07-22-2013, 03:04 PM
Fishing was kind of slow for me, but a friend of mine did pretty good. He buddy boated with me and he had FROZEN shad from a previous trip. I laughed at him for bringing frozen bait, but I quickly shut up when I couldn't find any shad on the lake. The last 3 times I went, I marked shad all over the dam and saw them schooled in the coves. I never saw anything, and on the day I actually intended on netting some for bait. GO FIGURE! Anyhow, I ended up running into the shallows and loading up with bream, and back out to the ledges. He was smoking the blue cats on cut shad, anchored on a ledge. I found a nice ledge about 100 yards from him with some nice marks on it. I got not a single bite. I ended up moving around closer by, basically targeting the same fish, and still not a bite. They wouldn't touch anything but shad. I think he ended the day with 15 blues, and kept 5 for the table. The fish were in 40-44' of water, and the surface temp was around 84-86 degrees. The thermocline was in that 30' range around the dam and very distinct, but the cats where biting on the bottom. All my marks were below the thermocline, except just a few which I figure were lost striped bass.
After getting frustrated, I switched gears back to panfish and poled up into some shallow coves so the wife and son could have some fun. They are still thick, even in the heat of the day, in shallow water around sandy bottom areas with structure. Definitely a day saver if you come up short on the bigger species.
I did venture around some bridges and marked what i'm sure was some submerged Christmas trees. I'm sure those are some "secret local spots" that I found. I marked fish around the bridges and such, but didn't have minnows. Does anyhow have any luck with crappie this time of year? I figured it to be a waste of time in this heat, but maybe i'm off base. I'd love to get on some crappie. My son would have a ball. I also think crappie are great table fare, and that says a lot from a guy that normally eats just saltwater fish.
I know gatorgitter and his son were on the Santee lakes Saturday, and they did pretty good as well. Same scenario though, as Dennis noted the cats they caught were all on white perch, so it seems they are being bait picky everywhere. Good day though. Stayed overcast most of the day, and the lake wasn't that busy.
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