Smoke on the Water

[Big Mike]

During the rockfish closure I’ve been hitting St Mary’s Lake almost daily. Get to the gate around 15 minutes early, get rigged up, pull through gate at 6 and launch immediately. This gives me about an hour of topwater before the sun gets too high and the fish move deeper. The last two days I’ve noticed a white looking film on the water in leeward spots.

Sorry about picture quality but you can see the white. When I looked closer I think it’s ash from the fires out west mixing in with usual lake crud to give it that white hue.

Today was a typical day, 8 topwater fish by casting over 4-6’ of water 30-50 yards from the bank. Right now I don’t get many bites super shallow and everyone who fishes pounds the banks, these fish have seen it all. By moving off the bank I’m in much less pressured water.


Once the sun gets up I switch over to my Yamamoto grubs and tube baits. This gave me another 5 bass and another very nice pickerel.




I’ll take these over a perch everyday of the week. Generally I’m off by 8:30-9:00, beat the heat is my mantra.


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[J.A. Veil]

Nice work, Mike. We are fortunate to have both freshwater and tidal water options nearby in this area. You seem to have the lake dialed in.

[dsaavedra]

Nice pickerel! I'm looking forward to targeting them some more once the weather gets cold. Last winter was my first time actively targeting them in the cold months and it was a fun way to keep me busy over the winter.

[Mark]

Mike,

That looks like a smallmouth. I didn't know they were in St. Mary's Lake.

What a terrific fishing resource you have nearby. I really want to get down there.

I recall last year we had an odd haze in the sky that meteorologists attributed to the wildfires out west. It's amazing how far smoke can travel in the wind. Similarly, I saw a documentary about the "Dust Bowl" in the 1930s when a severe drought and excessive plowing caused the topsoil to literally blow way in the wind. Dust from the southern plains states reached all the way to Washington, D.C.

[Big Mike]

Mike,

That looks like a smallmouth. I didn't know they were in St. Mary's Lake.

Oh,I wish we had smallies, nope that’s a largemouth.

[Mark]

Fooled me Mike. I didn't see a lateral line and the mouth looked small from the angle of the photo.

Smallies are fun to catch for sure. But so are Largemouth.

I'm doing a guided float trip for Smallmouth on the Juniata in almost a month to the day. I'm looking forward to that, of course.