All right, I am getting ready for another season coming up pretty quick. I want to thank everyone for a great 2015. It was a busy one, maybe a little too busy at times but it's my fault. I absolutely love it when I can put people on a pile of fish. You never know when it's going to happen but when it all comes to together it's great. We had a great season all around. Some familial days on the water due in part to the extra rain we got in the summer that kept the current running.
Crappie population has been good the last few years but not as great as it has been in the past. Since I spend 240 days on the water I stay on top of them. This year should be easier for everyone. Last fall several crappie in a particular year class grew into the legal size now available for harvest. Our shad population in this lake is one of the under appreciated factors that create such a year round consistently good crappie lake. Other key factors are the thousands of docks creating ample cover to hide in, stable water conditions with less drought/floods than most places that helps them have good spawns, and all the brushpiles everyone has put out over the years. It's hard to find a cove or area without a brushpile sometimes.
The bass population is healthy and several bass are chunky. Last year we had a considerable current that all the predator fish took advantage off. You could see all the young bass with big guts. You could tell they have been growing. I have been able to fish several tournaments this late fall/winter with good success. Bringing in limits of bass at the Old Kinderhook event, Thanksgiving Day bash, Bassmaster in Oklahoma, and here again just before Christmas with BassingBob.
The rivers that I fish off the main lake have been trashed at times. An unfortunate side effect but still the fish haven't evaporated. They'll still there and when the water clarity clears up the fish are hungry. As I am writing this the rivers are the place to be though. I went out 2 days ago and found a group of smallmouth schooled up in the Glaize arm right at sundown. It was crazy good for a while. You could tell those fish typically lived in the river but moved to the lake to winter. We found them and it was on! One of those times where you can't hardly stand it to take the time to reel in a small one cause you know the big ones are biting. Or just to get a new soft plastic out of the bag takes too much time.
In general spring is coming, if you're thinking about coming to the lake and want to do some fishing give me a call. I'll be glad to take you out. If I am booked I have a few guys I work with when I am booked up. The days are getting longer, it won't be long.
Also I get so busy during the season it's hard for me to keep up with current fishing reports. I have a facebook page you can follow that I make my wife update when we can. More importantly go to BassingBob.com Bob is a friend of mine and runs a media group here at the lake. We tournament fish together, I help out all the time with his various projects and if you're a fisherman you need to join BassingBob.com. You won't regret it. Hundreds of reports, almost daily.
