I fished Amber for the first time this year this on 03/05 from 9am-3pm. I arrived to find only one other boat putting in at the launch, but there was a fairly steady increase in "traffic" throughout the morning until it appeared that there were at least a dozen boats on the water by noon. A few guys ventured down to the north end, but the majority concentrated their efforts out from the launch down to the far south end. Previous experience on this lake in early spring has taught me the fish at the launch are often active in the morning hours. As such, after rigging up and getting my pontoon boat ready for put-in, I spent the first 45 min or so simply fishing off the bank at the launch.. And the fishing was silly good. Hooked at least a dozen good fish up to 17" inches on a "bloody" black size 14 balance leech suspended about 4ft under an indicator. I continued to hook fish as a boat anchored up right out in front of me off the launch, but as more guys starting showing up at the launch to put-in their boats, I made the decision to "leave fish in order to find fish", which is generally not a good idea, especially when you are fishing an area with active fish.

With a high sun and fairly calm conditions, I decided to seek out some deeper water holding areas where fish will cruise- transition zones if you will between the shallow water (~10ft) and deeper water (20ft+).. there is a stretch of water where the depth zone runs from 14-18ft where I have found fish to stage when water temps are down and bug activity is minimal. Anchoring up in about 17-18 ft of water and fishing a two-fly rig below an indicator, I covered mostly the bottom 1/3rd of the water column with a black micro leech on top and a size 14 bloody black below it.. Managed to get 3 solid "eats" but only 1 fish to hand in about 30 minutes.. In hindsight I should have adjusted my depth "upward" and fished a bit higher up in the water column, but instead I made the decision to fish shallower.

I moved into the far south end shallows searching for fish, but not feeling confident that fish were going to be receptive to an indicator presentation, I moved out to water that was 3-5ft in depth and fished pretty hard... There were a few other boats working the area with bugs suspended under indicators, and one guy that appeared to be casting and stripping in the south end shallows... but I never saw a fish landed from 10-noon when I was down there, which is not to say that fish were not caught down there. I, however, did not get a look. Around noon I went back to the launch to get out of the boat and let my feet warm up a bit. After putting my pontoon back-in, I headed the other direction (north) to fish a small bay along the bank where I have had success in the past during the early spring months... Within a few casts I had a take down and the fishing remained fairly good over the course of the hour I was there. The fish were eating a different depths as the contour here of the lake bottom dropped off very quickly... a few fish were taken tight to the bank where the depth was 2-3ft, while some were a bit further out of the "slope" and eating at 7-8ft... If I had only fished at one depth in this area I would have been less successful.. but working one depth zone and then adjusting my indicator to cover a different zone along the contour of the lake bottom proved more successfully.. I went back and forth until the bite died off.

Finished the day fishing the bank around to the right of the launch and picked up another 10-12 solid "eats" that should have all resulted in hook-ups and fish to hand, but its early in the season and I missed on a few that hopefully I will get as the season progresses... Nevertheless, the fish were fairly active from 1-3pm along the shoreline out to 7/8ft in depth. While the bloody black balance leech worked well, I am sure other patterns would have worked.. Throat samples revealed no chironomids were being eaten just yet... some scuds and daphnia, along with a few immature damsel nymphs.. "Where and when" you fished seemed more important that what you fished with...

Good first day on Amber... it should only get better.

Marc Martyn

3/10/2015 4:47:00 PM

Great report!! Thanks so much??

Marc Martyn

3/10/2015 4:51:00 PM

That was suppose to be a smile face, not two ?? Hope to get out there when my health improves. Out of action for the near future.

smitty1960

4/15/2015 12:08:00 PM

hey thanks for the report sounds like i need to get out there

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