Encouraged by this morning’s results AND the fact that the warm, muggy S. winds and heavy cloud cover continued into the afternoon, contrary to the forecast, I did a bit of probing this evening in the last hours of daylight.

We had “white bass weather” all day today which got the fish up shallower and put them in the mood to feed. This screenshot shows gamefish and bait up high in the water column.

I headed out at 4:45pm and fished until dark (~6:30).

I found two distinct groups of fish, one at the base of the breakline in 25 feet of water off of Area 728 (picked up 9 fish there), and another group of fish right at the top of the breakline in 19 feet at Area 732. I was very appreciative of a fellow angler who motioned to me and told me that he’d found fish in the area, landed 6 immediately, and was continuing to see fish on sonar but not catch them. I accepted his invitation to join him (and kept my distance until that was offered) and also begin seeing fish on sonar. I was using a TNT180 in 3/8 oz, — all white; he had on an elongated slab in white and green. I was able to boat 18 fish in a matter of minutes right until the moment the sun set. At that moment the fish quit orienting to the bottom and began to rise up in the water column (I’ve seen this many times and theorize that it is to rise, along with the bait, to the more well-lit water near the surface to continue feeding in the failing light). As I witnessed this on sonar, I immediately began flatline trolling with crankbaits and boated 8 more fish in the last 15 minutes of the trip.

I would mark today as the day that we “turned the corner” on Spring fishing. This is the first time I’ve seen fish up shallow and the first time this winter I’ve seen fish not only aggressively pursue a lure, but willing to rise quickly and go quite some distance for a lure originating some distance from them. It should only get better from here on in given stable weather and the absence of flooding rains.

TALLY = 34 FISH, all caught and released

TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 4:45p

End Time: 6:30p

Air Temp: 69F at trip’s start.

Water Surface Temp: ~56.5-58.3F

Wind: Winds were SSW12.

Skies: Skies were 80% cloudy.