Some backstory: After Memorial Day the milfoil got thick enough that I couldn't get through it with my trolling motor unless there was a boat channel already cleared by a home owner, so I was stuck fishing the outside weed edge for most of the year with mixed and inconsistent results. At that time, I wasn't very comfortable with punching or pitching into the matted weeds, even though I knew that's where I would have to go. My best line was in a natural bottle neck for the wind, so unless it was a calm day, the wind would push me too quickly through the weed beds and I lacked the confidence to deal with that. As a result, this summer will be forever known as the Toothy Critter Summer.
Back to the point. The milfoil had started to lay down and become passable, allowing me to start fishing the docks that I had wanted to get to all summer. I started with a swim jig, using the dock to pendulum my bait as far underneath the dock as I could get it, and was rewarded quickly with a short chunk that had clearly been eating well:
I fished a couple more docks in the same line and got the stink eye from one of the home owners. I put the trolling motor on high and went to a longer dock that I've consistently caught fish off of this summer but the water was down significantly, meaning I got stuck... I had to raise the outboard completely out of the water, then the wind started to spin me around. I decided it was enough of that noise and went down to the south end where a couple of creeks feed into the lake.
The weeds were a little more thick here but the wind was cut off, so I was able to work through the area with a Rage Craw. I didn't pick anything up in the weeds, but there was an old willow tree overhanging the back of the channel and a small laydown next to it. I pitched my bait along side a few times and then underneath the exposed log, catching a short fish. I worked my way back toward the channel to the river and missed another dock fish with the swim jig.
I decided that since I hadn't spent much time on the river, to fish it a little more thoroughly. After all, I would only have one more crack at it on Sunday with a couple of friends since my Saturday would be taken up doing chores. I targeted the wood near one of my productive backwater areas from earlier in the year with a swim jig. As it happened with the first dock fish, I didn't have to wait long to be rewarded with this skinny 18"er. I didn't get a weight on it because the batteries in my scale were close to dead, so I took the length. This guy brings me up to a four fish bag in BP's Blogger Derby!
