Puddingstone 1/19/15

Back with another skunk report I am sorry to say. Has been a slow 2015 for me but I am not totally discouraged yet, although I am looking forward to some warmer water temps.

I can be a bit of an ADD fisherman when it comes to using baits. Sometimes if I am not careful I can be changing baits every few casts. It's crazy, I know. So one of my main focuses for this trip was to stick with the two baits I started with and get really comfortable working them and feeling the baits. I have been reading a lot recently about slow rolling spinnerbaits in the winter time and I thought I would try that out. I have a second rod holder now so I went with a drop shot robo on my spinner rig and a white and chartreuse spinner bait on my caster rig.

I launched from the west side of the lifeguard dock and kicked over to the point that separates the two coves in the northwest side of the lake. If you know the names of these coves please let me know. I got in the water around 9:30, the air temp was 60 or so and the water was 56. Visibility was around 2' to 3'. By 11 the water had warmed up to 58 and that is where it stayed for the rest of the time I was there.

I saw a small group of fish on the FF about 5 yards or so off the point, they were between 11' and 15' down. There was a little group of them right near a drop off. I fished this little group for 30 or 40 minutes from every angle I could think of. Slow rolling the spinner and using the drop shot. Nothing, not even a nibble.

After that I kicked over to the dock on the north side of the far cove. I saw a bunch of fish hanging around the posts in the 7' to 15' range. I kicked in towards the shore and worked my way out past the last post slow rolling the spinner, still couldn't get anything. So I switched to a fast then pause retrieve. When I got about 6' or 8' past the last post I picked up a bunch more on the FF in the 22' range. Fished those with drop shot for a while.

Kicked through the far cove and didn't really see anything, it's pretty shallow there. That seems like a good area come spawn time. When I got back to the point the fish were still there and I finally switched up to a chatterbait on the caster. It is a bluegill pattern chatterbait. I tried to slow roll it deep for a bit with no luck. Kicked my way down the south side of the point towards the damn dragging my drop shot and shaking it every now and them. Picked up couple on the FF but not many.

Decided to break for lunch around 12:30 and on my way back found a group on FF right where there is a nice hump in the lake. On the south side of the near cove about half way from the dam to the lifeguard dock it goes from something like 20' to 5' deep in a few inches it seems like. There was a bunch of fish right there. Fished it from a few different angles with no luck.

Fished the other side of sailboat after lunch but didn't see much. I was pretty tired at that point so I called it a day and left.

Talked to a guy in a Kayak and he hadn't caught anything. Talked to two guys in boat that said the got one on a spider jug after a "shock boat" came through and scared up a bunch of fish. Not sure what that means.

All in all it was a beautiful day to be on the lake. There was a bunch of old WWII type airplanes flying around too which was pretty cool.

How are you guys working your drop shot? What I have been doing is when I get a blip on the FF I open my bail and let it drop to the bottom and work it from there. How much tag end do you recommend? I have been using about 18".

Hopefully my next report will have some fish porn to share.

Cheers.

Thanks for the Report Dondraper , Any day fishing is better then working or sitting at home , even if it ends in a skunk

As far as rigging the drop shot its not a lot to it , I usually have my tag end in the 10-14" range when I am fishing 20' of water . after that its pretty much throw it in the rod holder and just drift it while your working the lures on the other rod . no need to feed the line or even bother with it much.

1 thing to note is I do like to use a wide gap dropshot hook . That way you can grab bigger baits like tubes or grubs and not have to switch hooks on different plastics . Weights If I am fishing rocks I like the Round XPS drop shot weights as they make a ton of noise coming over and through rocks . If I am fishing trees and other heavy cover I switch to a skinny slim weight as it glides through cover Great .

PRO TIP : Be cautious if you use Tungsten weights as this metal is the cause of a lot of lost Fish as the weight gets thrown around and can break your line off . Don't Believe me take your line and wrap it around a tungsten weight and gently pull it will break the line 95% of the time. that metal is some crazy stuff .

Good luck on the water ,

WES

Great report and thanks for sharing.
I got skunked on Perris today dragging night crawlers on the split shot.
I monitored fish in the same depths as you reported. I'll post a report when I get a chance.
Keep grinding the fish will show.

Very nice report dondraper    . That second cove out by the doc holds big girls. I have lost a few there on that second cove. just an FYI on the first cove close to the dam there are some trees lines to the left, that use to be the spot and I was told that it looks like its going to be productive this year, Don't take my word for it, I'm just repeating what was said to me. I was thinking about going out there next week to check out the structure myself.

Great report don draper! Sorry about the skunk!....man I wish I had intel on the lake....keep pounding im sure youll b rewarded with a huge bucket mouth!! Thanks again for reporting good stuff

Great report! Even though you got the skunk, they say "your worst day fishing beats your best day at work", sure is true! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks guys.

@Misfitdog
Thanks for the tips. I will try trolling the drop shot next time. How do you manage the line length, since the depth can change a lot? Do you just drop it in deep water and leave it like that?

As far as the hooks go can you recommend one specifically? I will pick some up. Sorry to ask for the spoon feeding, if that is inappropriate my bad.

@FADB
I was really happy to see so many fish in that far cove. I have only been to puddingstone 5 or 6 times but I never see anyone fishing over there. Maybe it doesn't get as much pressure as the near cove or sailboat cove.

I know the tree line your are talking about. Let me know how the recon mission goes. TBH the pudd has a lot of great structure, I really have high hopes for this place in the spring.

Thanks for sharing your experience at puddingstone. It motivated me to go out there today but I was also skunked. I did see that ledge that you where describing with fish suspending off of it but they wouldn't bite. I have been having decent luck shore fishing with dark jigs fishing coves to the left and right of the high pier. I am not sure if you can tube there but I see kayaks and paddle boarders cruising by that area.

The stone has always been a tuff lake to fish. I have gotten skunked so many times there at that lake but after going there for so long I got to see a pattern that helped me out. I managed to hook up trout, bass, crappie, bluegill, redear, carp and catfish. The stone can be very challenging and for me, it's still is. I love fishing there although I know I have high chances of getting skunked, but just to let you fellas know, there are some FAT girls there at the pudd ready to make someone's day. This is an old picture but my goal for the pudd is to catch a bigger one than the one on the picture
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fishfrenzy wrote:Thanks for sharing your experience at puddingstone. It motivated me to go out there today but I was also skunked. I did see that ledge that you where describing with fish suspending off of it but they wouldn't bite. I have been having decent luck shore fishing with dark jigs fishing coves to the left and right of the high pier. I am not sure if you can tube there but I see kayaks and paddle boarders cruising by that area.

Too bad you got skunked but hey, at least I know my electronics are working. LOL. I was reading an article last night that said during the winter Bass only need to eat once every 14 days. Just a fun fact we can use as an excuse.

@FADB

That's what I'm talkn' about!!!

I have heard others say the pudd is tough fishing as well. It's weird because it really has all the elements. You think it's the pressure that makes it tough? Would love to go out there some time and pick up on some of that knowledge your holding!