Hal and I went to Pickwick on the same schedule that Mickey and I had two weeks ago.

Monday afternoon:

After we launched, we headed straight for a cove where Mickey and I saw people fishing but did not go in. Hal and I went in and it turned out to be a large cove with a shallow sloping back to it. Additionally the wind was blowing into it which attracted the shad which in turn attracted the bass. It was full of schooling bass chasing the shad and refusing to bite anything we threw. Maximum frustration for an hour until we left in disgust without a single bite. As we were leaving, another fisherman came in and as we exchanged pleasantries he mentioned he had been able to catch a few on a dropshot the day before. Later at the landing he said he caught 8. Being sick of those fish we left anyway for an island where the fish had schooled two weeks ago. Nothing doing there either. Out came a map and right across the river was a cove that was large enough to have fish in it. When we rode in, we could see the fish chasing shad in the back of the cove. 1/4 ounce Red Eye Shads were very effective because they were about the same size as the shad. A few hit a topwater. We ended up with 20 and this 8 pound goo that I caught on 8 pound line. It had been in there eating shad too.

Tuesday:

We left early when the lake was smooth and headed to the island spot, where again, we caught only one or two. Boosted  by our success  in finding a new spot the previous day, we pulled out the map and went cove hopping. While in one particularly deep cove we noticed the wind was picking up so we made a break for the spot we found the day before. After a rough ride we found the fish in residence again, and again, we started to catch some. Hal caught the FOD that was 3 1/4. As we fished we kept an eye out on the waves on the river. Unbelievably the wind and waves started to subside and allowed us a smooth ride to the J.P. Coleman state park. We went to the back of Indian Creek which is the large cove right by the park. In the back of that cove, we found the gulls circling and going down to get shad while the fish were hitting them from below. There was one boat chasing the bass when they surfaced, another sitting in one place all afternoon, and then us. We went to the grass in the back of the cove and pulled out our Ribbits. A few bit the Ribbits but it was obvious the schoolers were the game to play. We fished until dark and ended up with 33 for the day.

Wednesday:

We put in at Yellow Creek because the boat needed gas and there was a station close to the landing. It was also close to the cove where Mickey and I caught  fish two weeks ago. First we went to our spot we found Monday. The fish were there but after us fishing there two days straight they were rather tired of us. Not to worry, we just went to the other spot that was good two weeks ago. We caught only three in there. Now what?  We put the boat on the trailer and headed back to Indian Creek. There were 5 boats there when we arrived. The place where the boat sat all day was empty and we pounced on it. It was a place where a small creek came out and there was some grass. Ribbit time once again. As we patrolled the edge two boats tried to come in on us. We went up and down two or three times to establish our area. All this time we caught a few on a Ribbit but also the fish were schooling in the open water. I used a topwater when the fish were chasing shad and a Red Eye Shad when they were down. After a stint with the schooling fish, we would make another pass down the grass with the Ribbit. It seemed that the fish would repopulate after a short period of time. It was on one of those passes that Hal caught the FOD a 4 1/4 and had lost one a little larger shortly before that. Again we fished until dark and this time we caught 27, for a total of 80 fish for the 2 1/2 days of fishing.

Mickey and I took off for Pickwick “fo day” Monday morning. We finally got there after getting lost a couple of times irregardless of the GPS which is old and probably should have been deposited in the lake. We checked in at Coleman State Park and hit the lake shortly after 1 p.m. . Appreciation goes out to Terry for letting us use his Corps of Engineers river maps of the area with notations of good places to fish. We headed to State Line Island because there was a lot of grass there and Ribbit fishing should be good .  There was grass but the Ribbit bites were halfhearted, and although we caught a couple, nothing was really going on. There was a duck blind close by  that was marked on the maps so we went over to try that. It was on a hump with a good drop off.  One fish there and as we were trying to decide our next move we saw some fish busting shad across the way. Over there we went and started throwing everything in the box at them trying to figure out what the wanted. The best thing we came up with was a small topwater Mickey found at the BPS on a bargain table.  Here is a photo at the end of the first afternoon.

You can see the topwater maestro in action.  We caught 18 the first afternoon.

Day Two:  The second day the wind was blowing straight down the river making a ride down to State Line hazardous so we trailered the boat down to Yellow Creek to launch. It also was close to State Line, and after going the wrong way to start, we ventured across the river to the island.  It was way to rough to even think about fishing so we came back across to yellow creek.  It was relatively calm there. The banks were straight down rock, 30 feet deep a boat length off of the bank. We started down the bank with different baits until a smallmouth came up and smashed Mickey’s buzz bait. We caught a few more mostly smallmouths but they were few and far between. The fish the day before had been in shallow water with grass so we went looking for some. We found some and were fishing down the bank when again we spotted bass chasing shad in the shallow end of the pocket. It was game on with the topwaters. We chased those fish around the very shallow water until late. We were trying for 50 but we ended with 48. Some of the fish were smallies which were evident by a vicious strike and acrobatics when hooked.

Day Three:

It was raining lightly when the alarm clock rang. At the Yellow Creek landing we put on out rain gear and cast off knowing we were going to get wet. First we rode to State line Island and fished the grass without much luck. The waves were too much for the fish where we caught them Monday so we made a break back to our good cove. We stopped in a vacant boat house for a dry lunch and saw no fish chasing the shad. As we pulled out of the boat house the fish were chasing shad between the boathouse and the bank. The topwaters came out but the fish ignored them or just made a halfhearted pass at the bait.  Mickey pulled out a worm and they started to cooperate. The fish were in schools but scattered up and down the bank so we went up and down the bank catching a few from each. It was getting late in the afternoon and it had been raining the whole time at varying intensities. The automatic bilge pump had come on 6 times.  I was wet from head to toe. Mickey was only wet around his ankles. We never were cold but wet is not good. We quit at 3 p.m. with a total of 41 fish.  We caught the FOTrip Monday that weighed about 3 pounds. The rest were smaller than that but every one of them put a good pull on our lines. After the fishing around here this summer it was a great trip even considering the bad weather. I’m in the process of ordering a new wet suit just like Mickeys.

Even my son, who does not fish, has been complaining about the paucity of Bitespot posts.  Since fishing is so terrible around here the urge to go fishing has not been strong, so I have not been fishing. Some of my friends have and again they are furnishing me with a report. Richard and Hal again went to Beaverdam and Richard caught a 6 1/4 after Hal had to leave to go to the eye doctor. They were caught on swim jigs as opposed to spinnerbaits last time. Here is a photo of the FOD.

I received an email from Hal today reporting on the fishing at Beaverdam. He and Richard have been catching around 30 per trip and some good ones have been showing up. When I went up there the bass were hitting a worm with a flapping tail but now spinnerbaits are the hot bait. Hal said he threw behind the boat and hung a fish in the 5 pound range and was feeling pretty smug when he heard a splash in the front of the boat and Richard was holding a 6 + pound fish that he caught when Hal’s back was turned. That’s getting it done. Here’s the photo of both fish.