Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: keithr on June 23, 2005, 06:17:05 PM
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I just met Hung and some of the kids down on the beach and can report they have been catching fish. His daughter caught two today on a bare hook.
Violeta and I arrived this afternoon. As soon as we got moved in I went to the dock and caught five or six small perch right away but nothing big enough for the frying pan yet. When the sun gets a little lower I'm going out in a little green row boat that comes with the cottage. Cool. I'm gonna take my fly rod.
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One thing people who love the place can do is to take their garbage home with them.
Sounds a little strange but think about it-garbage disposal is limited on a small island like Saltspring and we all go their bringing stufff that ends up clogging their system.
Bring it back to the city and dispose of it where there's a well developed system already.
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Thanks for the suggestion Sam, totally agree.
Trout Slayer, Chrome Mykiss, TtotheE and Fishin Chick are leaving on the 7am ferry. Nina and I are on the 9am ferry from Tsawwassen. Leave some fish for us. ;)
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I saw Rod and Nina (haven't actually met them yet) rowing back in as I was rowing out this afternoon about 3 o'clock. Rod said they had done all right. In the next three hours I caught about 30 bass using a dead minnow simulator on the surface. Talk about fun. . . .
After supper I went back out with my fly rod and caught another eight.
I started fishing this morning at a quarter to five, and I just a few minutes ago quit with it almost dark.
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I saw Rod and Nina (haven't actually met them yet) rowing back in as I was rowing out this afternoon about 3 o'clock. Rod said they had done all right. In the next three hours I caught about 30 bass using a dead minnow simulator on the surface. Talk about fun. . . .
After supper I went back out with my fly rod and caught another eight.
I started fishing this morning at a quarter to five, and I just a few minutes ago quit with it almost dark.
LOL! sounds like a blast!
Where are you getting your internet connection while over there?
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Just came back from St Mary's.
Got 16 fishes in two days, between 3 people :P
But that was our first time bass fishing so we're happy :D
Largest is a 4 pounder, caught with shrimp ;D ;D and a 3.5 pounder on popper.
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Internet connection is wireless and courtesy of Lakeshore Gardens Resort. Nina caught a very nice bass from the shore in front of the cabins. Both bass and Nina battled valiantly. Rodney: "I'm going for the net!" Nina: "No, I don''t need it." Expect photos.
Met the Fishin Chick and her father. I believe he caught a twenty inch rainbow. Everyone who puts a hook in the water (boat, bank, or dock) is catching fish of one kind or another. Right now it's sunny and things have slowed down (that's why I'm in here). Maybe I'll have a cool one . . .
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Things are winding down for us. Check out time is 11am. I went out at 5 this morning with the eagle and beaver and the steam rising off the lake and out of the trees. Mirror calm lake. Just me and the critters.
Tried all the on top of the water stuff that just wouldn't miss for the last several days. Nope. I had orders to bring back a big one for supper, and it was looking like I was going to fail. Not even a bite. I looked around in the tacke bax and there was a little container with a half dozen worms from when Violeta was fishing off the dock.
I was close to a grownover beaver house that seemed to always have a big one in it (Hiker will know where I mean). I put on the biggest single hook I had and baited it with a garden worm. Right away I caught a smaller one (about 12 inches). Let him go. Small things gnawed off my next couple of baits. Finally I was down to that last worm. I put it on, plopped it out there just in front of the beaver house entrance, and before I could take the slack out of the line something started doing it from the other end, so I set the hook. It was very pretty. Bass came up out of the water like in slow motion, shaking all over and shedding water, and he cleared the water completely. The whole routine, picture purfect.
I got him in the boat eventually. My reputation as bringer-home-of-the-fish intact, I was pulling up the anchor when a beaver came up out of his house, did a double take and tail smack! It was like a punctuation point my fishing here at St Mary's Lake. It started to rain a little.
(that bass turned out to be 18". That was the second biggest for me.)
We're all packed, there is light mit, looks like maybe it will be clearing, wish I could go back out. Nina and Rod are down on the dock fishing with bait and catching them like there was nothing to itl. It's a very pretty scene. . .
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We arrived at St Mary lake just before 11am on Friday. We had called ahead and arranged with Mark to check in early. The office was empty when we got there but there was a map showing the way to our cottage (in case we arrived prior to their return). We were very impressed. While parking the car, we met Hung, who came out to greet us. As we started to unload/pack, Hung told us a few good spots to try near our side of the lake, which proved to be excellent advice.
Fishing Day 1:
The first day was awesome. The fish were active and plenty. My sister and father were trolling flies and spinners with the electric motor, while I parked myself here and there and cast/retrieved a few flies. Armed with a full sinking line, I was catching on dragonfly nymphs, leeches, muddler minnows and wooly buggers. It was frustrating at first to time the strikes, as it seemed the fish were biting the fly but not fully committing. An hour after we launched our boats, I noticed Rodney and Nina fishing from the dock. A quick chat and some advice on the strike and I was back out to call my sister, who had our room key(was getting very thirsty). I decided to row extra slow back to the dock, and allow my mohair leech to troll nice and deep. At first I thought I had dragged bottom, as I had just recently lost my productive dragon pattern to the bottom. I grab my 4 weight rod from the holder and begin to reel in, as a monster bass jumps out of the water! I feel the pressure of onlookers from the dock, my sister catching the moment on video with her digital camera while my dad circles their boat around mine, and the knowledge of a 4 pound tippet (not recently checked for knicks). The wind is pushing my boat towards the dock, and in fear of losing the big one to a post, I drop anchor with my free hand. The bass dives deep and fights harder than any trout of similar size. I finally get the bass to the net and receive a cheer from the crowd at the dock. This one will look good on the dinner table. My prize motivates the others to get their boats ready.
For the remainder of the afternoon, I try different flies I had tied for the trip. I try a few deer hair poppers, and find that the bass really like my imitation frog the best. A fish litterally tore the frog right off my tippet on my first cast with it. Luckily, the frog resurfaced after the bass spat out the hook.
The lake turned very calm during the evening. I tie up a size 10 goddard sedge and chased the risers for some fast action on my 3 weight Stryker I got from his recent clearance. Friday evening turns out to be the better of the 2 evenings for dry fly fishing for us. Although most of the fish rising were on the smaller side, they put up quite the fight on the 3 weight and was very enjoyable. A 10 incher was the largest I caught on a dry. I lost count after about 20 while chasing the riseforms that night.
After the nights fishing, we play some poker before driving out to the ferry terminal to pick up fishin_chick's husband.
Fishing day 2:
The married couple decided to stay in for the morning hatch. We left the cottage at around 7am, and see Keith already rowing out there, the only guy on the lake(consistently at that hour). I got to sit back and relax this morning(no rowing) with my dad on the boat with the electric motor. The trolling had given dad consistent action with my sister the day before, many times not having time to reset a rod before the other rod starts to bend. We check out a few different areas and release a few small bass. We crossed over an area that was rising quite heavily, and were surprised to hook a 20 inch trout(mentioned earlier by keithr). This thing was so clean and silver it was beautiful. Caught on a "dead minnow" that my sister went out to buy after speaking with keithr. We head back to the cottage for an excellent breakfast whipped up by my sister, tie a couple flies, then head out again.
I get to share the row boat with my sister's husband. He's armed with a 6 weight full float, and I with a 4 weight full sink. We alternate bringing in the fish, to keep the fish count even ;) The bass were consistently hitting the minnow pattern I had tied when at Courtney lake. We end up trolling almost 2/3 of this huge lake. The fishing was not as good as Friday, but was still good. Cutting across the part of the lake where my dad caught the rainbow the day before, we hook into what turns out to be a 1.5 pound rainbow on a dragon nymph. My brother in law doesn't eat fish, so he gently releases the beauty back into the water. After numerous missed hits way I rig up my 3 weight with a 19 foot leader(floating line) and a bead headed olive wooly bugger. We couldn't keep them off! Sometimes we'd have a fish on before we could get a chance to let out the usual amount of line after releasing a fish. We come back to the dock to find my dad casting from the dock, the battery needs recharging. So we head back in to stretch out our backs.
We decide to opt for a later dinner and not miss out on the evening surface action. Size 14 emergers and tomb thumbs were irresistable. Fishin_chick heads in before the bats come out to prepare for dinner. ;D Dropping and pulling anchor is starting to do a number on my hands, so I move around without anchoring down and sample various areas. I'll have to look into setting my boat up similar to CMK with a pully system(he was so fast!). Great dinner as always, the bass tasted like filet of sole, and dad's trout tasted like salmon! No poker tonight, everyone gets to sleep while I tie a couple flies that seemed to work well for us.
Fishing day 3:
Check out day. We all get up at 6:30am, and see that keithr is out doing his thing again. Battery charged, fishin_chick and dad head out to troll once again on the electric motor. I decide to row us today, armed once again with a dragonfly nymph. We head for the little underwater island, as I had seen quite a few risers there a few nights back. We head to the side opposite the dock and tag a few fish consistently in one spot, so we anchor ourselves in casting distance and do our thing. I get the proper stripping speed today and catch a couple keepers before we decide to try a different spot. My sister has abandoned casting in favor of trolling, it is her best new technique. We decide to join them along the trees and reeds. Last day to fish, with a time limit, and we find the honey hole! Every pass we'd have a fish on, so I row some figure 8's until its time to leave. Mental note on the location so I can anchor myself in next time I visit the lake.
The ride home was uneventful, mostly because I was snoring in the back seat ;D We decided not to wait for the direct ferry and possibly get left behind, and took the long route. We get home in good time, earlier than we would have, had we waited for the direct ferry to Tsawassen.
All in all, the trip was awesome. The weather held out, fishing was great, nobody got skunked, and we learned how effective trolling can be for bass. I learned from Rodney that I was casting too short, and that I should have been casting right INTO the reeds, not right infront of them. I had too many flies get tangled in the reeds, so I stayed clear of them. Perhaps next time ;) Hoping to send some pictures to Rodney when he gets back (if he comes back).
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Nice reports all. ;D ;D
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Heres one of the hundreds I landed this weekend. Just a teaser, full report to come later.
(http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/tHeTrOuTsLaYeR/DSC00314.sized.jpg)
This baby took a stripped green wooly bugger.
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Hey TS - How'd you get a rule on your float tube that measures in cm? :o
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Hey those are inches! :P Report coming soon.
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Well we were camping there since Sunday and the kids had a lot of fun catching fish on worm while I was busy unhooking fish, replacing hooks and untangling lines. I couldn't tell the difference between the perch and the bass until Keith pointed it out to me, so needless to say I don't have many fishing stories to report. Except for one ... after being coached by just about everyone in the FWR crowd, my son and I were finally catching bass non stop on the last day. We got so carried away with it that we came back a few minutes late and missed the ferry deadline. Long story short, we had to take an alternate route and arrived home 5 hours late. My son said it's all worth it, and I'm thankful for a very forgiving wife ;D
A side note: I'm amazed at the fishing skills of the people in this group. One evening my son and I was so overtaken at the sight of people fly-casting on a dead calm lake we forgot to do our own fishing. It was an incredible sight. Thanks everyone for the coaching, the lures and the flies and especially for a great time!
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Nina and I just returned this afternoon, pretty tired so the stories will come later. Here's a teaser photo though. ;)
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/pic/pic050628.jpg)
If you have photos from the trip that you wish to be posted, send them to info@fishingwithrod.com I'll be putting together a gallery.
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Wow! what a great idea this trip was! Hung, I am sooooo happy that you finally nabbed those darn bass! It seemed totally ridiculous for anyone to leave without catching lots and having a blast. I can't wait till my nephew is old enough to come with us on a trip. I only have one thing to add to my brother's report.... Why the heck get up after 5 hours sleep on a Saturday morning when I have ALLLLLLL day to go fishing ::), all I gotta say is Dad and my bro are more then a little bitten by the fishing bug. We swear dad even dreams about fishing in his sleep ;D. What a great time! The picture (when I can get rodney to post it... :))is the biggest fish i have caught on my fly line thus far. The first one I had on, was bigger, but it jumped out of the water, freakin me out, cause I really wasnt expecting a fish that big after dropping my line for less than 5 minutes, and I lost it.... oh well....Soooo much fun!
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well i hope those pics get posted real soon
so i can show the powers that be just what i had to pass up this weekend
sounds like everyone had an awsome time
thanks for all the reports
cnm
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Fishin Chick and TtotheE's photos
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/pic/pic050629-1.jpg)
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/pic/pic050629-2.jpg)
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/pic/pic050629-3.jpg)
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/pic/pic050629-4.jpg)
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/pic/pic050629-5.jpg)
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OK folks, so when do we get to go again?!!!!! Anyone know if the fishing is that good all the time, or did we get a good time of year?
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Early July should still be pretty good. ;) I think Hung is taking some friends back next week? ;)
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I wish I could :-[ A couple of families in my residence were interested in visiting the island next week, so I introduced them to Mark. They will be staying in the cabanas for a couple nights. Initially I was going to join them too, but it didn't work out. >:(
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I'll keep this short. ;)
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/054.jpg)
Chrome Mykiss took this photo, awesome lighting!
The fishing was better than what I had expected. It was nice to see everyone, even though most of the time we were busy fishing instead of socializing so we never got to do anything together... ;D I'm just glad you all caught fish so I wasn't thrown in the water. :)
Trout Slayer and Chrome Mykiss never made the 7am ferry on Friday as Chrome Mykiss slept in. ;) They ended up taking the ferry with us after all. Just after we arrived around 1pm, we saw TtotheE landed that big one, and that pumped us up. The first day we spent most of the time fishing the reeds on the fly. My first fish was rather big but lost without seeing how big it was, I was rather disappointed. The rest of that day I was only into small to medium size fish. We bumped into Keith on the way in for a break around late afternoon. Hiker and I fished near the campsites around 6 or 7pm, I was watching him slaying them on bait. ;D That evening until 10pm, top water action was pretty unreal. Just in front of the camp, water was boiling with feeding bass. We tossed poppers and rapalas, and fish were coming up left and right. Nothing too big but it was still very exciting.
Hung and his family invited us over for campfire with the kids that night, it was pretty fun. :)
The next morning I was up surprisingly early, around 6am. I saw Keith out on the water already so i quickly got dressed and went out. Soon after, Chrome Mykiss and TtotheE followed. ;) Saturday morning's fishing was rather slow, so we took a break during the day. While seeing some surface action near the resort's beach, Nina and I decided to toss some rapalas. Sure enough, bass came up to grab the offering continuously. After several fish, a bit 16.5 incher grabber nina's lure. The fight was on as she was cheered on by Hung's kids. First she didn't want the camera, but then she wanted it. So I ran to the cabana to grab it. Then she wanted the net, so I ran to get the net too... ::) A quick scoop and the fish was landed.
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre009.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/009.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre010.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/010.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre011.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/011.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre012.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/012.jpg)
That afternoon, Chrome Mykiss showed us how it was done by fishing deep with tube baits. He was landing more bigger fish than others. Surface action was almost none on day two.
Day three, Sunday, we decided to fish around the island. Chrome Mykiss and Trout Slayer found the fish and were at it again. They were bringing fish in almost every cast. Hung and his son joined us soon after and they were also into big fish, which was great as they had to leave soon after that.
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre020.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/020.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre021.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/021.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre022.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/022.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre023.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/023.jpg)
That evening I finally had the tube bait figured out. it was awfully windy and wavy that afternoon. I was able to get into quite a few big fish. Nina went onto the bait side, and was bringing in big fish as well by fishing with small pieces of shrimp on the bottom. ;)
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre026.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/026.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre029.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/029.jpg)
The rain started to come down heavily on Sunday night until early Monday morning. When I woke up around 8am, Chrome Mykiss was already out there by himself in the rain. :o We decided to fish for a bit on the floating dock as we were not too motivated to go out on the boat in the rain. Trout Slayer watched us on his pontoon as Nina and I brought in some big bass between 16 and 18 inches with bait.
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre032.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/032.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre034.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/034.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre035.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/035.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre036.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/036.jpg)
After Chrome Mykiss and Trout Slayer left around noon on Monday, Nina and I had our best fishing afternoon so far. We were able to bring in 30 to 40 fish that were between 14 and 18 inches long. Some great video footages too, which I will try to post later. Just before we finished up on Monday evening, Nina decided that bass was too boring and hooked herself a big trout. ::)
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre037.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/037.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre038.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/038.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/pre039.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/039.jpg)
Fishing on Tuesday morning was slower, but I was able to get about ten more fish, a couple up to 16 inches.
Most of the bigger fish (16 to 18 inches) were caught at 30 feet deep waters. The hits were hard and usually came as soon as the bait landed on the bottom. Once the fish was on, it usually went for the deep dives, circling around the boat. As the angle between the fishing line and water surface changed, the fish graduately swam up and then went for the big leap. Pretty exciting stuff! :D
Bassed out for sure now, but looking forward to next year. ;)
Thanks to Mark at Lakeside Garden for making us feel so comfortable once again. :)
More photos can be viewed at: http://www.fishingwithrod.com/bassin2005/
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Awsome pics and a great report.. I will have to join you guys next year 4 sure!
Dan
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As so many people posted already, there is not much for me to say, except that we had a blast. It was so good fishing :) Hey bas actually taste good :P
Would like to thank Rodney for organizing this trip, to Hung for his hospitality, Chrome for tips, and all other people for making this party possible. Keithr thanks for the tip about that big one that must be around beaver place :) Man that was a big fish and fun to fight.
The only thing I am sorry about is that we couldn't stay longer. I wish we had few days more to enjoy. Sorry guys and girls for not being able to say good bye as we had to rush not to be late for ferry.
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YAA, bass taste good but trying to get those darned scaled off was hard work. And the bigger the harder :P
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I gotta agree with you about the fish tastin good....but I was super fortunate as Dad is the best fish fillet-er in town! I had about 6 peices of fish over 3 days, and only had 3 bones to worry about! My husband's uncle loves fish, so we gave him some. His aunt hates fish, but being curious, she had a bite, ended up eating the whole peice and loved it! Now thats good fish, when you can get a non-fish-eater to love it!
how did everyone else cook theirs up? I lightly peppered it with white pepper and then breaded it and fried it in oil....mmmmm...I'm drooling just thinking about it again! hehe :P
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I made cut up the fish to 6 pieces put into water with ginger and green onion, little salt little black pepper, taste great.
Another dish is use the whole fish (descaled and gutted of course) make 3 cuts in the flesh of both sides of fish, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup water, 1tsp sugar, 2 tbsp black bean sauce, ginger (strips) black bean sauce on fish not mixed into soy sauce. steam for 30 min. ( depends on fish size).
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Sounds like everyone had a good time :)
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We had three fillets last night, very good. :) I filleted the fish, dipped them in egg, then breadcrumb, then pan fry.
I forgot to mention that on Sunday evening, we fished an area where I broke a couple of fish off. On Monday evening, we were back fishing the same area and I hooked one fish that was around 12 inches long. This fish swallowed my entire tube bait. Those who have never seen the tubes, they are a couple of inches long, 0.5 inch in diameter, with a size 2/0 hook! I decided to bonk the fish as it was a good eating size and I also noticed another leader sticking out of its mouth, with a swivel at the end... my swivel! I gutted the fish, and found one of my tube bait and hook in its stomach, still perfectly rigged up. I also found another tube in the stomach, possibly chrome mykiss'! Hungry little fish....
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Very Happy to hear the fishing was so good.
Remember I was one who said you were going 3 weeks too late-in fact the cool nights all month meant the lake wasn't too warm at all-in fact your timing couldn't have been better.
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Thanks Sam, yes it worked out extremely well and we were very lucky. :D
The fishing in the fall is also pretty good isn't it?
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IMO Fall fishing iasn't nearly as good. :'(
I went once after a normal summer and the lake was low and stunk of algae.
No topwater action at all generally slow all around.