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Guest
Guest
Well, I got out to fish the Floyd for a couple of hours today. With the rain that had came through over the past couple of days, I thought that the fish might be a little more active than they have been during the hot spell the week prior to the rain.
I got out there around 12 PM, and started fishing the bridge. There is a rock pile at the end of the right side walkway, and I always start there, and normally can pick up a good bass. The last few times, I haven't been able to get a bite there, even though I had tried several different lures. So, I switched the other side on the walkway, and still couldn't get a bite.
When I walked up to end of the walkway, I noticed that a snake was in the water, under the dock. Not nothing out of the ordinary, but still quite strange. I noticed that I could only see the body of the snake, with the tail coming around the piling, back to where it's head was. I tried to flip the tail of the snake, as it was 6-7" under the water, and when I hit it, it was lifeless. So, I knew it was dead, which I was saddened to see. It was a banded water snake, which is what a lot of folks here confuse with a lightly colored copperhead. Banded water snakes are beneficial and are a vital part of the ecosystem on most of the area bodies of water. I don't know if it went after a fish, and caught caught between the boards around the piling, or if it got caught in someone's line that was broken off.
At any rate, I went down the lake to the 4 rock piles that are associated along the channel. I was throwing a chatterbait that a friend from TX sent to me last week, and I had a good 2 lbs. bass follow it up, but never hit. emoBang emoBang
I moved down to the lower lake, to the stump field that I fish a good part of the time. Last Thursday, I pulled two fish off of there, on a Bitsy Bug. I was throwing the chatterbait, hoping to get a fish off of it, but nothing was interested in it.
I threw the Bisty Bug, and as soon as I got it back to the actual stump line, I had a bass nail it. I set the hook, and it felt like a good fish. Seems that all the fish in the Floyd have an attitude problem! emoBang When I finally got it to the surface, it was a decent 12" bass, pushing a lb. in weight. Nothing more hit the jig, and I kept getting it hung in a stump that is about 20 ft. off the bank.
So, I decided to throw the fluke around, and see what I could dredge up with it, since a lot of surface activity was taking place. I threw it parallel to the bank to my left, where all the action was taking place, and nothing seemed interested. I made a cast to the very last stump that is there, before it transitions to the small point, and twitched it twice and watched a bass come up from the stump and go kamikazi on the fluke. I set the hook and brought it up to the bank, and it was another 12", 1 lb. bass. I let it go, and walked to my right to fish some brush that is on a flat, on the opposite side of the little point. I didn't think anything about snakes..............until I walked back and started to fish the same bank where all the surface action had taken place.
That's when I heard a noise at the water level, about where I was standing when I was fishing the flat. A small 7-8" baby copperhead was in the brush, and hadn't bit me at all. I admired it, and it just looked at me. It finally swam away. I made a couple of more casts, and decided to call it a day.
The whole time that I was there, it was cloudy with a light wind blowing, and was quite an enjoyable day on the water. The upper lake had visibility to around 7" in the water, where normally it is about 12-16" of visibility. The lower lake was clearer, and I could see down about 12", where I can normally see down about 2 ft. Both lakes are having a bit of a green algae bloom, and the wind was blowing it around the shorelines of both lakes.
If anyone is looking for a 5 bass limit of 12" eaters, go to Sloppy Floyd. Both lakes are slap full of them, and they need to be harvested. I try to talk folks that catch those size bass into keeping them, for the benefit of the larger bass, since they are in such fierce competition for food with one another. I am hoping that in the next couple of years, the DNR will see fit to stock the lakes with shad, which will help things out greatly.
The only problem with fishing the bottom lake is that the ramp is quite steep. If that's not a problem, you would easily catch 5 1 lbs. bass in no time!
I got out there around 12 PM, and started fishing the bridge. There is a rock pile at the end of the right side walkway, and I always start there, and normally can pick up a good bass. The last few times, I haven't been able to get a bite there, even though I had tried several different lures. So, I switched the other side on the walkway, and still couldn't get a bite.
When I walked up to end of the walkway, I noticed that a snake was in the water, under the dock. Not nothing out of the ordinary, but still quite strange. I noticed that I could only see the body of the snake, with the tail coming around the piling, back to where it's head was. I tried to flip the tail of the snake, as it was 6-7" under the water, and when I hit it, it was lifeless. So, I knew it was dead, which I was saddened to see. It was a banded water snake, which is what a lot of folks here confuse with a lightly colored copperhead. Banded water snakes are beneficial and are a vital part of the ecosystem on most of the area bodies of water. I don't know if it went after a fish, and caught caught between the boards around the piling, or if it got caught in someone's line that was broken off.
At any rate, I went down the lake to the 4 rock piles that are associated along the channel. I was throwing a chatterbait that a friend from TX sent to me last week, and I had a good 2 lbs. bass follow it up, but never hit. emoBang emoBang
I moved down to the lower lake, to the stump field that I fish a good part of the time. Last Thursday, I pulled two fish off of there, on a Bitsy Bug. I was throwing the chatterbait, hoping to get a fish off of it, but nothing was interested in it.
I threw the Bisty Bug, and as soon as I got it back to the actual stump line, I had a bass nail it. I set the hook, and it felt like a good fish. Seems that all the fish in the Floyd have an attitude problem! emoBang When I finally got it to the surface, it was a decent 12" bass, pushing a lb. in weight. Nothing more hit the jig, and I kept getting it hung in a stump that is about 20 ft. off the bank.
So, I decided to throw the fluke around, and see what I could dredge up with it, since a lot of surface activity was taking place. I threw it parallel to the bank to my left, where all the action was taking place, and nothing seemed interested. I made a cast to the very last stump that is there, before it transitions to the small point, and twitched it twice and watched a bass come up from the stump and go kamikazi on the fluke. I set the hook and brought it up to the bank, and it was another 12", 1 lb. bass. I let it go, and walked to my right to fish some brush that is on a flat, on the opposite side of the little point. I didn't think anything about snakes..............until I walked back and started to fish the same bank where all the surface action had taken place.
That's when I heard a noise at the water level, about where I was standing when I was fishing the flat. A small 7-8" baby copperhead was in the brush, and hadn't bit me at all. I admired it, and it just looked at me. It finally swam away. I made a couple of more casts, and decided to call it a day.
The whole time that I was there, it was cloudy with a light wind blowing, and was quite an enjoyable day on the water. The upper lake had visibility to around 7" in the water, where normally it is about 12-16" of visibility. The lower lake was clearer, and I could see down about 12", where I can normally see down about 2 ft. Both lakes are having a bit of a green algae bloom, and the wind was blowing it around the shorelines of both lakes.
If anyone is looking for a 5 bass limit of 12" eaters, go to Sloppy Floyd. Both lakes are slap full of them, and they need to be harvested. I try to talk folks that catch those size bass into keeping them, for the benefit of the larger bass, since they are in such fierce competition for food with one another. I am hoping that in the next couple of years, the DNR will see fit to stock the lakes with shad, which will help things out greatly.
The only problem with fishing the bottom lake is that the ramp is quite steep. If that's not a problem, you would easily catch 5 1 lbs. bass in no time!
