October 5, 2011
It has been way too long since my last report, although I have a good reason. I was fishing the last couple of BASS Northern Opens of the year at Lake Erie in Sundusky, Ohio and Lake Oneida in Syracuse, New York over the last 5 weeks or so. I also managed a little vacation in between. Fortunately I had some great success at the events finishing 5th and 12th respectively. I also picked up a 5th place finish at FLW/BFL tournament at the 1000 Islands in Clayton, New York. I gotta say though, it is great to be back home and fishing Amistad! The last week or so I have been out on the water a good bit. What a hot September we had. I launched the boat to find water temps are currently in the high 70's to 80 degrees here on Lake Amistad. Although the bass seem to be scattered in all parts of the water column they are still eating fairly good. I have been catching fish form 6 inches to 60 feet! All types of presentations and tactics are working and I anticipate a cool down soon and the bait to start a serious migration into the creeks. The big fish will get into a serious feeding mood soon. The lake's water level has only dropped about 2 1/2 feet since mid August and is at approx. 1109 ft above sea level.
Current Patterns -
Shallow: The frog bite in the morning is very good. If you stick with fishing the shallow pondweed for the first 3 hours of the day you can get 10-15 good blow-ups. The El Grande Lures Sapo and Optimum Furbit frogs are very productive. Don't be afraid to get really shallow in the grass to get your bait way back up near the banks. Some of the strikes are coming in inches of water. I have also been getting some solid bites on a topwater popping baits such as a Pop-R on the outside edges of the pondweed. Late mornings and into the afternoons weight less and lightly weights El Grande Lures Hatch-Match sticks are very effective around the pondweed.
Mid-Depth: A consistent pattern for me in the afternoon has been working texas rigs around the edges of the hydrilla in 10-20 feet. Bites are very light and anglers must pay close attention to their presentation. Downsizing your presentation will also provide much more action. Larger fish seem to prefer the larger profile baits but action is much slower when using these. 10 inch Berkley Power worms have been the staple for bigger bites. The grass punching bite continues to be slow but determination will produce some solid bass while using this method.
Deep: The drop-shot bite is strong for good sized bass and once a school of fish is located the bite is consistent. Optimum wacky shad and small straight tail worms have been very effective.
Once again it is great to be back and I look forward to seeing you on the Lake!
Kurt
