Water levels have returned to normal as rains continue to fall here at the Stick Marsh/Farm 13. Water flow structures have been active. Heavy afternoon storms have brought water levels up 3-3.5 feet in the last two weeks.
Several trips on the lake have been extremely successful with catches of over 100 bass reported. Other trips have also produced good numbers of 50 or better of bass in the 3-5 pound range. Yesterday's trip lasted 4 hours and over 50 bass were landed in that time including this beauty.
Plastics have proven to be the predominate successful bait, however one trip it was all lipless cranks that made the day. The lady above went for a Yamamoto Swimming Senko on a C-rig. Yesterday none could be roused with a crank bait as they had a definite hunger for plastic.
The rain has brought up the lake levels however it has also loosened floaters for the anchored shore positions and the wind has distributed them about both sides of the lake. Be extremely aware of these hazards and keep a sharp watch for them. So far this year we have had one boat that went down as a stump penetrated the hull and another boat with transom after encountering one of these nasty floaters. Be very, very careful out there.
We're running a summer special that is aimed at familiarizing participants as to the hazards and structures of the lake. Give us a call and bring your GPS. Check our pages! I have no "secrets" that I don't share so it's an excellent opportunity for all.
Flow structure fishing: One of our best times on this lake is when we can fish current produced by flow structures. This lake has four possible locations that need to be checked for current. The predominate one is the spillway in the SE area of Farm 13. If this is running and producing you will be shaking your head in wonder by days end. Closely following this event is the current produced by the Fellsmere Farms pump station located at mid-point of the east wall of Farm 13. If this is working you will tire your arms out. The next current producing area can be seen from the parking lot. The pipes located in the SE area off the parking lot can and does produce excellent catches when flowing. You can visually check this area from the parking lot. The last area of flow is the outflow spillway located in the NW corner of the back lot. Although this is a better shiner area than artificial location it is worth checking. All of these current producing situations work best with Carolina rigs. The jerk bait and lipless cranks can also work and it doesn't hurt to try them.
This is a time of the year when the bass move to the deeper water of the submerged irrigation ditches of Farm 13. To fish these structures you need good bow electronics. There are 3 ditches that run N/S and one E/W. The most productive way to fish these is to keep the boat over the ditch and fish the adjacent levees. If there is current the intersections can come alive. Also, it is the time of the year to keep eyes peeled watching for shad busts. They can occur anywhere along these ditches and it is a catching bonanza when they do.
