Kent Lake 7/20

[McCarter]

Team Nemesis hit Kent Lake this weekend and found a solution to the tough bite that has been plaguing us and many others.

Kent Lake is showing some improvement.  The water has cleared up considerably.  And there is a lot of new weed growth.  We hit the water around 8 am just in time for the morning showers.  There was a tournament going on out there so we did our best to stay out of everyones way.

It didnt take long to get into the fish.  We were fishing an area neither of us had really fished before.  Dead center of the river channel in the middle of the lake.  What we found was a ton of wood and scattered weed beds in 12-13 feet of water.  Chris hooked up pretty quick on a Kandy Bass 3/8 oz jig with a healthy 3.5 ( maybe bigger ) largemouth.  I had a good bump on a Bitsy bug but never got a hook into the fish.  It slowed down so i switched to a 3" Nemesis goby and hooked up with a 15" largemouth right away.  We worked this area for a while, more or less just trying to learn more about it.  Chris stuck with the jig and i was dropshotting the goby.  We found some really good stuff on this spot inlcuding scattered rock, stumps, and bushes or a big lay down.  Either way, there were many branches.  We only caught these 2 fish here, but had a few other bites.  It will definatly be worth checking out again later.

Our next spot was to a summer smallmouth spot.  The smallies have been extremely hard to find ever since the spawn.  And it would be no different today.  We work this little stretch for about 30 minutes with no smallmouth.  Chris hooked a nice 2.5 lb largie, again on the Kandy Bass jig, but my Bitsy bug went untouched. 

Chris was hinting at another spot and eventually i gave in.  Im glad i did becuase we litereally got there and just went to town on them.  We started out off the spot in a little deeper water.  We had a nice double header on jigs.  Me with a 2.5 lb largie and Chris with another 3.5 lb largie.  A few minutes later i hooked up again with a nice 2.5 lber on a jig.  Then Chris with a 2.5 lb largie.  They were cookie cutters all schooled up on an out side weedline.  The anticipation of a big fish bite was growing with every cast but the best we could do in that area was a mess of 2.5 lb, a 3 lb, and Chris' 3.5 lb. 

After the action slowed on the outside weed edge, we moved to the spot we intended to fish in the first place.  A couple casts with the jig produced nothing so i switched back up to the drop shot and immediatly hooked up with a nice 3 lb largie.  We were fishing with a friend of mine as well and i hooked him up with Chris' DS rig and a 3" goby and he got into them right away.  I was using the KLB color, smoke with small gold, black, silver flake and medium purple flake, and my friend Josha was using KLK, which is a cross between watermelon and green pumpkin base with double chartreuse and purple flakes.  Josha started lighting it up on the KLK.  Catching 3 fish to my 1.  All the fish were catching are 2-2.5 lbs with the occasional short fish a fish here or there int he 3 lb range.  I switched up to the KLK and started bring them in pretty quick.  We were literally hooking up on every other cast.  Chris was still working a jig out deeper and was quiet for a while.  Then out of nowhere he sets the hook on a good fish.  After a nice fight, i had the pleasure of landing a nice 4 lb largemouth for him. 

After beating this area for about an hour, we decided to let it rest and go try a similar area.  It wasnt too far away so we just trolled over.  The fish didnt seem to be relating to this structure like they were on the other.  We did manage to catch a couple more 2 lbers and Josha hooked a nice close to 4 lb largie that came from a submerged log.  Not long after, he broke one off that made a good hard run on the hookset.  It was time to retie anyway, we had both caught a dozen or better 2+ lb largemouth on the dropshot without retieing.  So i took the opportunity to also retie.  This are fished a lot slower than the last, but we were still catching fish so we stuck with it for a little while longer. 

We decided that our little hot spot had rested long enough and went back to see if we could get a few more bites.  Sure enough, we started catching them right away again.  I dont know what it was about this spot, but fish were funneling in like crazy.  there were a ton of bluegills in the area, huge school of 4-4 inchers just under the surface.  That probably had a lot to do with it.  We caught another 12-15 keepers from this spot over the next 30 minutes and then the sun came out.  It pretty much shut off.  We talked about our next move and i commented how wierd it was that none of us hooked into a smallmouth in that area as it is predominatly smallmouth territory.  Just as i finished my sentence, Josha sets the hook on a nice fish and it jumps 3 ft out of the water.  Finally, a smallmouth.  I looked down as he fought it near the boat to see 4 or 5 more swimming alongside his 2.5 lber.  Chris and I hurried to get our baits out there but neither of us got picked up. 

By now, we are convinced that the smallmouth were moving in and it was only a matter of time before we are hooking up with brown fish left and right.  We gave it another 25 minutes with no fish and decided to leave.  Just as we were ready to head out, a large school of bluegill were disrupted on a nearby flat.  We headed that way, casting the gobys and jigs looking for any action.  we followed the school of frantic bait up the flat and across the back side of it, being careful to cast to the outsides of the pod.  With no luck, i decided to cast right in the middle of them.  No sooner did my weight hit the bottom, my rod got heavy.  Another close to 3 lb largie.

I noticed another boat coming up in the area and sure enough he stopped right where we just layed into them for the past hour and a half.  It was Benny Miller.  I trolled over to him and asked how he was doing.  I told him we just destroyed them real good there on drop shots.  He quickly put his spinnerbait down and picked up a rod rigged up with a large rubber worm.  First cast and he sets the hook on a 3.5 lber.  I cant believe that there are still fish stacking up there but it is a good sign.  We wish him luck and decide to look elswhere.

Our next stop produced no fish.  A deep outside weed edge in 12 feet of water with scattered rock piles.  We were marking fish here and there but couldnt get any takers.   We did see an old man catch what looked like a 3 lb smallie from the public fishing pier.  It was quite a sight to see his wife trying to reach the water with there aluminum net.  But she finally got he fish.

We tried another area of deep rocks along the channel edge that will usually hold good sized smallmouth, but again came up empty handed.  After getting burned on 3 known smallie haunts, we gave in and went back to the largemouth pattern.  I guess it really wasnt so much a pattern as it was just finding schools of bluegills and working the area with the drop shot and jig. 

We never found another spot that produced as well as the one we had earlier, but we did manage to catch fish in just about every area we checked out.

When it was all said and done, we boated an estimated 40+ keepers with one going over 4, a handful over 3, and enough 2.5 lbers to keep us smiling all day long.  The 3" goby continues to amaze even us.  I would have never guess that this bait would work so well on inland lakes.  It actually works out good that way as i have only fished the 'big water' once this year and dont know when i will be able to again.

McCarter himself
 

[Bender]

It was a great day on the water, but when that sun came out it was almost like somebody flipped a light switch off and shut down the bite. Here is one of the decent sized fish, didn't get a picture of the biggest one:

I have not been much of a jig guy in the past but I'm working on it this year and so far it has been worth it.

[McCarter]

OOOOOHHHH, i almost forgot the best part.

While we were up pitching the trees on the south shore, i looked to my right and seen a big carp swimming parallel to the shoreline right towards our boat.  I seen something on the side of it, and as it got closer i realized it was a very nice sized smallmouth, probably 4.5 - 5 lbs (they always look bigger in the water) swimming very closely along side of it, i mean they were cheek to cheek.  It was quite the sight.  I have never seen anything like that before.  As soon as they seen the boat they both split. 

McCarter himself

[dartag]

were they holding hands ( i mean fins ).   maybe i will just send the money and go to HOOTERS. 

[Cheetam]

McCarter has just guaranteed he will zero tomorrow 

[fiker]

Good job guys.  Sounds like a heck of a day.

Ever since I picked up a bag of the 3" gobies in the KLK color, they've worked on every lake I've been on. 

Whatever you guys are doing, you're doing it right.

[stackenem]

You guys must have been well camoed up I was out there from 6am till almost 2 and never seen you anywhere??

[McCarter]

You guys must have been well camoed up I was out there from 6am till almost 2 and never seen you anywhere??

Never saw you either, Bill.  Didnt know you would be out there.  Looked for Willie all day but never seen him.  Did talk to a couple guys out there who said they were having a hard time but were catching a few.  We told them to drop shot and wished them luck.

What did it take to win?

McCarter himself

[stackenem]

No idea what won it I was just fun fishing. Got into some smallies in the rocks up close to shore and I mean up close. Had to hit the rocks with cranks and they would slam it as soon as it moved in the water.

[motocross269]

Great write up...Thanks for the info..I only live an hour and 15 mins from Kent and have never fished it..Looks like I need to get down there.