I NEEDED to get away, so with all the rain on Tuesday, I needed to go somewhere with a concrete ramp to launch my boat.  I had been to Hidden Springs a couple of times, and figured that a little rain wouldn't have a huge effect on the spring fed, clear water in the lake.  I should have paid more attention to the weather in that part of the world.  Wednesday was beautiful weather - 65 degrees with light winds.

Left my house at 3 am to head to Fork and get my boat, and then on to Hidden Springs.  Encountered some patchy heavy fog here and there, but mostly the drive was no big deal.  I turned on the county road about 7 am and could tell that they had some serious weather the day before.  There were tree limbs all over the place, and the low area just before the gate was almost impassable with all the sand that had washed across the road.  Found out later that they had 7+ inches of rain, and even a reported tornado near Laneville (just west of the lake).  Anyway, i plowed though the sand and the limbs, and almost cried when I pulled up to the ramp and saw the lake.  It resembled more like a glass of chocolate milk than the clear water that I was used to there.  

The fishing was not good.  In the upper end, I could see my white fluke about 3 inches, and that was it.  Tried all kinds of topwaters in the upper end, and got nothing.  Headed for the dam end, and the water got clearer the farther i went.  Lake looked pretty normat from the boathouse to the dam.  Water was pouring over the spillway; i could actually feel my boat being pulled toward it when i got close to it.  Fished mid-morning to lunch in the dam end, and hit all the brush piles with several options, and no luck.  Finally I started throwing a weightless white fluke, and ultimately caught 5 (14-16 inch) bass.  Headed back to the upper end, and discovered that the chocolate milk was now past the boathouse.  The water temp by the dam was 56 degrees; I saw a temp of 68 in the upper end in the dirty water.  Ever seen a 12 degree difference in a small lake?

I decided to leave at 2:00, figuring that those fish that were used to clear water, were probably hunkered down for a few days.  Went by Diamond Sports and got a couple of small items fixed (saved me a trip; thanks Diamond Sports).  Got home just before 7.  I had a beautiful day with great weather, and got to do some serious thinking while I was there.  I'm glad I went, but I will certainly pay more attention to the weather next time.