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Posted

I started kayak fishing after 15+ years off from fishing and need some advice for a body of water I will be visiting again. The first time I fished Case Lake [0] was 2 weeks ago but I got skunked. I had no plan and mostly paddled around switching between various lures (vibrating jib, fluke, crank bait, jerk bait, spinner bait). The last week has been in the 80s and the water temperature should have risen but I don't know to what. The DEC shows depths to 30+ feet but I was fishing 1'-20' and mostly the shore line where the DEC mentioned bass would be.

 

If you were going to target this lake what would your plan of attack be? I'm looking to learn :)
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From the DEC: Largemouth Bass: Largemouth bass are abundant with good growth rates. There are good numbers of bass in the 12-15 inch size range, and the fish habitat is found in the form of extensive weed beds mainly around the inlet, on the eastern shore and somewhat on the north western shore. Bass anglers have success with spinner baits, surface plugs, plastic worms, crank baits as well as live crayfish or worms.

[0] - https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/26968.html

Posted

I'll qualify this first by saying that I am no expert, but I do a fair bit of kayak fishing, this was the first year that I fished in the spring, and I figured out the spring bite on my two "home" lakes-- and no one else responded to you, so here's what I would do:

 

- Check the water temp right when you get on the lake.  Also, check the water clarity.  The water temp is for guessing as to what stage of the spawn they're in and the clarity is for gauging how deep the beds will be/to aid in lure selection.

- I would guess that by now there should be at least some fish shallow.  I would start in that south end of the lake where the creek feeds in.  Don't charge all the way to the back, work your way in slowly once the sun is up enough for you to see.  Wear your polarized sunglasses with an amber/brown/green tint (not gray) to help you spot cruising fish and beds.  The beds will be isolated mostly by at least a few feet (from my limited experience) and anywhere from right up on the bank next to reeds/under trees/on trees or wood under the water out to just beyond where you can't see the bottom.  Go slow.  Be quiet.  It helps if you have a yak you can stand in.  Try to position yourself best to see into the water depending on the location of the sun.  On some parts of the lake that will mean being right on the bank and on others it will mean being off the bank considerably.  It may require you to paddle out around an area and then come in from the other direction so the sun's direction is advantageous. 

- If the water is at least upper 50s by now, which I would think that it must be, then I would focus on using both a moving bait and a finesse bait if the moving bait isn't getting bites.  If the water is very dirty or it's very windy then throw a chatterbait, if it's cleaner or less wind then throw a jerkbait or fluke.  Retrieve them slowly but with erratic action.  Try from right on the bank out to just beyond where you can no longer see the bottom or out to 5 foot of water, whichever is greater.  If the water is very dirty then throw a 6" senko as your finesse bait and if it's clean then throw a 4" senko.  Everyone else is throwing 5" senkos.  Wacky rig them if there's not too much cover.  Throw it out, let it fall on a semi-slack line, twitch it off the bottom once, check for the weight of a fish on the line and then reel it in and throw it again.  If you're throwing it up onto the bank try skipping it so as not to spook those very shallow fish.

- If you see the fish then you can cast past them.  Remember that prey doesn't swim at bass it swims away. 

- If you see a bunch of blue gill beds tight together the size of pie plates in the shallows and/or bass fry then the bass already spawned in that area of the lake, but there may still be some spawning elsewhere in the lake that takes longer to warm.   Also, not all of the bass spawn at once, there are waves.  Plus, you can catch pre-spawners, spawners and post-spawners up shallow on flukes and wacky worms.  You can still catch lots of males that are fry guarding in the areas with empty bass beds.  You can also catch big females around those bluegills that are spawning by working topwaters like buzzbaits and with those other baits I listed.

- The lake is only 70 acres, you should be able to fish around the entire perimeter in a few hours and then go back and refocus on the most productive areas.

- If the water temp is already at 70 you can try shallow and you may catch a lot of males but don't be surprised if those big females who just finished spawning are in a funk and won't eat.

- If you find fish on the bank in an area there may be more fish heading into that area throughout the day from adjacent areas/deeper water.

 

Please let us know how you do.

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