Greetings to everyone,
Carl and I got the Stratos wet today. We launched out of Blora over on Ft. Hood. We had Clear skies 76dgrs at 8am this morning. We had light winds 6 -10 mph out of the South most of the day. The lake is like 5ft low and they're still pumping water out down the communities South of Belton. The lake is looking murky with the temps ranging between 86 - 88 dgrs depending on your location.
We fished from 8am - 2:30ish. We managed to put (2) bass in the boat this morning. The first bass was a 10in Smallmouth. The big bass of the trip was a 3.5lber according to my BPS Scales. Those (2) fish were caught at 8:45am that was the last strike we had during this trip. Both fish were caught off the same stretch of bank in 9ft of water. We fished numerous locations and depths as well as baits. It as a tough day.
Big bass of the trip a 3.5lber long and skinny.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/921/KvrHHj.png) (https://imageshack.com/i/plKvrHHjp)
Both fish were caught in 9ft of water off the North bluff bank across from Blora. The bank structure has gravel, submerged boulders and laydowns on it.
Both fish were caught on a H2O Express Magnum Square Bill 3/4oz Crankbait
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/NOTOw7.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/poNOTOw7j)
Equipment used during the trip
Crankbait setup: Rod> BPS Extreme 7ft (M) casting rod; Reel> Abu Garcia Orra Winch 4:5.1 ratio; Line> Berkley Big Game Clear 15lb; Crankbait> H20 Express Magnum 3/4oz Crankbait in a "woops"y Shad Color
The UB Fishing Machine
2004 Stratos 285 PRO XL Dual Console w/ Yamaha 150 VMax; Lowrance Hook 7 Electronics; Minn Kota Fortrex 80lb TM
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/JHuIhT.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pmJHuIhTj)
Thank you for sharing your report with us Donald. Nice fish you caught there.
Sorry, I just caught this Don.
Nice fish, good to hear you produced in such tough conditions. I bet it is probably worse now.
Thanks for the report Donald and boy that is a nice looking Bass and it sure sounds like a very tuff day of fishing to only get two fish in the boat. ~sweat
Tks guys, When I first saw that fish in the water next to the boat I thought about it weighing 5(+)lbs.
Fishing is tough on this lake to begin with. With them pumping water out of the lake for the surrounding communities the fish keep moving further and further out away from the shore line structure.
The next time I go out I'm going to take a bunch of pictures of the shore line. You'll see some amazing cover and structure these fish have when the lake is at normal pool.
Nice report Donald.
Sounds like a tough day, but at least you caught a couple and the weather was nice. Say Hello to Carl from me.
Thanks for the report. Our fish over here are needing some steroids too. The summer heat is putting a hurting on their metabolisms. They just can't eat enough to keep the weigh on in this heat.