04-13-2011, 01:59 PM
This Saturday will be a crowded time at the lower dam ramp, due to a bass tournament. I have no idea where you live, so don't know if that would be the ramp you would head for, but I'd recommend the upper dam ramps or Akies (the one at Access #1 on the south shore). The water should be in the high 40s and fishing will probably be tough. Some guys in the tournament will find the fish and do OK. Many years I've caught them very shallow at this time, but with our spring I don't think the fish will have moved much yet. The lake is 2' from full and filling fast. Last year I didn't catch a fish on April 15, pulled my boat out and headed to the Snake, where I caught my biggest smallmouth of the year at 5 1/4 pounds. However the river was at 3.2' at the Murphy gauge then, and is 7.2 feet this morning. Four feet higher than last year. We've got lots of water around and fishing should be good this summer, but it's going to be a hit or miss spring.
Incidentally, the lake is just across the road from my house, and the high water is moving the deer from the brush. We had 7 munching on our lawn last night. Drive carefully in the evenings. We see lots of dead deer on Lakeshore Drive every year.
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Incidentally, the lake is just across the road from my house, and the high water is moving the deer from the brush. We had 7 munching on our lawn last night. Drive carefully in the evenings. We see lots of dead deer on Lakeshore Drive every year.
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