Peace Valley Lake

Theres a lake not far from my new house called Peace Valley Lake. Just a
couple thousand acres, dam on one end & the only major tributary on the
other, and not much in between. The headwaters are off-limits to fishing,
as are the upper 15% or so of the lake. As a teenager I used to fish the
off-limits area at night, and the bass fishing was extraordinary.

Well yesterday, some 25 years since the last time I fished the lake, I
dragged my boat up there & dumped it in (the on-limits part of the lake of
course lol). Can I tell you that it was HOT, around 100 degrees, which is
my favorite time to fish mid-summertime. I was out in the sun for over 8
hours. Finally caught one small keeper, the only strike I had from a bass
all-day.

I found the lake very featureless for the most-part. Apparently it was
completely cleared of cover prior to filling, and nothing even resembling
structure reamained in the depths. I found water up to 35 feet deep, but no
ledges, points, humps or sharp drop-offs. There was some sparse submergent
vegitation near the shoreline, hydrilla, but no sign of weeds deeper than
about 3'. Water temp was 87 degrees.

The one bite I got came on a t-rigged craw, pitched to the base of the lone
cement piling near the blockhouse at the riprip dam. I dragged rigs,
dropshotted, flipped tubes, and cranked virtually the whole lake. No
takers.

I'm going to revisit the lake again next spring, will let you know how I
make out. I'm certainly in no hurry to return there in the heat.

Hope y'all are catchin em better than I am. I'm off to Champlain in a few
weeks for the Everstart tourney out of Plattsburgh NY.

Warren