I decided to switch up today and go to Lake Aldred to fish. As soon as I arrived, I knew that they had the bottom dropped out. The ramp was way down and folks were upset. The mud on the creek banks was exposed... Not good. Although it was low, there was still enough water to launch my jet rig.
The creek was dumping muddy water. As I entertained the river, the water quality did not improve. I ran to the dam and proceeded to catch only one 17" smallie on a lipless crankbait along ledges.
I tried a chrome spinnerbait when the sun emerged from behind the clouds and had one hit, but no hook ups. Arrrghhh! :( It was going to be one of those days.
I moved in and about the rocks and finally moved off the east side (Lancaster County) of the river and over to the west side (York County).
The water was not quite as muddy (sort of like being a little pregnant, but way to muddy to even see the submerged boulders. I did run up on a few that were about a foot below the surface. That's how bad the water quality was today.
I decided to switch over to the "ugly bait" and proceeded to catch four more bass, 2 channel catties, and two walleye. That is what is so amazing about that fire tiger color, it attracts so many different species. It works well in this type of muddy water situation, too.
My second biggest bass was a chunky 16.5" that came off the backside of a ledge just past the mid-point of the river.
I decided to wrap it up after about 3.5 hrs of fishing - 7:30 to 11:00 a.m.
The weather was gorgeous today. It was in the 60's this morning and I even wore my fleece to stay warm while running up the river. By the time I returned to the ramp, it was 74 degrees and abundant sunshine. The wind was light and variable, unlike Tuesday and Thursday when we encountered strong winds.
I'm not sure what the Federal Government considers "recreational Level" for Lake Aldred. I may have to do a bit of investigating on my own to find the answer. They may have well been in that range, but bigger boats could not launch from the ramp today. In fact, when I returned to the launch, I spoke to a man who wanted to mount a new transducer and check it out on a run, but he feared that he couldn't launch his boat with the water pulled down so low. He had a nice size rig that had a deep-V bottom. I didn't blame him for being concerned.
Take Care, Be Safe, and Go Fishing This Weekend!
Dad
On the Hardwater: Nighttime Crappie Fishing
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