Dave May and I fished 9G yesterday morning, and had a good time even though things didn’t go as well as we’d hoped. When we started out at sunrise, it was comfortable with a gentle breeze. The lake was almost calm, with water temp at 80.5. We started out in the cove west of the ramp. Nothing doing. As we moved north along the west bank, I had a hit on a white chatterbait as soon as I started my retrieve, but missed the bass. It was just off a weedy point along the otherwise bare bank. We continued fishing clockwise around the lake, and at 0653, I finally hooked up, landing a very strong 4-11 after a good fight. Like the one I had missed, the fish struck when the lure was almost back at the boat and broke the surface. By that time, the breeze had picked up a bit, so we thought that, finally, topwater action was starting. Not so. During the next hour, Nada. Zip. Not shallow, not deep, and not in between. At 8:00, I boated a 3-04 on a black/blue flake, Senko, rigged wacky-style and unweighted. That fish was in the shallows on the west bank, south of the dam, between the bank and the inner weedline. Dave picked up a nice bass of about 2 pounds on an unweighted lizard, and another one over 3 on (I think) a white Chatterbait. Both of those fish hit near the 10- to 12-foot contour interval along the old creek channel. That was it for the entire morning. We had our chances, but failed to produce. I lost 3 bass when my knot failed or my line got cut, and Dave had 3 nice fish come unglued right at the boat. Around 10:00, the carp started moving, and they really murked up the water all over the lake, especially where less than 8 feet deep. The extremely thick and matted coontail moss made it difficult to fishing, ane where not matted, we still boated grass on almost every retreive. It was pretty hot when we quit at noon, with only 4 fish to show for it (but no dinks). All were, of course, released. Still a nice day, mostly because of fishing with a good friend on a peaceful PWF lake. (Still, I would have enjoyed the results of snagging one of those huge carp!)

What worked:  white Chatterbait, 5" black/blue flake, unweighted Senko, pinkish lizard.

What didn't:  Loon 190 Whopper Plopper, bone Yellow Magic, wacky-rigged 7" Senko, neko-rigged 7" Senko (green pumpkin, watermelon/red flake), dropshot T-rigged ribbon tail worm (red shad), green buzz bait, swim bait, tandem spinnerbait, weedless spoon with 6" pork eel, Ribbit (black/blue flake), HB frog (frog, white belly), and a few others.

A healthy 4-11: