Power Plant Lake Help!

[TooPureToDie]

I live in North Dakota and right now all of our lakes are frozen over except one because it is heated by a power plant, which is a HUGE PLUS FOR BASS FISHING! []

The problem is, the water has been getting lower each year, which seems to really slow down the fishing.

I was just wondering if anyone had any advice on fishing the lake and what i should be using and at what depth. Last time i was out there I had no luck using a jig and a few different kinds of plastics. I tried shallow and deeper water.

The lake doesn't provide very much cover anymore along the shorelines because of the lake lowering, so i think that is part of the problem. As of now, there are rocks along some of the shoreline and when the shallow water isn't just bare and flat with sand and dirt, there are some places where it is a lot of gravel and little to bigger rocks.

So if anyone could give me some advice, it would be greatly appreciated. I plan to go try my luck in the next few days.
[signature]

[bdn06]

There was a power plant in Russellville, Arkansas, on Lake Dardanelle. We did exceptionally well in the winter, fishing the outlet, where the warmed water came out, and then out in the lake where the outlet dumped in, especially in the channel. There was a certain depth where the stripers hung out, but it was strange in they only hit heavily during discrete 30 min. to 1 h periods. The catfishing was also excellent just off the point of the outlet. Don't know if you have a similar set up or not.
[signature]

[TooPureToDie]

Yeah, most of the winter, the bass i catch are all by the discharge where the warm water is coming out.
[signature]

[tubeN2]

What does the water color look like?? The clarity and color will have alot to do with any recommendations that could be of help to you.[cool]
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

In your particular situation, i'd say you're going to be going through alot of trial and error. I'll explain..........

Fish that inhabit murkey water obviously don't have the ability to use sight as one of thier primary hunting senses, so they tend to rely more on thier sense of smell and hearing. Fish have an uncanny ability to adapt to changing situations. Vise versa for fish that hunt in clearer water; even though they still use thier other senses, clear water fish can be temped to strike by sight alone, and have a tendacy to feed using primarily thier vision. This is the problem. The water changes from murkey to clear quite often, and this could confuse the fish, especially preditory species like bass. Combine a fish with a narrowed strike zone, and you've got a seriously challenging situation.

Have you ever noticed in the spring how the fishing will be just awesome for a few days, but when it cools off for a day, it ruins it for like 2 or 3 days until the weather balances back out? The fish go into metabolic shock from the instant weather change. This could also be happening along with the previous situation. They could venture into the warm side of the lake for a spell, feed, then move back into thier winter "roost." The transition faze from one extreme to the other really affects how a fish feeds and reacts to it's surroundings. There are alot of factors working against you, however, those same factors work for you when played right.

However, keep this in mind. Wait to hit the water after 2 or 3 days of consecutive daily and nightly temps. This will give the fish time to adjust and reach a daily norm. When you hit the water, cator to the conditions at hand. If the water is murkey that day, use bright/shiney and loud baits. Fish the middle of the water column. In the spills, even though the water is warm comming out, the top is still cool. They are going to hold somewhere in the middle. The deepest part will also be cold, as heat rises; even in water. If the water is clear, there's nothing wrong with still using noisy, shiney baits; just keep in mind they are going to be able to see better, so keep that in mind when you're picking your lure. I'd use something a little more detailed in design. Also, the clearer the water, the more strategic your presentation needs to be. Work your bait as naturally as possible, where as in murkey water, the irratic retrieve may yield more positive results. Keep in mind the time of year as well. The strike zone is smaller, so you need to cover more ground.

I'm sure some others will jump in, but this will get you started. [cool] Make sure and tell us how you do.
[signature]

[TooPureToDie]

Well i am just getting ready to head out to the lake. It's supposed to be 50 degrees today. It should be a pretty warm and good day, so maybe even nice enough to take the tube out there. I'll let you all know how i do. Thanks for all the advice![]
[signature]

[bdn06]

Do post us with your results--interested to hear how you did and on what...
[signature]

[TooPureToDie]

Well, I have to say I had a really nice time fishing today even though it was kind of slow. I started off using a texas rigged tube and then onto a lizard. I had a couple bites off the start but they managed to just mess up my set up and get away. I then put on a black and blue jig tipped with some zoom superchunk and I couldnt even get one bIte out of that. So my last half hour i tied on a rattle trap because the people around me were catching bass with minnows so i figured what the heck. My first couple casts i finally had one but it was no trophy haha. I didnt really have time to get my tube ready to go out and fish more water, but next time i will surely do that. Here are some pictures from today....I thought i would show everyone where i was fishing ect.
Thanks for all the advice and if anyone has anymore please do tell. I can't wait to go out the next sunny day we have. [cool]








AND FINALLY THE OUTCOME

[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

This may come as no surprise, LOL, i'd say you need to get yourself some minnows. [] If the bandwagon is going the right direction, there's no shame in jumping on. [cool]
[signature]

[tubeN2]

Way to go bro. Nice report and nice pics.[]

Please be sure to reduce the size on the next round. Usually the pictures show up best when you don't go over 400 x 300 pixels.[]

They look good though. Just to refrase Tarpon4me a little, When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Or some people say "Match the Hatch".[cool]
[signature]

[TooPureToDie]

Haha
Lets hope i can maybe catch some bigger fish next time[]
but anyways. if you look at the pictures, behind those log things that are blocking the discharge, it's supposed to be off limits because of the plant so that kind of sucks because i know there is fish back there from the times of casting over the log and getting fish.
[signature]

[bdn06]

There are always fish where you can't get at 'em...where the water comes out of the dam on Palies lake in Idaho, it used to be off limits to fish above the cable that went across the spillway...and there were huge trout there...
[signature]

[Bassmaster-ND]

I think your problem was that I was catching all the fish that day!! haha![cool]
[signature]

[daymere]

how deep are the guys minnow fishing ? are they useing floated rigs? try this if they are shallow reduce the size of lure . try useing a smaller spinner like a roostertail in yellow or light blue.if they are deeper try a smaller slimline crank bait in shad or simalar color.fishing behind the logs i would try uesing weedless worms or jigs tiped with a pork.
[signature]