, the Anseong river. High pressure made the fishing tough but I ended up catching 5 small bass. I had a good time but there was definitely a crowd of bass boats since it was one of the few remaining spots where you can launch a boat.
Nomad, if you can’t get chatterbaits, let me know. I make and sell them to raise money for our church building fund and can custom make skirt colors to “match the hatch”.
The water is so low the fish are now concentrated and obviously stirring the water up with their tails.
John,
If the price is right, I’m interested in some 1/2 oz (or heavier, if you make them) chatterbaits with a black/blue skirt, silver/nickel blade, with black trailer.
What, no more senkos? I’ll be damned…
John, me too – same colors.
Gar,
Oh no, I have plenty of Senkos and will always continue to use them as long as they catch bass.
John,
How much for the chatterbaits? Never used them but they sound like they are the new baits to use. If a Senko fisherman was converted, at least for one day, then I probably should give them a shot.
LOL
I wasn’t totally converted (let’s say I was made a believer because up to now, I was giving Rob a lot of crap for buying them) – the Senko will always be my #1 lure because 99% of the time, it’ll catch bass where other lures won’t but I have to admit; the last two times out, the bass tore the chatterbaits up.
Nomad,
I’m with you on the Senkos. They are one of the best soft plastics out there if not the best. I however, will change up when I see others killing them on something else while I am not doing as good with the soft plastics. Is this chatterbait like a buzzbait (topwater) or does it run below water? Never seen one before but have heard of them quite a bit lately, to include the states, while I was there two months ago. It seemed to be the hot bait.
Tex Mex,
Here’s what they look like:
You can check them out here: http://www.chatterbait.com/pages/collection
The action depends on the retrieval speed. Rob and I fish them just like a spinner bait.