Submitted by 31Airborne

Date Fished: 11/18/2007
Water Temperature: 63
Water Clarity: 4 feet or greater

Put in at High Pt Marina. Saw 58 degrees at launch. Water was crystal clear. Lake is down about another 12-18".

Headed into the Pawmunkey arm to start. Shoulda turned right around when I saw the 54 degree water, but had to give it a try. Nothing. Saw fish all over the water column but none were feeding. One nibble on a PacTac jig but no hook-up.

Motored downlake, stopping at Duke's Creek. 59 degrees - yep, that's better. Got bite right away on a Bandit 100 (chartreuse shad) right off of a laydown. That pattern held for about 20-30 mins. Fish were holding just at the deep end of the wood. Good, aggressive bites. Worked a couple of submerged brush piles w/ senkos (greens) in the back of Duke's. Boated several. Again, very aggressive bites.

Motored down to Dike 3 and worked the riprap. A couple on senkos (greens w/ red), several solid keepers on PacTac jigs (green/brown w/ Paca trailer). After working #3 for about an hour, I hopped back up lake hitting all of the riprap and chunk rock I could find. Jig bite held up. Today, riprap was better than chunk rock. Most bites came between 10-15'. Absolutely slammed the jig. Thump, run, set the hook.

No takers on topwater, but that's only because I started in the wrong place (shoulda gone downlake first). Did not see any striper activity anywhere. Never saw a fish boated the entire day.

Spoke w/ several fisherman at the ramp when I recovered. Most were finding fish shallow, close to docks and wood, on a variety of baits. Looked like it was a catchin' kinda day for all of us.

Observations: 1) Water in the backs of creeks is slightly stained. You still have good viz, but it's reduced to about 2-3'. 2) I marked several baitfish pods in the main channel, holding just off of main lake points. 3) Marked a lot of fish in transition areas. Can only guess that the cooler nights (was 34 at launch today) drives the fish back out of coves/cuts until the water warms. Also marked fish stacked up on deep water humps (surrounding water 20+' w/ humps coming up to 10-15').

Tight lines and happy holidays all.

ATW, B

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