Howdy!

Jim reports:

Fishing was fair. Some small bass on the surface Friday evening by the islands.

Saturday some bigger fish deep up by Charlie's place. Nothing after breakfast. Saturday evening a few on worms off points. My biggest was about 15.5" and Dave took a 16" fish. Then Dave pulled a major coup. He took a 4.5" war mouth on a 6" worm!

Sunday am we boated 14 bass up in the ski area on the surface. We had cast and cast and finally put on smaller baits. Dave went to a Swedish Pimple and I went to a Rooster Tail. Bass were small and spitting up under 1/2" shad. So the 3" baits were too big. Found a couple more after breakfast, but the rise was scattered. The morning rise was everywhere in the ski area that we like to fish. I also got a 7" gill and Dave again managed a small gill that wasn't much bigger than the bait. Might have thought is was a cousin or something.

It sure wasn't' July weather. Morning temps in the lower 50's and highs in the low 70's. Fish were warmer than we were. Didn't see much sun till Sunday so that hurt the surface bite. Also had some trouble finding our favorite points free of other boats. But the mornings were pretty quiet till about 7 am. The ride to the ski area was almost eerie with the lack of boats out. Evenings had the Normandy invasion of pontoons and other boats so folks were down.

I've received reports on crappie being caught in 14 to 16 feet of water over brush piles located on the main channel. It's a hit and miss kind of a deal. Sometimes you catch a couple and the next day you may land a dozen or more. Medium sized minnows are the bait of choice. The night light bite is producing the same.

A UBO reader Steve Nemeth and reporter is looking for a good 9.9 motor. If you have or know of one for sale email Steve at Ominous888@hotmail

Hey! I have another 24 foot single slip dock for sale!!! 4 foot plus decking all around!!! Brand new, never been in the water. Call or email me at 314-614-9290 or mikeo@ubetchaoutdoors.com.

For current water conditions click on the HOME button or http://www.ubetchaoutdoors.com/

Fish On!
Mike O.
UBetcha Outdoors

Howdy!

Since the weather has cooled the shad rises are down or not existent. Fish are being caught on worms and other finesse baits in the same areas you would fish the rises. Just make a long cast and let the lure sink to a slow 8 count swimming the lure back. Worming with a Texas rig (bottom bouncing) on the points is doing well and using weightless worms over the weeds will catch you some as well. White spinner baits are catching fish in the backs of the bays and fishing a crawdad crank bait parallel to the main channel weeds will work too.


Here's a report from Jim:

Mike and I went out Friday evening. Couldn't find the bass on top at all. We managed 3.5 bass on worms and cranks with one released a little too soon!


Saturday am I picked Mike up at 5:30. We had coffee and were ready for the fishing. Got about to Spanish house and turned around. Too much lightening in the west. Dropped Mike off came back. Rain storm came and by the time it ended we had at least 5.5" of rain. Lake came up over 2.5 feet and my boat had almost sunk. Water over the transom. I bailed many times. Had a rope under the boat to raise the transom up. Had to start at the prow and work back. After dinner the rain stopped and I fished the places where water was running into the lake. Took 4 including a 19" bass.


Saturday am, I fished in my bay and around the point. Took 8, 3 over the slot, 3 in the slot and 2 under. Pulled the boat and lubed the reels. I have one that I need to replace the line on as it is badly twisted from the Senko. May have to use a swivel when I replace the line.

I got a report of crappie being caught in 10 to 20 feet of water over brushpiles and using medium sized minnows.

Hey! I got another 24 foot single slip dock for sale!!! 4 foot plus decking all around!!! Brand new, never been in the water. Call or email me at 314-614-9290 or mikeo@ubetchaoutdoors.com.


For current water conditions click on the HOME button or http://www.ubetchaoutdoors.com/

Fish On!

Mike O.
UBetcha Outdoors

Howdy!

Bass fishing continues to be good. We are in the middle of the post spawn and a lot of the bass were catching are small. Many fish 14 inches and smaller being caught. Now the lake limit allows you to keep 2 bass under 14 inches per day. I strongly suggest keeping 2 under 14 inches. LOE has a very healthy bass population. Keeping those small ones has 2 advantages. One, pan sized bass are the best to eat. Two, it will help cull some of the bass aiding in keeping the population under control.

Size and quantity limits are developed only after an extensive study of the lake. Size and quantity limits are then used to manage the quality of the fish in the lake. If you return all the fish you catch you will upset the balance the tool was suppose to maintain. In this scenario the lake will eventually become over-populated with bass and the size of the fish you catch will decrease. With the hybrid stripers essentially gone we are the only real predator on the lake that preys on the bass. So if we release all the bass we catch....

My brother Charlie and I got out this weekend. We caught 20 plus bass. We fished for about 8 hours total over 2 days. We fished with medium diving crank-baits. Charlie used a black and sliver "Little O". I was using a Rebel Crawdad brown and orange. I got Charlie both days for the most and we split big fish. On Saturday I landed a 16 incher and on Sunday Charlie boated a 15 incher. Charlie might have beat me with the most on Sunday but I captained the boat and I just kept on fishing until I was one up on him and then called it an evening. It pays to own the boat.

Charlie and I were fishing in front of the weed beds and on the 6 foot deep shelves found in the mid to back sections of the major bays. The trick was to concentrate on the wood structure (stumps, trees, branches). Almost all our fish came off the wood.

Jim was out there as well and stuck with a worming pattern, working the worm over the weeds and on the point drop-offs. He caught fair quantities of fish and found most of them to be on the small side boating some 15 and 16 inchers.

Old Tim went fishing with his grand-children. Here's his report!

Took the grand kids out for some evening bass fishing and we had a great time. Everyone caught fish and a lot of 15-16 inchers until Josh let out a whoop and his rod bent almost double after a short fight we boated the fish,19 1/2 inches 4 lbs 15 oz and round as a barrel. Josh said he was shaking like a leaf and that this was a huge adrenalin rush. It makes us old guysrealize how important it is to take a youngster fishing and hunting.

Amen Tim.

Crappie fishing is better and what I mean by that is I received a report of up to 12 crappie per day. Brush piles and structure in 12 to 20 feet are doing the best. And minnow rigs are out fishing jigs.

Bluegill fishing is going gonzos! The fish are in the pockets in the back of the bays and coves as they prepare to spawn. Tie a cork on and a small hook baited with a cricket or meal worm and take a kid fishing.

My brother Alex took a group of people he works with on a salmon fishing trip. He charted the X-Tasea IV out of Wakegan Harbor, Lake Michigan. Joe Galto is the captain and a great person and fisherman. Joe wrangled up 4 more boats (Alex took a lot of people fishing). Here's Alex's report:

Mike, I had 5 boats out on Saturday. We caught a lot of fish. Great time had by all. Call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx when you get a chance.

So he ended up calling me and said:

Mike, I had 5 boats out on Saturday. We caught a lot of fish. Great time had by all.

Hmmmmmm?? I'm going fishing with Captain Joe in a couple of Saturdays and I'll add some definition.

Hey! I got another 24 foot single slip dock for sale!!! 4 foot plus decking all around!!! Brand new, never been in the water. Call or email me at 314-614-9290 or mikeo@ubetchaoutdoors.com.

For current water conditions click on the HOME button or http://www.ubetchaoutdoors.com/

Fish On!

Mike O.

UBetcha Outdoors

Howdy,

Jim and Dave were out this past weekend battling the bass and the boaters! Here's what Jim reports and hey you idiots take a boating lesson before you hurt yourself or worse yet some one that knows what they're doing! And keep your trash in your boat!

Jim writes:

Dave had a very good weekend with the bass. These were the two biggest, but he also had other very nice fish. Most of the bass came on worms. We did troll up a double on crank baits, and missed some fish on weightless worms. We couldn't get hook sets on the weightless worms.



After Dave left I took another big bass in the rain that he left for us. Didn't get the camera out since it was raining and I didn't want to risk damaging the camera. For the first time in a couple of years we found some bass on my little point and we also took some bass on Dick's favorite point.

Tried to find suspended bass up in the ski area, but only had one that came unbuttoned and a couple of hits that never connected. Fished several shore lines, but our best success was on points.

Saturday evening was a big boat traffic night and not pleasant. Both Friday and Saturday night we had idiots going between us and the shore as we were fishing. Pontoons and jet skis both acted like true idiots and we cleaned out a bunch of beer cans from the lake each day since the idiots decided that the lake was a trash can.

Rained here last evening and last night. Looks like more is in store for today. Probably helps the garden, but I can't mow the hay field, er yard.

I need tips on setting the hook on unweighted worms. If you let the bass run they get into the weeds and drop it. We tried Texas rigs and Tex-posed hooks with no success either way.

Well, good job Jim and Dave. Does anyone out there have any tips on how to hook a bass using a non-weighted worm??

Crappie fising continues to be slow and what I mean by slow is maybe 6 crappie per outing and you have to go to 6 different spots or 1 fish per spot and no by going to 12 spots doesn't mean you get 12 fish. For some reason 6 is the best you can do per outing.

Bluegill fishing is going gonzos! The fish are in the pockets in the back of the bays and coves as they prepare to spawn. Tie a cork on and a small hook baited with a cricket or meal worm and take a kid fishing.

Hey! I got another 24 foot single slip dock for sale!!! 4 foot plus decking all around!!! Brand new, never been in the water. Call or email me at 314-614-9290 or mikeo@ubetchaoutdoors.com.For current water conditions click on the HOME button or http://www.ubetchaoutdoors.com/

Fish On!
Mike O.
UBetcha Outdoors