"It's hot" would probably suffice for a report right now. "Is that the bite or the temps?" you might ask. Well, at times both. But the heat has definitely started to push most of the fish deeper now. This week we've caught a few in 20-23 feet, but many have been in 25-30, and if you graph around off a deep point or hump, you'll probably see a lot in 35-60, especially out on the east end of the lake. It's that time of year.
The bite west by Van Hook is still pretty strong, though it's slowed a touch. We've still been able to catch limits of fish before the heat sets in for the day, but it's not "mark a fish, catch a fish" like it was a couple weeks ago. Same with "the river" up above Van Hook which is just loaded with numbers of fish, albeit perhaps a smaller average size.
The east side, though, is definitely more of a grind. Some days we can manage a limit or close, other days it's just darn tough. There seem to be fewer fish, deeper fish, and less active fish. And my personal thought is that many of the migratory fish just haven't come down that far yet. Everything seemed to be behind this year with migration, and it'll be interesting to see if that changes much for the fall.
On a whole for the lake, if the bite during July was a 9.5/10.0, I'd say we're at a strong 7 right now, which is pretty darn good yet for as many days as we've had over 90 and even over 100 degrees the past few weeks. Bottom bouncers and crawlers still work, though slow death and butterfly blades seem to beat big, thumpy blades right now. Jigging raps are also still strong on days, especially for slightly better average-sized fish, and are a good approach for catching those deep schools tightly packed on a point tip or a hump.
The Wall Hangers 2021 lead still sits at 27.5, and we have availability for each month yet for the rest of the year, so come on over and give it a shot! And now, the pics and vids:
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