Patience is virtue
The one thing in life most everyone will agree on is that patience is a virtue. Well when it comes to sight fishing it is a must! This goes against my comfort zone of trolling motor on high and go mode. Well I just got back from Lake Ouachita for the second American Fishing Series central division event that turned out to be a sight fishing session. For me class was definitely a learning experience as sight fishing in general is not my strong suit. I must say this is by far the most beautiful lake I have ever seen or been on.
Day one of practice we put in on the West end of the lake closest to where we were staying. I picked out a major creek arm and put the trolling motor down and didn't pick it up for 10hrs. There were a ton of fish up including some giant crappies along with the strippers that were doing their spawning cycle with water temps ranging from 60-64. This creek was a little deeper and had steeper banks and most of the beds the bass made dead center in the bushes. I didn't try to do a lot of catching though ounce in a while I would see what it would take to get on to go. For the most part I worked on seeing the bed or fish and marking it with the GPS and noting it down on a note pad. I was only able to find a couple good fish but lots of small bucks up getting things ready.
Days 2-4 I spent in the central part of the lake. This area had a mixture of flatter type bays along with some much deeper and steeper banked creek arms. I continued to concentrate on finding fish and beds rather than catching them but as the case with day one you need to check the attitude of a few to see what it will take to catch them. Again I would mark the beds on the GPS and note the number and position of the bed on my note pad. One thing I did learn is I will now have my puck mounted on the front of the boat rather than 21' behind me. This can make a huge difference if you come up on a bed from the opposite direction from when you marked it. In the end I found that the flatter bays or flatter points and banks with in the creeks and bays held more and better fish and deeper beds. General traffic didn't help either as every bay or creek I was in had at least a couple recreation fisherman pulling fish off the beds. The best way I found to catch the fish I could see was with 8lb fluorocarbon line a 1/16 or 1/8oz Tru-Tungsten weight and 2/0 MiHaitchi OWG hook rigged with a 4'' zoom lizard. I was able to get a couple stubborn fish to go on a Storm wild eye shiner swim bait dredged threw the bed. As day for was coming to an end and I was running back to the dock I decided to stop at one last bay. With the trolling motor on high I flew around it marking some more beds when I ran into a couple 4lbers with a couple 2 1/2lb males in the corner on it. Figuring it was 4pm already these fish should still be there in the morning.
Tournament Day - Day 1 I am fortunate to have drawn out boat 5 today and am feeling good about getting on the fish I had found and the end of practice yesterday. We ran back to the bay and the fish are still there. My first pass thru it I picked off two small bucks but it was a start. I turned the boat to head back down it and boated a 16'' male, when I got back to the corner I seen a big fish swim across a sand spot. Without hesitation I threw the lizard up there and one of the 4lbers started swimming off with it and after a careful fight I boat what turns out to be a 4-15 kicker. After regrouping and retied I can see the other 4lber on the other bed yet, knowing I am not going to get here out of her spot on 8lb test I threw everything I had at her and she wasn't having any of it. So out of necessity I picked up my little lizard and fired a cast in there and she swam off with it and the minute I bowed up on her the line just shredded, from one high to one low in fish. I got retied and worked down the bank a little further and boated another 16'' male and have a limit with in the first hour. Having picked most of these fish off I ran around the corner to a big flat bay that had a bunch of fish in it. As I got there more than one other boat had found these fish also so I just pulled onto a bank with some way points on it. There were still a couple of fish the other boats had missed but I spent about 30 minutes a piece and they wouldn't go so I kepted moving down the bank to the next flat which I had a 3lb+ fish market on a small bush. As we eased up on it I could still see it on the bed and worked it for 20 minutes with nothing. I then pulled out the swimbait threw it up there dropped it right in the bed and two shakes later she ate it, this was a nice upgrade from the small male I still have in the box. We worked down the bank to a couple more waypoints that had decent fish on them, one being a 2 1/2-3lb fish and after working it for 20min. it finally ate the lizard and after a short run it shredded line and I had a Brian Brown melt down...LOL. I regrouped and was able to boat one more decent fish while spend almost half the day try to get my co-angler a fish. Day one end with me in 23rd place with 5 fish for 14-6lbs.
Day one of practice we put in on the West end of the lake closest to where we were staying. I picked out a major creek arm and put the trolling motor down and didn't pick it up for 10hrs. There were a ton of fish up including some giant crappies along with the strippers that were doing their spawning cycle with water temps ranging from 60-64. This creek was a little deeper and had steeper banks and most of the beds the bass made dead center in the bushes. I didn't try to do a lot of catching though ounce in a while I would see what it would take to get on to go. For the most part I worked on seeing the bed or fish and marking it with the GPS and noting it down on a note pad. I was only able to find a couple good fish but lots of small bucks up getting things ready.
Days 2-4 I spent in the central part of the lake. This area had a mixture of flatter type bays along with some much deeper and steeper banked creek arms. I continued to concentrate on finding fish and beds rather than catching them but as the case with day one you need to check the attitude of a few to see what it will take to catch them. Again I would mark the beds on the GPS and note the number and position of the bed on my note pad. One thing I did learn is I will now have my puck mounted on the front of the boat rather than 21' behind me. This can make a huge difference if you come up on a bed from the opposite direction from when you marked it. In the end I found that the flatter bays or flatter points and banks with in the creeks and bays held more and better fish and deeper beds. General traffic didn't help either as every bay or creek I was in had at least a couple recreation fisherman pulling fish off the beds. The best way I found to catch the fish I could see was with 8lb fluorocarbon line a 1/16 or 1/8oz Tru-Tungsten weight and 2/0 MiHaitchi OWG hook rigged with a 4'' zoom lizard. I was able to get a couple stubborn fish to go on a Storm wild eye shiner swim bait dredged threw the bed. As day for was coming to an end and I was running back to the dock I decided to stop at one last bay. With the trolling motor on high I flew around it marking some more beds when I ran into a couple 4lbers with a couple 2 1/2lb males in the corner on it. Figuring it was 4pm already these fish should still be there in the morning.
Tournament Day - Day 1 I am fortunate to have drawn out boat 5 today and am feeling good about getting on the fish I had found and the end of practice yesterday. We ran back to the bay and the fish are still there. My first pass thru it I picked off two small bucks but it was a start. I turned the boat to head back down it and boated a 16'' male, when I got back to the corner I seen a big fish swim across a sand spot. Without hesitation I threw the lizard up there and one of the 4lbers started swimming off with it and after a careful fight I boat what turns out to be a 4-15 kicker. After regrouping and retied I can see the other 4lber on the other bed yet, knowing I am not going to get here out of her spot on 8lb test I threw everything I had at her and she wasn't having any of it. So out of necessity I picked up my little lizard and fired a cast in there and she swam off with it and the minute I bowed up on her the line just shredded, from one high to one low in fish. I got retied and worked down the bank a little further and boated another 16'' male and have a limit with in the first hour. Having picked most of these fish off I ran around the corner to a big flat bay that had a bunch of fish in it. As I got there more than one other boat had found these fish also so I just pulled onto a bank with some way points on it. There were still a couple of fish the other boats had missed but I spent about 30 minutes a piece and they wouldn't go so I kepted moving down the bank to the next flat which I had a 3lb+ fish market on a small bush. As we eased up on it I could still see it on the bed and worked it for 20 minutes with nothing. I then pulled out the swimbait threw it up there dropped it right in the bed and two shakes later she ate it, this was a nice upgrade from the small male I still have in the box. We worked down the bank to a couple more waypoints that had decent fish on them, one being a 2 1/2-3lb fish and after working it for 20min. it finally ate the lizard and after a short run it shredded line and I had a Brian Brown melt down...LOL. I regrouped and was able to boat one more decent fish while spend almost half the day try to get my co-angler a fish. Day one end with me in 23rd place with 5 fish for 14-6lbs.
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