Headed out to Priest this morning to try my luck. After being on Old Hickory since May, I was looking forward to seeing some clear water and rocky shore line.
I ran a couple of miles upriver from Long Hunter State Park to check a cove where the fish tend to school in the Summer months. I could see several balls of shad roaming and an occasional blow up here and there, but I only managed to catch one 12" spot here. Next, I ran down lake to the end of a deep main lake bank near the big bridge to try the topwater deal. I had 12-15 blow ups on the Spook on this bank and landed about 10 of those. Most of them were smaller spots and smallies, but I did have 2 really nice spots that were over 13" and I lost a keeper largemouth at the boat.
When the sun came up over the horizon, the fish went deep, and so did I. I went into Suggs Creek and fished a bluff wall with a jig. I landed three keeper spots here. I ran a few other deeper banks in the lower end, but I couldn't find any fish. The sun was high, and the wind was dead, making for tough conditions.
I decided to run the lower half of the lake to look for bait and possible schooling activity. I stopped at the big bridge to see if anything was happening there, and the fish were schooling sporadically over deep water (20-30 ft). I managed to catch one keeper largemouth on a fluke, but I got tired of waiting for them to come back up, so I moved on. I couldn't find anymore schooling fish, so at 10:00, it was time to let the pleasure boaters have the lake.
It was not a bad day, all in all for August. I caught around 15 or so fish, with a few small keepers. In hindsight, I wish I'd have run the topwater pattern earlier, instead of waiting for those elusive schooling fish on the first stop. I think I have an idea of what I will do in our September club tourney, as the areas I caught them in today should only get better if it cools off.
Until next time.
Tight lines y'all.
RBK
1 comment:
Way to go Rob. Not long til the Sept. tournament.
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