Happy Sunday to all!

After having a good run with the Kokes last year, I wanted to see if the bite has turned on yet at American.

I checked the weather reports and anticipated another windy day.....Indeed it was. The sporadic patches of blue sky were a bit misleading and launched the boat! I don't know what the max sustained winds were, but the gusts were interesting as the white caps lasted throughout the afternoon!

Although very familiar with the lake, I figured that I would experiment a bit today.

I wanted to share a few brief observations:
1. Water is staring to warm. Surface temps were low to mid 50s.

2. The fish seemed to be a bit more dispersed than they were last week or even two weeks ago. I did not see the tight groups that I have seen lately. A few pockets of Kokes, but not much significant yet.

3. Most marked fish have been in the shallows....roughly 10-30 feet deep and grouped along the entire eastern shoreline and northern portion of the lake.

4. Success today was found paralleling fairly close to shore, sometimes even inside of the no wake buoys. Of course depending on water depth, winds, traffic, obstacles and maneuver area.

5. Caught three today, but no Kokes. Two fish on UV type dodgers, two on a UV light green Macks Wedding Ring tipped with a maggot.
The second, largest fish hit a Pink Splatter tied to a homemade red hootchie with a Macks smile blade, tipped with a maggot. He put up a great fight and struggled to get him in the net and steer the boat single-handed. It wasn't pretty, but got the job done! All fish caught with wire from 20-25 feet. Dues to winds, speed was a bit higher, erratic and all hit between 1.2-1.6 MPH.

6. Picked up a female Mallard hitchhiker who wanted to fish with me and made herself right at home!

In conclusion, I did not find any Kokes to tangle with, but there are plenty of other fish that are willing to bite.

Hope that this helps a few that are having difficulties figuring out the fishery. Looking forward to a great year!

Nitrosteve

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