I hit the river around 7:00 a.m. and I knew from the get go that the power company had the water way up. In fact, last evening I checked the pool level and it read that they were going to have the lake up (171.6') ~1.75 feet over the Normal Top Level (169.75') !
The river at Harrisburg was suppose to peak today at 5.48', but you would have thought the power company was preparing for flood conditions.
I caught this first bass with a 3/8th oz. Boggerman Buzzbait with a white skirt. She hit on my third cast of the morning and measured in at 16". I found a nice quiet spot among all the ruckus being created at the dam.
I was able to land over a dozen bass today. Several came on a Bandit 200 Series crankbait and the others were on the tried and true War Eagle 1/2 oz. spinnerbait.
A healthy 17.5" smallie nailed the War Eagle lure again just like the one on Wednesday did. It was a strong, hungry hit. She was laying behind a boulder just out of all the rushing current. After several fantastic leaps, she ran straight towards the boat and through the most heaviest of the current. That little maneuver made it a bit easier for me to handle her. With a little help from my rubberized net, she was on my thumb and in the boat.
Check out the beautiful bronze coloring on this beaut!
I explored areas today that I haven't been in for years. I mostly tossed my crankbait and spinnerbait as I hit every eddy, chunk rock, and boulder. These areas are virtually untouched most of the summer and the bass rarely see an artificial lure.
My day on the water ended around noon. The air temp was 70 degrees when I launched and rose to 81 degrees when I trailed the boat. The water temp held in the upper 70's. The last I remember looking at the water temp, the Lowrance X-65 read 77 degrees. It should rise even more as the weekend warms up.
Most of the morning, there was overcast skies which kept things rather comfortable. But once the sun broke through, the humidity started to build.
When I got back to the ramp, the water was up to the blacktop which is at the very top of the ramp and just short of entering the parking lot... High, High, High!
dadTB
