I have hit the water HARD the past week, with frequent outtings on pool 7 and a couple of fillers on pool 8. I can’t remember many times where I have fished so hard and persistenly in my life with such dismal results. It is all part of a resolution to better myself as an angler and learn more about the prespawn than I previously knew. This is my time of year to struggle, and outside of the major community areas on pool 8, I really don’t do well until after the spawn. This year I’ve been working to snap that trend and It has been slowly getting better. Lake Onalaska started tough for me, but as I fished more water and caught more fish I was beginning to piece things together. I found that 2 foot flats with a sharp drop into 7 feet of water were the key. Throwing a spinnerbait, swim jig, or trap were the main presentations, with a trap taking the biggest fish of the week, a solid 4.5 lb largemouth. Saturday I dabbled on the river a bit, and found a very nice area holding some big fish. This area will be rockin’ in another week or so, with some huge smallies already starting to get shallow. I caught a 4.5 lb smallmouth and a 3.5 lb largemouth as well as some 2.5+ largemouth in this area. My best 5 on Saturday were only 15 lbs but with more time in the area I am thinking it would have been closer to 18+. Sunday I spent some time on pool 8, and managed to catch a few decent ones including an 18-1/2″ smallie on a crankbait. I moved to the Lake again after this and caught several keeper fish there but most were in the 2 to 2-1/2 lb range. Today brought a different agenda with a shorter time frame, and i put in on pool 8 closer to home. The plan was to get on some big smallmouth. No toads were caught tonight but a few nice ones including a solid 18″ fish on a rat-l-trap. The key was a point with heavy current and deep water on it. The fish were staging on a shallow 5 foot shelf that quickly drops to 25 ft. The fish were picky and I had to color way outside the lines to get them to eat. It was fun. I still can’t say that I am fully “on fish” but I feel I am making strides and getting closer by the day. I will feel more comfortable when I can get on at least 16 lbs a day.. with the weights the way they are right now, you need at least a 26+ lb bag to get anywhere near a check on 8 fish. (excluding Sunday’s whackfest) I’ll be out on Wednesday and Thursday trying to develop this smallmouth pattern and if it works I will stick with it for a while, and if not I will be back pounding the lake until I stumble upon the right ones.
April 28, 2009 at 3:25 am
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