Rocky Gorge Tomorrow

[bunnielab]

If it looks like the rain will hold off until later I think I am going to launch at Supplee Lane tomorrow morning. Has anyone been to RG lately and can comment on the conditions? My hope is that the rain is still keeping the bass shallow in the coves, as I am ill equipped to fish very deep.

[perchy]

Hi bunnie,

I was there last weekend and it was pretty tough and I got skunked. Water is high and water temp is in the mid 60s. I did see many spawner bass in the shallows but they wouldn't take anything I threw at them (spinnerbait, jig, rapala).

Best of luck!

Perchy

[bunnielab]

That's too bad to hear, if you cant catch them I don't rate my chances very high. But, this is my last weekend for a while to make it out, so I might as well try. I will make a finesse day of it and fish a Ned, an inline spinner, and a small fluke.

[perchy]

Yeah downsizing sounds like a good idea! Good luck and let us know how you do

[perchy]

Any luck out there?

[bunnielab]

Caught about 3-4 dinks in the 10-12" range and maybe a half dozen small panfish. Almost everything came on a Ned, with one bass on a Shad Impact worked weightless like a small fluke. There were some guys out in a johnboat doing pretty well on white flukes, but I couldn't buy a bite when I switched up to a full sized one.

You were right, I did see a number of nice bass up shallow, but they were not interested in anything I was throwing. I caught the few that I did by casting across spawning sunfish and getting the small bass stalking the edges of the beds.

I again forgot just how deep RG is, even narrow little finger/creek channels will drop off so quickly. I was still trying to fish like I was on the bank, when I should have been working a dropshot or small shakyhead worms when I couldn't pick up anything with weightless plastics in the actual "shallows". I have always been bad at focusing need to become more disciplined when I am out in the yak, being able to bring so much tackle distracts me. I need to work out a topwater/shallow/mid/deep roster of lures and not bring more then just some basics in each category. I don't need finesse flukes, 3-4" paddle tails, and a Ned all tied on at once.

[perchy]

I think during the early morning and late afternoon, a consistent pattern I've had would be to run a spinnerbait around downed trees and slow rolling them around points. Middle of the day might call for something big heavy and slow down deep... like a 1 oz jig with a big soft plastic to draw out the bigger fish.