Topic: Weeds suck big time !

[senkosam]

In Orange C., NY there are lakes I fish early spring but by mid spring to early June, the weeds are ridiculous until they die most likely from and increase in suspended algae that reduces the sunlight reaching the lower part of the weeds. Either that or dying is a normal part of the like cycle. Bass are in all three stages of the spawn and weedless surface lures are the best bet. We fished deeper water - the deepest being 15' - and no strikes. In fact the most bass caught were near the surface striking flukes and soft plastics on light jigs.


Holding boat position was difficult because of the wind which reached 15 mph in the pm. Friday was far worse with winds up to 28 mph! Good thing I stayed home!


Going to be hot all week but with a hat, full sleeved shirts and long legged pants made for the heat, it shouldn't be too bad as long as there's a breeze pushing cool the air over 65 degree water.

[Curt - NC]

We have a lake here near my house that gets choked up by mid May every year. Those weeds stay there until the days get shorter and the water cools down in late October. This lake, though, is super shallow, with 4 ft. being the deepest water in the Spring.

By late July, the place looks like you could walks across it on the weed mats. 

[senkosam]

with 4 ft. being the deepest water in the Spring

.

What's the deepest or average depth? The weeds in both local lakes are already starting to die as is usual annually.
The frequent rains - at least 3x per week - is killing it for me going out. Must be allergic to getting soaked in my old age. At least it forces me to get things done like getting the bass boat motor running again, coming up with new plastic lure designs, mowing the grass which is much too high (on a dry day), pampering the dogs, etc.

[metz12]

The lake Curt is talking about is pretty much in the 3-4' range. It once was a corn field surrounded by swamp land. Then there was train tracks put in, and all the swamp runoff got dammed up and created this pond. So its pretty much just a swamp! Very choked with weeds, and no rhyme or reason for the fish. The banks get quite shallow as well. It would be awesome if someone would drop a few piles of rocks off in the middle of this pond for some structure.

[Curt - NC]

What's the deepest or average depth?

@senkosam Average depth is 2 1/2 feet! Not kidding about that either 

[senkosam]

@senkosam Average depth is 2 1/2 feet! Not kidding about that either 

Sounds more like a puddle than a lake! LOL
There is a local large pond near an apple tree grove that only averages 3.5', but it holds fish!

[Brazzy]

Dont hate on those places. The place I grew up fishing as a kid was a place where you could only drop a canoe or kayak into the bay, row about 3/4 of a mile up a river (you better have the tide and wind in your favor), drag your canoe over a dam, through the woods to get to a place that was essentially a swamp. Maximum depth would be about 3', completely overgrown, a soft/mucky/muddy bottom. Basically frogging was almost your only option with the exception of one corner where it had a runoff and it had some sand and you could get a jig through and it wouldnt be swallowed by the muck. However, it was like fishing in jurassic park. Land of giants! Its so hard/dangerous to get to that I rarely go and I didnt go last year at all. However, thats what makes it special. No one in their right mind would ever think to fish it if they ever found it. So dont sleep on those little swampy stinky places. They can produce.

[Curt - NC]

Sounds more like a puddle than a lake! LOL
There is a local large pond near an apple tree grove that only averages 3.5', but it holds fish!

@senkosam Trust me, this place holds fish too! It's just that it gets so weedy in the summer that it can be frustrating to try to fish it.

@Brazzy I don't hate on them at all. 

I just tend not to fish them when they're weed choked. But you're right. Some of those little swampy, stinky places hold some beasts for sure 

[senkosam]

Tell you the truth I'd much rather fish a shallow lake or pond and catch 100+ small-medium size fish than some or none in a much larger deeper lake. I go to catch fish on lures I discover, design and produce which isn't possible on large waters I haven't learned and probably won't.

[Brazzy]

Well Senkosam, thats where you lost me. I grew up fishing shallow weedy mucky ponds so yes they most certainly produce. However, it really limits some of the techniques you can use. My tackle box as a kid had a couple jigs, couple spinnerbaits, a couple frogs, and a couple topwater baits. The thought of a jerkbait or a crankbait was completely foreign to me and we've talked on this forum how people cant get behind a suspending jerkbait because of the type of water we fish. Heck, I cancelled my bassmaster magazine when I was younger and they called to ask why I said "I dont use any of that nonsense". Fast forward and my family started vacationing in the lakes region of NH. I did what I do and targeted the vegetation in a jon boat in Winnisquam. After years of that I finally bit the bullet and went out fishing with Steve Lucarelli on Winnipesaukee. We fished 25'+ of water and boated over 30 smallies in a half day and I got the itch. I started targeting some of the deeper clearer lakes and it was like I hit the reset button. I thought I knew how to fish and found out I knew very little. My push over the past few years to get better as an angler is not possible without fishing some deep clear lakes. It is a challenge for sure and it has sent me back to the drawing board more then a handful of times (and Im sure more times to come). However, suddenly the techniques that you hear the pros talking about come into play and you find out why they are so special. Meanwhile its always changing. The one thing I feel you can count on is you cant count on anything. So every time out there you are trying to figure it the pattern. However, if you do the reward can be monumental.

[senkosam]

Brazzy thanks for the insight.
It's not that I can't catch numbers and quality of fish on larger deeper lakes, but finding those fish on average requires surveying more areas for longer periods of time - at least on my local lakes that have depths of 30' or more. Many southern lakes are shallow by comparison, some have good structure, some with mostly flat bottoms and weeds not thick in most areas. When I was stationed in Texas for four years, I fished deeper lakes with oil rigs and without sonar was clueless where fish were attracted to especially with water temps above 85 degree/ air temp 90 or greater. Yet smaller, shallower lakes and ponds with pads always yielded fish same as in the northeast - even at midday.

Fishing pressure regardless of lake type can make all the difference in finding catchable fish and the style of lures cast may fall into only a few categories whereas on other local lakes I fish that see less pressure, I can catch fish on many more lure types though limited in the size of lure I use dependent on fish quality in general. That's not to say larger fish aren't caught (which are no longer my target), but that the greater variety of lures that do catch fish make it more fun locally, especially since I must concentrate on subtle structure differences/ combinations.

I've gotten used to catching more fish and more species on more lures designs - especially on my soft plastic designs rigged on light ball head jigs cast using small diameter braid with lighter action rods. To each his own when it comes to improving one's skill or versatility which takes a backseat to what I already know I can catch fish on. To each his own when it comes to individual fishing challenges; subtle strikes on lures I make - are the challenge if I can catch fish in water a foot or more of water and also fish deeper than 8' on the same lake in the same day. Guess the impatient kid in me has become dominant at age 70 as well as concentrating on being spoiled by strike and catch numbers.

Check out my posts on crappie.com and sdfish.com username Spoonminnow for many photo examples.

(Agree about BassMaster (advertising) articles and though I get mags for free being a life member, skim quickly through and sh**-can them in less than few minutes.)

[metz12]

@senkosam Trust me, this place holds fish too! It's just that it gets so weedy in the summer that it can be frustrating to try to fish it.

@Brazzy I don't hate on them at all. 

I tend to hate on the lake we are talking about Curt, but after this year, of actually catching 3 keepers in 2 trips versus the 7 trips last year with one keeper to show for it I like it a bit more.

[Brazzy]

3 keepers in 2 trips I would still hate it LOL.

[Joe P]

I tend to hate on the lake we are talking about Curt, but after this year, of actually catching 3 keepers in 2 trips versus the 7 trips last year with one keeper to show for it I like it a bit more.

I've had some really good days on that pond and some nice fish caught    It was better when the Pike were abundant, now it's getting over run with small pickerel 

[Curt - NC]

I've had some really good days on that pond and some nice fish caught    It was better when the Pike were abundant, now it's getting over run with small pickerel 

What he said! I'm glad the state is stocking Pike again, so maybe they will get the Pickerel population back under control.