Gaston Elite 70, 24-25 SEP 2016

[31airborne]

Have never fished Gaston in the summer and my lack of experience and TOW showed. While I got bit frequently they were the wrong size save for 3 measly keepers on SAT. I don't know enough to say the lake is in turnover but I will say it was in a funk. I believe the effects of a very hot summer are still playing on the fish, even in the cooler water temps. Couple that to some pretty hard weather changes and it makes it kinda tuff if you're not on the water regularly enough to piece the changes together.

Practice: I used what I'd seen on recent trips to Anna and Kerr as a start point - fish were still in their summer holding patterns. I focused on main lake and the first set of secondary points, looking for those w/ close access to the main channel or a hard channel swing. I found fish willing to eat a jig, a c-rig, and a squarebill. Strangely, nothing came out of the grass for me in practice. The willow grass is as healthy and prolific as I've ever seen. All of my fish in practice came from 8-12', including a chunky 3+ lb spotted bass. I was able to get the point pattern to repeat in a number of places. the key for me was natural chunk rock. No rock, no fish. Same-same for the bait - no bait, no fish.

TX day 1: I picked up where I left off, hitting my best 2 main lake points first thing. I banged out 3 small spots on a jerkbait and missed another on the c-rig before that played out. I bounced down to my 2nd spot and banged out my three keepers almost back-to-back. I picked up another 6 or 7 fish - all knuckleheads - before that bite played out. From there I worked my way methodically thru all of the points I'd charted or fished during practice. I picked up a couple more shorties and had two good ones break me off (c-rig). The bite died around noon. Not even a sniff after that. I didn't bother to fish the second day. I didn't have anything that was reliable and the shoulder was hurting pretty good. That math was easy for me to do.

Observations: 1) Bait is moving back into creeks, coves, and main lake cuts but not all. Most of the bait was suspended over main channels or near the mouths. No feeding activity associated w/ any of this. 2) Water temps ranged form 76 on FRI to 81.5 late SAT. Cloud cover on FRI keep things cool. Water didn't warm up much in SAT's heat. 3) Water is clear on the main lake (4 feet of viz or better), stained up in the river and the backs of creeks (2 feet of viz). 4) Plastics (greens) and jigs (greens) were the best producers for me. A pearl white jerkbait was best for the early AM bite. Other than a couple knotheads on my BDS 2.2 I had no bites on moving baits all weekend. 5) My best fish came from 2 feet of water. The other two keepers were further off, maybe 10-12' from shore and in deeper water. I tried to get this bite to repeat but failed to execute. The two break-offs I had were in deeper water, maybe 10-12'. 6) Wind was key for me. When it died down so did the bite. 7) The rec boat traffic was what you'd expect this time of year. The ride back to the ramp was a lil sporty.

So, we had a great time fishing this trail and look forward to fishing it next year. We're waiting to see what the FoM schedules look like so we can sync it all up. I'm definitely going to have to spend some more time on the bigger lakes during the summer. I have to suck it up when it comes to sharing the water w/ the rec boaters.

peace,
B

[Mike Cork]

Thanks for an excellent update on the lake

Does sound like some tough conditions.

[31airborne]

Apologize for the trophy thingies.  Think I fixed those.  I'll remember next time.