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Berryessa Lake and Reports

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Thursday, June 14th, 2018

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    Water Temp: 73-76

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Can the bass fishing get any better at Berryessa? I guess so, somehow! Yea, more 10 pounders would do the trick! I took a well-known outdoor writer to the lake yesterday as he is doing an article on major lakes in California, for a magazine you all know. Would the bass cooperate?? Would the guide fine 'em?? Happy to report - YES on both questions!! Another good trip of 15-16 pound limit and a big fish of all three species. Perfect for his camera!! I caught a 4 lb largemouth, a 3 1/4 spotted bass, and a 3 lb + smallmouth. The latter has been tough to find lately. Funny, I have known the writer for many years and fished with him several times. He was struggling to catch bass which is not like him. He finally did catch a few. it was a hoot having him take photos in different spots around the lake. Near the end of the trip, we needed one more spot with a shadow. I knew all my years on Berryessa would pay off!! I found the spot in the narrows. He said "perfect!" We got the final photo.

    Tips: As for the fishing, this has been the best spring for bass - size-wise, that I have ever seen. I am doing all the right things? I seriously doubt it!! The bass are just bigger this year, plus the hundreds of small largemouth which have now dropped out of sight. There are "jaws" roaming around everywhere on their post-spawn bite. Still a lot of fairly shallow bass eating drop-shot worms and wacky-rigged Senkos. I would start adding small nail weights as the water warms. They will go deeper as hot weather sets in. I did get a few topwater bass but was too late for a good bite. I was going to try the jig bite, but never got around to it. I did notice that some quality bass were hanging just on the outside of newly forming weed beds. Just throw a #301 weightless Senko! You will see lots of bare banks with little rocks sections. Fish those!! Or an isolated tree in the water, etc!!!!!

Thursday, June 7th, 2018

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    Water Temp: 72-76

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Just a short report. I did another guide trip yesterday - Wed - and found the bite holding up well in spite of the very "cool' late spring weather. Even postponed a trip for today until more stable weather. The bite was fairly good yesterday with one of the guys landing some nice ones in the 3 lb range. Around noon I did some drop-shotting out in deep water as my guys were working a more shallow area that was good last Saturday. We were talking some and I had stopped working my Robo worm. As I went to retrieve it, I couldn't feet anything. My line wasn't where it was!! And then - panic - I had something big on. And a few minutes later we saw it was big - sorta. My little drop-shot hook had captured a 4 1/2 lb largemouth - 4 1/2 exact on the scale. She had lost some of her belly but hardly had a spawning scar on her. Kept her in the livewell for awhile to make sure she was ok, and she was. Always fun to release a fish like that!

    Tips: Hard to give reliable tips since the weather isn't reliable lately. We left the main body soon after the big largemouth as the lake was white capping with a cool south wind. That's right - we had summer last Saturday. Our post-spawn limit did hit 15 lbs and some change - a good day. Topwater still isn't happening much.

Saturday, June 2nd, 2018

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    Water Temp: 71-75

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: A guide trip at Berryessa on a Saturday in June? Well, maybe after Memorial Day weekend it would be ok. OK?? The trip was great and pleasure boaters weren't a big deal. We started in the narrows and finished at the very south end of the lake. The bite was pretty good all day until 2 pm. We hooked several quality bass, landing some and losing some. One of the fellows landed a beautiful post-spawn smallmouth a bit over 3 1/4 lbs - beautiful fish and not too skinny! Again - I tried to get the topwater bite going for them, missing two small blowups. About 9 am I was near the end of the cast, getting the popper close to the boat. The water just exploded in front of us - a violent blowup!! It took awhile but I got the 3 lb + spotted bass in the boat. WOW - too close for comfort! We had action most of the trip with one of the clients - a good angler - having a great day in addition to his big smallie. They drop-shotted most of the time, using 2 or 3 colors of Robo worms. Our best 5 was only about 13+ pounds - post spawn weights.

    Tips: Bass are moving around in deeper water now, but some still shallow until the sun gets higher. Shade pockets are holding some bass too. Lake is slowly dropping now. Our main hot spots were points and weed-bed edges. Senkos worked well on the edges. Surface temp is now up to 75 degrees. I think the summer pattern is beginning to take hold - good morning bite until around 10 am, a slow period, and then another bite from noon until 1:30 - 2 pm. After 2 pm, the bite just shut down, and will most days in the summer.

Thursday, May 24th, 2018

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    Water Temp: 68-72

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Just a quick update on Berryessa, I took two clients yesterday out of Markley Cove yesterday. The day started on a real downer!! One of the fellows hooked toad on a drop-shot rig (Robo worm). We saw her three times - out of the water during her jumps! The third jump was her saving grace as she spit the hook. Got enough of a good look to estimate her at 7+ pounds. We all recovered and went on to have a really good day with lots of bass to 3 1/4 lbs. Again - largemouth everywhere!! They caught mostly largemouth and a lot of spots, but only a few smallies. We fished under cloud cover (not fog) most of the trip which might have helped the bite. very little wind. By the time we got to the main body in the afternoon, clearing skies and big south wind! They were still biting. The lake has begun to drop some, about 1 to 2 feet. After all said and done, around 35 bass and best five around 14 lbs.

    Tips: I spent some early time trying to get a topwater bite going for them. I thought it would be the perfect day for topwater - calm with cloud cover. I caught one right away, and that was it. I tried off and on thru the day - no interest in topwater - yet! It will happen! Lots of suspended bass on points - recovering from the spawn. After Memorial Day traffic calms down, should be a good month ahead. Interesting how "hot spots" turn cool and "no action" spots turn hot! That happened yesterday some. One area that had been good was lousy yesterday and another favorite area that had been lousy - turned good, err, great yesterday! These darn bass can really sent one to the "institution" in short order!

Friday, May 11th, 2018

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    Water Temp: 68-73

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Had a wonderful trip with a client new to our state. He wanted to learn about Berryessa, and learn he did! And catch bass he did!! He caught around 20 or so - all 3 species. Again, not as many smallmouth this trip, but our biggest of the day was his 3 lb + smallie, They sure are skinny after they spawn! But fight - wow!! There were no "hot spots" - bass were scattered everywhere. Some off-shore structure I showed him was devoid of bass, most of the active bass we found were off steep banks. Shade helped. Nothing much deeper than 20 feet. While he was slaying them on Robo worms, I tried some beaver baits and other plastics to no avail. The worm bite was on. We didn't start early enough to try topwater. MM111 was the best color worm, but a few others worked some too.

    Tips: This is a great time to teach children to bass fish! The bass will hit almost anything and can be found almost anywhere. They will suspend in the shade pockets as they recover from the spawn. Yesterday I really saw the results of the excellent largemouth spawn last year during the high water. We caught many, many largemouth from just under to just over keeper size. This has gone on for several trips. Future looks good. The only problem down the road - and it will be a problem for largemouth - is all the hundreds of bass released near the backs of Markley and Pleasure Coves. I never hear anyone talk about that. Some of us already see the problem at Clear Lake. The casino released bass already have their own zip code.

Saturday, May 5th, 2018

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    Water Temp: 68.5

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: This past weekend was great fishing! We caught two and three pound bass all over the lake. I was fishing with my buddy Albert. We were using crank baits in about fifteen to twenty-two feet of water when I got a big bite and I asked Albert to reel it in for me. It was a 5.5 lbs largemouth bass (see photo). We were happy thinking that was our big one for the day boy were we wrong. We continued fishing and again I got a huge hit and Albert started to reel it in and at some point he said he was stuck so I took over and knew as soon as I started reeling that this was going to be a big fish. Sure enough it was a whopper weighing in at just over 12 lbs (see photo). The day ended on a high note with two very happy fisherman. The following morning I took out Marcus and Hognoon. I showed them the pictures of the bass we caught the day before. They were all hyped up and raring to get started. They asked for a tour of the spots l felt were most productive so we did that for awhile and caught a lot of two and three pounders hoping to repeat yesterday's catch. We fished in shallow water with shrubs all over able to see the fish cruising. At the end of the day they had a nice limit of bass (see photo).
    If you would like to see the pictures please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com
    'til next time........................................good fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!
    https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=www.fishingconnection.net&data=02%7C01%7C%7C7d4a9152bc1444903a6708d5b69bdf3e%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636615702931482661&sdata=69Sa5Jd1s3eQFP6H%2Btdw3RS3XvPvYH8G40mma13dZ68%3D&reserved=0 If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or are interested in booking a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.

    Tips: knowing where the fish should be is a good way to start, a very few fish still on beds ,the water is still a little high to find my stumps in the vinyards, the next spawn should be may 25 to june 3rd full moon may 29th.call if you have any fishing related questions.

Saturday, April 28th, 2018

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    Water Temp: 62-68

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I had a really nice guide trip with 3 fun guys who were also great bass anglers! We spent most of our time in the narrows as the bite was good, especially in the afternoon. We hit one spot that produced some good spotted bass and the only smallie we caught. It has always amazed me at Berryessa how one species doesn't show up on a particular day or night. Had been catching lots of smallies on recent trips and only one this trip! Drop-shotting is always the best technique with 4 in the boat and it was good this trip. We had spots up to nearly 3 1/2 lbs and largemouth up to 2 /12. Five best around 15 1/2 - 16 lbs. Good bite!!! Various color Robo worms were the top fish-getters!

    Tips: We saw a large school of shad in the back of one of the coves. Fun to see that with largemouth bass chasing them!! It is great to see but not easy to catch! They know what they want and are not interested in hitting lures. Bass generally seemed to be bunched up on walls - moving in and out of the coves. If you found a small flat next to a wall - bingo!! Lots of bass there. Weeds are beginning to grow with the somewhat clear water at the backs of coves. Topwater - soon!!! Most of our big spots came on off-shore structure, probably areas they can spawn one with little fishing pressure. That is where we got the 2 biggest spotted bass. Tried to get a photo of the three of them with the biggest 5 before releasing them, but just hard to get those bigger spotted bass to pose. Man, they are strong!!!

Friday, April 20th, 2018

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    Water Temp: 59-63 degrees

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I took a good friend of mine out on Thursday 4-19 who is a novice fisherman. We got on the water at 9:30 AM and the water temperature was at about 59 degrees. After launching out of Markley Cove we headed straight to Little Portuguese Cove. We were using a split shot rig with real worms and had a ton of success. The fish seemed to be in about 5-15 feet of water and the bite was very soft. We pulled in a lot of fish without setting the hook because we didn't feel the hit. We caught about 30 fish and had many more hits and fish on that we lost before getting them to the boat. Berryessa is about as good as it's going to get right now. We had success in the narrows, Paradise Cove and pretty much everywhere we went. After running out of worms (we had about 50 worms to start the day) we switched to drop shot and had success with that too. We hooked into 3 smallmouth bass that were in the 2.5 to 3 pound range and the looked full of eggs. We released those fish in hopes of catching some of those babies in a few years!! Also caught 2 big crappies. Good luck and hope to see you all on the water!!

    Tips: split shot live worms was catching us a ton of fish. Slow moving them.

Saturday, April 14th, 2018

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    Water Temp: 64.3

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: This past weekend I was able to spend fishing at Berryessa. I arrived late afternoon on Friday and went out with my friend Bob. We decided to fish from the ranch house to the vineyards and it payed off. Bob's five largest fish weighed a total of 12.5 pounds (see photos). We both caught limits of bass and a 2.5 pound crappie. We stayed out till we saw the sunset and headed back as it started to get dark. The following morning I went out on my own and decided I would start at the vineyards and fish my way back. There were about nine different tournaments and every point I passed had a boat. I searched the shallows to see if the bass were bedding and sure enough they were everywhere. I caught one on a jig which weighed just under six pounds and full of eggs I released her immediately and she headed straight back to the nest. With all the boat activity going on I was amazed that the fishing was so good. I found what worked best for me was the Speed Trap crank bait for a bigger fish but drop shoting caught more fish but smaller size it was all fun. My five best keepers weighed a total of 14.6 pounds which was fine with me (see photo). My buddy Albert called me but I was out by the vineyards already so I told him to fish from the shore drop shoting and he caught four nice bass (see photo). 'Til next time...............................................good fishing!!!!!!!
    https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=www.fishingconnection.net&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca00f3d17cf844777014708d5a3c50a9a%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636594989030298599&sdata=e73uxKLwBd9Wsj8AHxH7lOukRcOBg7p0FDnbfHLsG34%3D&reserved=0 If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or are interested in booking a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.

    Tips: the fish know when the spawn is happening and its now ,in the vineyards I saw 2 big pigs boars,the bass is pushing the bait against the shore. feel free to call me for any fishing info.from 9am to 9pm 7 days a week. I used pro cure scents on drop shot worms.

Friday, April 6th, 2018

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    Report: by Duke » Fri Apr 06, 2018 5:23 pm

    Lake is still fishing well! I’ve been out a bunch with water temps in 57-60 degree range with slightly off colored water in the main body and extremely muddy off main body! Creeks have a little color after the storm passed. The third wave of spawning fish are moving up for the next full moon.

Thursday, April 5th, 2018

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    Water Temp: 61-64

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I was beaten by a six year old!!! Actually true, but not like it sounds, sorta!! I was looking forward to guiding a six year old young lady with her dad and his brother! I fished some and they fished hard and she beat all of us men with her 3 1/4 lb largemouth. She hooked, fought, and landed the bass by herself. Do I hear junior high bass tournaments?? Fun, fun!! We had another good day at Berryessa and doing some sight fishing for the first time. Water is clear enough to do that. With 4 in the boat, we were limited to mostly drop-shotting Robo worms, and MM111 was again the best color. Morning dawn worked too. Points to the very backs of coves held bass. We stayed in the narrows as I wasn't sure how the little one would do after several hours. She did fine!! Had to be close to a rest room also. Sure glad they leave one in the narrows all year! We found some deep bass also, 25 to 30 feet! We caught 20 + bass with again a nice limit around 14 lbs, all released. Mostly spots and largemouth with a very nice smallie.

    Tips: Saw an amazing thing that one doesn't see often. We were fishing a good spot in the early afternoon and saw a few bass close to the boat. Along comes this 4 to 6 lb smallmouth, swimming slowly about 2 feet under the surface. What a sight! She seemed to be fine - don't think anything was wrong with her. This was not in a cove, she was swimming in open water off-shore. This incoming storm will interesting. An April gully-washer with one to three inches of rain. So, how will this effect the spawn? I guess we'll find out!!

Friday, March 30th, 2018

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    Water Temp: 57-61

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I did two really fun, good trips to Berryessa on Tues and Thurs. Tuesday I guided a father and his two 16 year old twin sons. In spite of the cold and some wind, we got into a very hot bite between noon and 1:30 pm. When it was over, it was over!! They caught around 13 or 14 quality bass - all 3 species - the boys catching spots up to 3 lbs 10 oz. Best hour of the year - so far!! Their best 5 around 16 lbs! We just fish the narrows as the main lake was too rough for any fun. Robo worms were the top bait, and mostly the same color! I have a great photo that I'll post. As you know - fishing days are not often repeated in the same way. Thursday was no exception. I had 2 clients from the Pacific northwest - outstanding anglers who have fished all over the world! And they caught a ton of bass yesterday, but more dinks than I think I have ever see at Berryessa. They did catch some better bass too, but nothing like what I saw on Tues. Bag bass was a 3 lb spotted bass, caught in the back of a cove, probably searching for a spawning area. We found a big school of bait on my new HDS 12, and bass that unfortunately were only 1 to barely 2 lbs. They were using a variety of their own baits. Bass they caught were from 20 to nearly 50 feet deep.

    Tips: It is a rare day to pull into the parking area at Markley Cove on an early Thursday and find the lot full of rigs - only a few spaces left. Wow - a different period of time now! I have a lot of tips, but usually keep my mouth shut or fingers still before a tournament. Good luck out there!

Friday, March 23rd, 2018

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    Report: by BigBassDaddy1190 » Fri Mar 23, 2018 7:52 pm

    Both of the main creeks were completely blown out today. A lot of water coming in.

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    Report: After months of meager flows, Putah Creek finally begins to roar after 2-5 inches of rain in the watershed in March 2018. The flow is approximately 3000-5000 cfs. This is shot in the Crystal Flat Wildflower Preserve north of the Berryessa Estates right before Putah Creek enters Lake Berryessa .

    VIDEO http://www.westernbass.com/forum/crystal-flat-wildflower-preserve-north-the-berryessa-estates-right-before-putah-creek-enters-lake-berryessa-video-t114002.html#p597610

Tuesday, March 20th, 2018

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    Report: by Caleb.Smith » Tue Mar 20, 2018 5:00 am

    First tournament for the Delta Wine Region, see how we managed to catch our fish.

    VIDEO: http://www.westernbass.com/forum/lake-berryessa-bbt-delta-wine-region-opener-t113916.html

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    Water Temp: 55

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I took out two high school anglers in the latest of the nor-cal high school fishing tournaments put on by FLW. Blast off was a bit late due to hang ups at the ramp but all boats were on their way by 7:30. We had gotten good fish in the flooded trees up north on the east side on Saturday. But Sunday was a different story. We got two decent ones on small swim baits at the vineyards but that was it. So we went "point bombing" in the narrows and on the south west shore with jigs and drop shot worms. The fish got better as the day wore on and we had a great bunch of fish grabbing MM III worms tossed on west shore points. The sun came out of the clouds and was shining straight down on the water so we moved off a little deeper on the points and culled out three fish with nice replacements on a single point near Spanish Flat. We ran out of time and had to haul ass back to weigh in in Paradise Cove. Our nearly 11 pounds was back in the average range so no trophy today. The winners had the same fish as everyone else but added a 5+ pounder to pump their weight to over 16 pounds. Thanks Larry!

    Tips: When in doubt for keepers work the big rocky points on the main lake and in the narrows with your favorite worms or jigs.

Thursday, March 15th, 2018

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    Water Temp: 52-54

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I guided an expert angler yesterday all over the lower end of Berryessa, showing him areas that were new to him. We experienced all sorts of weather - mostly cold and a little wet. Early afternoon we even had the big north wind hit - rare during a storm, followed by more south wind. Thank goodness the big thunderstorms didn't hit until I was towing home. The bite was slow as the water temp was the same as a month ago. He did catch two nice bass, largemouth and smallmouth, in the 2 3/4 lb range. Missed a few good ones as the bite was timid. It was fun to run into a bunch of near keepers at the last place we stopped. They probably moved up as the sun finally came out. Robo worms worked as always.

    Tips: Can't say much as client will be involved in tourney activity this weekend. Bass do seem ready to come shallow in spite of the weather. Our bigger bass were not too deep. Water is clear - so far. May be different this weekend in the coves. But, remember, these are not warm storms. Check your temp guage!

Sunday, February 18th, 2018

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    Water Temp: 49.6 thru 57.4

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: It's been awhile since my last report but I went out this past Saturday with Steve. The morning surface water temperature was 49.6 degrees and warmed up to 57.4 degrees by the afternoon. It was a hard fishing day but we hung in there. We tried drop shot ting to swim jigs and it was hit or miss all day. We had some luck in the Narrows and on the east side pass the ranch house before the Vineyards (see photo). No sign of birds or any bait. In my estimation it will be about five or six weeks before the first spawn. A few weeks ago my daughter-in-law Sarah caught an 8 lb 2 oz largemouth bass (see photo) her personal largest. Good job Sarah!!!!! The lake is 9 feet under the Glory Hole so it is full. 'Til next time..............................................good fishing!!!!!

    If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or are interested in booking a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.

    https://www.fishingconnection.net

    Tips: We fished deep and shallow no birds no bait not a lot of fish and no fish jumping BUT THE GOOD NEWS LAKE IS FULL..

Friday, February 16th, 2018

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    Water Temp: 54

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I guided a client yesterday who had fished the main body of Berryessa several times. It worked out well that he wanted to learn the narrows since we couldn't get out on the main body with 25-30 mph winds. I always wish the weather could be perfect for my clients, but rarely is. We were able to cover most of the narrows and visited lots of off-shore structure areas. There really are some interesting areas in the narrows. We did fish effectively before the winds got tough and caught 3 nice bass and a 3 lb largemouth in the afternoon. He caught a beautiful smallie about 2 3/4 lbs. Our best 4 was about 9 1/2 lbs - all 3 species, along with several smaller bass. Average depth was about 25-55 feet. The biggest largemouth was near the back of a cove in about 8 feet of water. She must have been lost!!

    Tips: Did not see much bait, but did find a massive school on a narrows point. Bait ball was 60-75 feet! I did spoon two largemouth which were small, and the school was gone. Looked everywhere!! With the upcoming cold front next week, not sure if the bite will improve much. With the sun out all day, the water temp rose - are you ready for this - .8 degrees. Yes, less than one degree. We checked the backs of many coves and didn't see any bass The 2 biggest bass were caught on Senkos. Drop-shotting Robo worms worked ok, but no jig bite. Of course, wish we had been out today - no wind and warmer!! So, what else is new??

Thursday, January 25th, 2018

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    Water Temp: 52 to 53

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: On the water at 5am stayed till 4pm. Fished by Capel cove and Spanish flats area. First thing in the morning a lot of fish activity on the surface. Found out soon that they where trout. Second cast of a stacyee caught a 2.5lber. Had a couple of hits until the sun came up and every thing went dead. Moved around from point to point for no bites. Then sat in 20 feet of water casting out to beeper water. After a few minutes caught one lost on. This worked up till 2pm. Went to the stacyee again and caught two out in 40 feet. Ended the day with 5 bass in the net and 1 trout.

    Tips: The only points that produced where on the west side of the lake. With the stacyee. Slow and soft. I lost to many fish to count on the jig I was using an ounce jig because of the depth. 40 plus feet. Maybe Carolina rig would work better so they don't feel the weight. Tight lines