Spoke to Jerry, the old timer that runs the bait shop next to the public ramp. I told him what the deal was and he told me where to go. Usually when someone tells me to go right around the corner I go the opposite direction as far as possible, but today I wasn't in the mood for doing it my way and was very receptive to staying out of the wind and near the ramp.
I tried the baits he suggested (pop R topwater and pumkin seed worms) with no luck. Tried a few of my own concoctions and finally managed to catch a fish on a Bass Magic swimbait. I'd bought a pack of them last week and caught a few fish on them. Today I had the bigger ones. Caught a good one soon after and the rout was on.
Beautiful little lake and nice double ramp, bait shop, and restaurant next door.
Believe it or not the fish were still not aggressively taking the bait. Only the one I caught on the weightless fluke (jr. fish of the day) hit bait near the surface and the rest on a controlled drop or glide at least a foot below the surface in two to five feet of water. I'm hoping I've figured out a retrieve that is working on the bass that have been meelie mouthing my spinner baits for the last 3 weeks. Never got a strike or one I could see or feel using War Eagle Buzzbait and my go to Perch colored double willowleaf Stanley Vibra Shaft spinner bait. Half of my hookups were from watching my line as the fish were continuing towards me after the bite. Ended up having to switch my bait to higher geared reel and stiffer rod to make catching up and setting hook quicker. It made a huge difference.
Any way I left the water around 9 p.m. and stuck around the ramp and spoke to the guy running the weekly Lake Athens Bass Tournament. May be competing against the power boat guys next week.
What a big difference that makes!