Changing Water Conditions

Ok... the area is killing me. I've had a few good days on the water, but I
can't seem to truly nail down any seasonal or weather patterns. I've lucked
onto a few that I could look back on and recognize the why of.

One winter pattern was to find fish hold off of a deep bank on the deeper
side of a lake. It worked consistantly for a few fish on successive
outings. In the prespawn, and part of the spawn I found fish consistantly
holding in moderately deep pencil tulies near shallower water, and even
spawning in the tulies. This also worked for several outings.

We are definitely post spawn. In fact we had such a a good day a week and a
half ago when out fun fishing that I figured we were into our summer bite.
The water was very high, and we caught fish up in the deep cover on the
banks.

The last two days we sucked. Hammer and I only caught four fish for the
day, and they were all 13 1/2 inchers. One was a nice smallie off of a rock
pile that I setup a couple weeks ago, it was the only fish there though.

I went out again yesterday for some fun fishing with John Apple. We didn't
eveng get bit that I am sure of. The only thing I can pinpoint as a problem
is the water level. The last couple days it has been going up and down
through out the day. That is a pretty normal condition for this area at any
time of year. The water level is affected by irrigation demands at any time
of day and year. All of the farms in this region have a year around growing
season so water demands can change drastically through out the day. Water
releases are changed hourly at Parker Dam to meet down stream demands. I
believe there are two diversion dams between Parker Dam and the water held
back by Imperial Dam that will also affect our water levels if water is
drawn off for irrigation. Even the water demands downstream can make it
difficult to figure the water flow and level changes. High demands with low
release from above can cause the water to drop quickly, and matching
upstream releases can cause it to drop slowly, but with a very fast current.

Obviously there can be patterns or fish locations calculated during all
these changing conditions because there are a couple teams that consistantly
weigh in good bags and a few more teams that aways catch limits. They are
also very closed mouthed about anything. To a certain extant I think they
may simply have superior catching skills as I have fished behind a couple of
them using identical and also different techniques depending on my mood and
watched them bag fish while I am not, but I can't believe its all a matter
of individual skills at catching.

Any ideas?


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Bob, after seeing your backwater pics on ABPF I think I understand your
woes...

Warren ;-)

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"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
Ok... the area is killing me. I've had a few good days on the water, but
I
can't seem to truly nail down any seasonal or weather patterns. I've
lucked
onto a few that I could look back on and recognize the why of.

One winter pattern was to find fish hold off of a deep bank on the deeper
side of a lake. It worked consistantly for a few fish on successive
outings. In the prespawn, and part of the spawn I found fish consistantly
holding in moderately deep pencil tulies near shallower water, and even
spawning in the tulies. This also worked for several outings.

We are definitely post spawn. In fact we had such a a good day a week and
a
half ago when out fun fishing that I figured we were into our summer bite.
The water was very high, and we caught fish up in the deep cover on the
banks.

The last two days we sucked. Hammer and I only caught four fish for the
day, and they were all 13 1/2 inchers. One was a nice smallie off of a
rock
pile that I setup a couple weeks ago, it was the only fish there though.

I went out again yesterday for some fun fishing with John Apple. We
didn't
eveng get bit that I am sure of. The only thing I can pinpoint as a
problem
is the water level. The last couple days it has been going up and down
through out the day. That is a pretty normal condition for this area at
any
time of year. The water level is affected by irrigation demands at any
time
of day and year. All of the farms in this region have a year around
growing
season so water demands can change drastically through out the day. Water
releases are changed hourly at Parker Dam to meet down stream demands. I
believe there are two diversion dams between Parker Dam and the water held
back by Imperial Dam that will also affect our water levels if water is
drawn off for irrigation. Even the water demands downstream can make it
difficult to figure the water flow and level changes. High demands with
low
release from above can cause the water to drop quickly, and matching
upstream releases can cause it to drop slowly, but with a very fast
current.

Obviously there can be patterns or fish locations calculated during all
these changing conditions because there are a couple teams that
consistantly
weigh in good bags and a few more teams that aways catch limits. They are
also very closed mouthed about anything. To a certain extant I think they
may simply have superior catching skills as I have fished behind a couple
of
them using identical and also different techniques depending on my mood
and
watched them bag fish while I am not, but I can't believe its all a matter
of individual skills at catching.

Any ideas?


--
Public Fishing Forums
Fishing Link Index
www.YumaBassMan.com

webmaster
at
YumaBsssMan
dot
com

Bob, sometimes we over-analize the whole thing about bass fishing...it's
a bit like the hitter in a "slump"...the more he thinks about it, the
less likely he is to come out of it. Think back about what has been
successful in the past...the non complicated stuff, then just have a go
at it! Our expectations can also be a problem....fishing is almost as
good as it gets, get back to enjoying it just for what it is FUN! I
think when you start having fun again, you will find those patterns
almost without "seaching"!
Sorry...guess I was just remembering what I told myself some years ago
grin! Having said all that...I use to fish the "Colorado", I
UNDERSTAND!!!!!
John

snip I have fished behind a couple of
them using identical and also different techniques depending on my mood and
watched them bag fish while I am not,


I think you might want to try fishing in front of them : -)

Seriously, I had a day out with Harry where we both sat on a bank on the
susquehana river and used the same exact crankbaits, I nailed smallie after
smallie while he couldn't get one to bite for his life. IT could be
something so slight that you might not even notice, a slight jerk on the
retrieve, a pause, a different retrieve speed. All could be contributing
factors to why somebody would catch fish while someone else would not.

I believe it was Steve Huber that caught big fish in the SC by popping a
secret weapon spinner bait when it hung some grass on it. Would he have
caught that fish without the pop? Maybe, Maybe not. Someone else posted in
here about retrieving senkos fast and killing fish on that fast retrieve
instead of the usual do nothing approach. But analyzing what might work as
opposed to what might not work can cause you to over fish, especially when
you see other people catching fish. So relax, have fun and experiment,
keeping a log is real helpful also. Conditions, and lures that caught the
fish under those conditions, are extremely beneficial to any angler looking
to become more consistent. I was reading a field and stream bass fishing
book and the managing editor summed it up great, " Bass fishing is a
lifelong adventure in learning. The smart angler never stops his quest for
knowledge". So while you continue to seek answers(which is great), continue
to have fun, I catch way more fish fun fishing then I ever do in a tourney.
Either that or come to the NWC, you can see others not catching fish as
well, then again after Florida that's suppose to change this year..... psst
bring minnows


Randy-