SKUNKED!!

Last week the bassin was outstanding with that big front sweeping towards us, the pressure falling like crazy. The rain, lightning and wind that finally came in made fishing too dangerous. Saturday I hooked up with a fellow NAFC member from California who was really looking forward to fishing Lake Ouachita. I took him and his brother to one favorite hotspot after another. Not one bite all morning. We had a good time visiting, though, and the lake was really colorful, eagles all over, coots, loons, ducks everywhere. But no sea gulls! I always look for them sweeping the surface.

What happened? Before launching I spotted some dying shad on the shore. Huh. I told them we knew the correct shad colors now. I assumed bass has chased them onto shore or maybe someone had dumped their netted bait. But we were there at daybreak and no dign of anyone leaving the ramp area. The next clue was the tea stained to nearly muddy trashy water. I assumed all the rain had swept a lot of debris into the lake. I tried to show them what a thermocline looked like on screen, but couldn't find it. It had been at 17' for the last two months. But the screen was totall cluttered most of the time. Surface temp had dropped to the mid 50s down from the previous 68. Even muddy flats were cooled off. I even said out loud it looked like a turn-over and we ought to try spooning, but couldn't find the usual clouds of shad, just clutter, and no sign of fish anywhere.

Long story cut short. We didn't work on that idea. It takes a while for the debris to settle back down. The previously light green hydrilla was brown from sediments. I just motored around and let them cast, covering maybe 10 miles of shoreline and creek channels, then loaded up around mid day so they could go on to grandma's birthday party. On the ramp a guy was talking about finding "millions" of dying shad farther down the lake, washing up on shore. A shad imitating white or silver spoon dropped through those dying schools was what the bass wanted. They were feasting down there. My suspicion was right, a fall turn-over in progress, too cold for the shad plus not enough oxygen for a tight school, the water conditions equal from surface to bottom no matter how deep. Several folks were coming in, and a group gathered at the campground to talk strategy. Most had come in because of a 20 mph steady NW wind, high waves, and making it impossible to see the dying shad. I drove home rolling it all over, asking myself why didn't I realize what was going on?

It just happens. Catfish are being hauled out by the tons, those guys using the dying shad as bottom bait. Well, I'll be off work 3 days and hit it again.

Jim