Submitted by Kurt Dove (ip 74.84.31.81)

Date Fished: 9/4/2012
Water Temperature: 83
Water Clarity: 4 feet or greater

After being away for several weeks and fishing tournaments up in MI and NY… I ‘am back! The last several days fishing has been pretty decent considering we are in probably one of the toughest times of year, the transition from summer to fall. We have been catching 12-18 fish a day from 2lbs - 6lbs working a couple of specific patterns. I have fished up river a few days as well and although you can catch many more numbers 20+ fish a day, they tend to be much smaller. Water levels are dropping at the lake daily as they move water through the dam to the lower Rio Grande Valley. Lake Amistad water temps are back down to the low 80’s. The current lake level is 1087.73 ft above seas level and is 29.27ft below conservation pool.

Current Patterns -

Shallow: The pondweed is holding lots of bass. I have been concentrating on areas where there is deep water nearby for best results. Working walk-the-dog topwaters like the Ima Skimmer along the outside edge are generating a few bites as the sun rises abut after about 8:30 it seems to shut down fairly quickly. The Optimum Furrbit and Spro frogs are working well in the shallow water around heavy vegetation. Don’t be afraid to get super shallow… less than a foot of H2O. When you can find the hydrilla around the edges of the pondweed be sure to pick up your hollow belly swimbaits for some action as well. I have used some of the new Opti Shad swimbaits from Optimum Baits and LuckyCraft lures. These downsized swimbaits are very effect with all the smaller baitfish swimming in the shallows.

Mid-Depth: Texas rigged plastics and weightless flukes in the drains that have 8-12 feet of water have been producing some results also. Look for quick drops near the grass along the shoreline and fish in the middle of the deeper drains to the texas rig and fish the flukes for suspended fish in the same areas approximately 2-4 feet below the water surface.

Deep: The deep bite continues to be off for me. Some success can be had drop shotting the new Optimum Victory Tail lures or small straight tail worms and every once in a while you can catch a quality fish in 20-25 feet on a football jig… but bites are few and far between.

Tip – If you see a bush in 3-7 feet that looks like it should hold a fish… it probably does. Often repeated casts and a very slow presentation is the key to provoking a strike.

See you out at the Lake! Kurt Dove

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