Virtual Fishing? - Updates on page 2 - PICTURES!

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wasilvers

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Location
Sussex, WI
For those of you who can't get out this weekend, I have a suggestion. My father-in-law and I are going out at first light tomorrow targeting bass. I'll give info on the lake - If you have a suggestion as to a method and area to target, just list it here. If any fish are caught with a suggested method, I'll post pictures and give you the recognition as master fisherman extrodinare! There is no official prize for the winner, but I might just ship you my old fishfinder off my boat - sans transducer :lol:

Its a really clear lake in Wisconsin here's some info on the lake...

DNR lake map - https://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/fhp/lakes/lakemap/0852400z.htm

Google sattelite view - https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=sussex+wi&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=43.307813,86.748047&ie=UTF8&ll=43.165577,-88.317375&spn=0.009782,0.021179&t=h&z=16

Just fill in the fishing instructions below..

Where to fish?

What method to use?

Any specifics to using this method?

When is the best time for your method?

I benefit from this too, learning any new tips and techniches that you would try on a 'new lake'. Wish us luck!

Will
:)
 
Waterwings said:
Did you notice the date on that DNR map is 1955? :shock:

Whoah! I did not notice that! I was on this lake once before. Just subtract 1.5 feet from the depth - at least for the one I remember.

Will
:)
 
Wasilvers,
I checked the depth on the three fingers on the lake and the average is around 10'. With this being a clear lake similar to one i've fished for years I think I've got you a game plan.
Here ya go:
Spinning reels light line- flourocarbon in 4-8lb test. Baitcasters would be fine also.
Shad colored plastics/hardbaits.

Morning Plan-
Start midway back in the three coves pitching a crawfish colored or white jig with trailer. Sometimes a buck hair jig is great on lakes like this. They get great movement without help from the angler. Another option is 4" swimbaits in natural colors. Shad raps or glass minows work great too. Try a cadence of 2-3 seconds pause in between jerks.
Fish the points inside the cove as well.
Don't be afraid to throw a Zara Spook around these points- They are very effective in clear water.

Mid day-
Go to the mouth of the finger/main lake points and throw the jig some mo'. A drop shot on light line should be great at the mouth of these points. See if you can locate what depth the fish are suspending and adjust your drop shot to be in that strike zone. Nose hook the soft plastic on a thin wire dropshot hook w/ 1/16 oz weight. Let it hit bottom shake it for about 3-4 times and then drag it shake again. If no hits reel in and try a different area. Try to find composition changes in the bottom.
Key indicators of bottom change are: on the bank if the slope is steep then the water's deep. If shallow then the same with the water. Find the areas where these two things meet. That should be a good area.
Second indicator- Notice the rock on the shore. Areas where pebble rock meets bigger chunk rock are great bottom compostion changes.
Just remember the compostion on the bank will run out into the water a good ways so don't be afraid to be far off the banks. Given the depth of those areas it won't be like throwing your bait in 40-50 feet of water hoping for a strike.

Afternoon-
Go to the eastern end of the lake, which is the deepest and should be the coolest since it gets the least amount of sun on it during the day.
I would again throw the jig along the bank since this is the deepest side. The banks should indicate a steep drop off, so look for those areas were two compostion changes come together should be a key spot.
A plum colored power worm would be a great option also.
Maybe run back into the shallow coves if your not having any luck and try the topwater/jig and try and get that big un roaming around the shallows at night.

Lastly,
Count all the fish you catch, crack open a beer, and send that depth finder to me sans transducer! HA HA

Good Luck and hope this helps,
Adam

By the way, great idea on the whole virtual fishing!
 
Where to fish? I would fish right here (look at picture below)

What method to use? I would use a topwater popper if it is very early in the morning. Pitching towards the shallows. I would then throw a white(ish) spinnerbait, I would follow it up with a jerkbait. I would then come back later on and pitch a texas rigged worm. Its only around 10 feet or so, I would not hesitate to throw a jointed shad rap.
 

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:twisted: What kind of water temps you have? What kind of weather are you expecting? Windy days make fishing way easier on clear water. Is is post spawn conditions? Are you targeting smallies/ largemouth or both?
 
What a great idea.
trying to post pics.lake.jpglake1.jpg

Nice looking lake,so many places to try.
I like to get away from others,boat traffic etc.
Looks to be less development in these areas...maybe less people fishing,atleast of docks,plus theres little feeder streams in each area.
I'd probably start with the more southern cove first,unless the launch was alot closer to the northern cove.Early in the morning throwing a chrome/blue skitter pop if calm,a buzz bait with alittle chop...make sure to have a plastic(grub etc.)on another rod,for those missed strikes.Don't be afraid to go real shallow,especially in the morning.
As the day goes you can work deeper off each of those feeder creeks,going as deep as 30 feet in real clear water,I'd probably try a tube in natural colors(pumpkin seed etc.).
I don't know the forage in the lake but if the wind does pick up,I'd go to the windest side of the lake and start ripping a spinnerbait,off points or shallow coves,like that one in the north west.
So many ideas so little time...great idea again.
 
It's 4:30 in the morning and I'm off to pick up my FIL - Man, I never get up this early except for hunting and now fishing. Should be getting there just at official sunrise. The lake has a no-wake rule till 9am, so we should have a few enjoyable hours with just the other fishermen around. I made a cheat sheet of estimated times and suggested lures and locations (printed it right on the back of the lake map) so now we just need the fish to cooperate!

Updates either LATE tonight (my wife and I have a date!) or Sunday AM

Will
:)
 
So we hit the lake pumped and ready at 5:20ish – third boat there. Motored right off to the mouth of the SW bay and saw a bass working the top. As suggested tried a popper and skitterpop right up to the shore and back – and didn’t get a bite. My F-I-L walked the dog with a natural minnow and didn’t get a follow. I tried my go t o bait – green Senko and got bit twice – so fish were there, just not biting top-water.

I heard some action across the channel (west - see Jim’s Picture) and we moved over there. Tossed a few baits nothing. Did manage to catch a little bass on a silver and blue ‘broken back’ minnow. Had a nice hit on the consecutive cast but missed it. FIL tied on a silver/ blue as well and nothing. It was a bit choppier so I tried white spinner-bait. Maybe I don’t do it right, but they didn’t want it. We were getting skunked 

Since my FIL is not a big fisherman or ever want to be one. He changed a bit and decided to pick up some panfish. He picked up a few. We fished along the west side of the lake around docks and up to shore. I tried jerkbaits, in few colors, crawfish colored jigs and spinnerbaits as bass were working all around us but could not get bit! I was not alone - another guy looked like he knew what was what was getting skunked too. I told him what we had tried and saw, he went in to the working fish but I did not see him catch anything either.

After 4 hours - the fish were winning. So I put away the notes and told him we were just going to catch a limit of panfish. We tried hard but where only catching babies. Put a few medium ones in the livewell along with the ones that were hooked bad and going to die.
But we couldn’t give up on bass that easy. Since we had some bites on Senkos, we tied them on and went to town. On the SE bay we fished the west side because the wind was blowing into it and picked up a 15 ½ and 16 ¾ bass – and a lot of little ones. Water was 82 degrees and most bass were little. Since this is the shallowest bay, I suggested moving to the SW bay as it was deeper and had the same type of cover we were fishing. The bass we caught were holding tight to matted cover next to lilly pads. We had seen this same cover in the SW bay so we went over there. Here we picked up a 10 inch bluegill and a 19 inch bass! Of course there were smaller ones too - the bite really picked up about 10:30 – I caught 3 on 3 consecutive casts!
Now funny thing is, these bass would not take anything else but a stick worm. I tried spinners, spoons, cranks, etc. I would catch a bass, fish the same area with other baits and then go back to a Senko, they would bite the Senko on the first fall. They didn’t even touch LIVE crawlers! We fished till we ran out of stickbaits – now I only have a color they wouldn’t touch. Green was golden, Blue and Black was pretty good too. I tried a Black curly tail worm and caught one 13 inch fish, but not like the stick worms.
Two things I was going to try but didn’t was a swimbait and zara spook. Had both, just forgot to get them out.
All in all we had a blast and now need to get more baits!
From reading what you guys posted, Zum would be declared fisherman extraordinare!. We caught fish right where he said on some of the baits he mentioned. The situation changed a bit though as the water was a little stained. Visibility was a max of 8 feet deep and a brownish color. They have been harvesting weeds here so I think that has really affected the clarity. (We caught the 19 incher right before the weed harvester passed us by 

Thanks for participating and reading my ramblings - Enjoy the pictures…
Will

The rig
0%20The%20Rig_tn.jpg


The take - yeah, we eat fish - not everything we catch though!
0%20Ten%20Fish.JPG


First Fish - he must have been hungry
1%20-%20first%20fish_tn.jpg


Ambition!
2%20Ambitious%20Guy_tn.jpg


First Legal Bass
3%20First%20Legal%20Bass_tn.jpg


First or Second Legal Bass
3First%20Legal%20Bass_tn.jpg


The area they were in... - shhh - don't tell anyone!
4%20Fish%20Drive%20In_tn.jpg


HUGE bluegill - 10 inches on a Senko!
5%2010%20Inch%20Bluegill%20on%205%20inch%20Senko_tn.jpg


Father in law and a 19 inch bass!
6%2019%20inch%20bass_tn.jpg
 
"Zum would be declared fisherman extraordinare"
Well lets see,I went out tonight didn't catch to many over a pound.
Mostly used top water as I was trying my camera attached to my ball cap...seeing if I could get them on film.
Looks like you guys were the extrordinare fishermen.
Way to go.
neat little post...
 
I forgot to add a couple of things - well, I really was keeping them to myself, but I can share on this board - right? :wink:

1 - Most of the fish we caught were in a bay of 4 feet deep, but we found a section in the back of the bay that went to 6 feet deep. MOST of the bass we caught were in, or close to, this little depression. Where it the bay went back to 3-4 feet, we didn't receive many bites.

2 - Because of the clear water, it took LONG casts to get bitten. I had to move the boat pretty far off the weedline to before they would bite. We had spinning rods, so we could cast a country mile. We worked the worms from behind cover to about 15 feet off the cover then pulled them in and tried again. We did try fishing them back to the boat, but nothing ever bit more than 10 feet off cover.

A few tips just in case anyone else fishes a place like this one :wink:
 

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