I took my 2 boys Zach and Zane to a small local lake today. The Sons of Thunder were itching to get on the water, after a long week of no fishing. We launched the boat at a public access and drove across the lake. The small lake was super busy due to the beautiful weather. We set up on an outside weed edge, deployed the Ulterra and started casting. Our lures of choice were a buzz bait, a spinner bait and a chatter Jig. Not much happened in the first 30 minutes. Our lures were constantly being weeded up and the water clarity was near zero. The pea soup condition of the lake had us wondering if we could even keep our lures clean enough long enough for a fish to be able to find them. A short drive to the windier side of the lake - paid off. Keying in on thicker Lillie Pad areas along the shore with patchy junk weeds outside of them was where the fish wanted to be. Small areas and the bass were schooled up.
The Z Man chattering Jig tipped with a Hula Grub did the trick for me. Again keeping the bait 100% weed free was challenging but with a few snaps of the rod tip and selective casting helped. This 20" plus Largemouth Bass came uncorked on this jig. With water temps near 80, she was full of fight and showed off a few times with monster jumps and head shakes.
It was a fun little trip that lasted a little over 2 hours and we boated 8 fish, had several blow ups and the boys are now professional weed pickers.
If you think that a small local lake doesn't have fish - think again. With tough water and weed conditions - we toughed it out, changed the game plan a bit and kept sending it. I was surprised at the fish we landed. Several healthy year classes and really fat bass. I will definitely be going back to this small local lake when the conditions are cleaner and clearer. I believe you could really smack them than and have a lot less headaches doing it.
This lake had a good public access with plenty of parking. The dock set up was a bit small based off the usage of the lake. There was a lot of leisure activities on this small lake and the lake shore was over developed. This lake also had a river/creek with a fish trap. The water clarity was inches and pea soup in color. The water temp was upper 70's to 80 degrees. the weed edge was in about 5 feet of water.