Awesome day to be on the water. Lake level was up a little (above full pool) & water temp was 82-85 degrees. Fished from daybreak til 4:30. Little to no wind until the front came through at 2:30. It was real nice to have the cool down even if it meant fighting some wind. Used 2 Gulp Alive colors all day about evenly (Watermelon Pearl & Chartreuse shad). Started out searching the reed beds with limited success. They are starting to show up there, but it's mostly small ones at this point. The highlight of the day was finding my 1st large spawning bed using the Hummingbird side imaging. Now I really do have a secret spot. As a bonus, the beds were loaded with red ear. Over 50% of the fish caught there were red ear. I located this area about an hour before the front came through. Right before the front hit the bass moved in & it was non stop action with these guys for about a half hour of crazy action. Ended the day with over 100 sunfish & 25-30 bass. Many of the sunfish were 9-10 inches, but did not catch any over 10 inches. Most of the bass were 1.5 to 2.5 lbs. with 2 in the 3 lb range.

Great post as always Vogey! That is totally awesome finding some beds using the side scan. Fishing Technology has come along way! Again great post and some great slabs.



Side Note: No fish is safe on Fayette with the "Master of Fayette", Side Scan, and a endless supply of Gulp Minnows, being on the water!

Great information, post and pictures

I went out about 10 days ago and found very few along the reed beds. It sounds like they still haven't showed up there yet. I'll wait for your report of them showing up.

Adding gulp minnows was bad enough. But now you add technology to your arsenal. That's simply unfair to those poor fish. From everything I read, the bigger fish will be in in the deepest parts of the bedding area. They're the wisest and don't risk those birds coming to get them. So you should only fish the shallow areas and leave the big ones for me.

Two words! "MONSTER SLABS"! Great job Steve!



Side Note: Fishing Technology has come a long way. Gitter Done! Do not forget that Steve aka Vogey also has "Stop Mark" for his trolling motor!, not to mention he knows 98 percent of the Bluegill and Redear population by their first names!

Ach du lieber !

Another monster sunfish and bass combo day !

Glad to hear the red ear are showing up to the party.

J-Moe...Will let you know when the reed action starts...

Gitter...It's funny...I have fished that spot 30-40 times for bass in the past & had no idea it was a bluegill haven...ah yes...technology.

Banker...I would guess I only know the 1st names of maybe 10%...but hoping to meet some new friends in the future.

Lepomis...I know since my ancestors are German, I should know what you said there...from German classes in high school I remember something like "good grief" or goodness ??? Anyway thanks for the compliment...I think...

Steve how do you like your Hummingbird? I have Lawrence Gen 3 touch units and they are really good for side/downscanning. In a couple of weeks Im changing my units out to the new Garmin units and also installing the "LiveScope". I fished with that setup that a friend of mine had just installed on Toledo Bend and I could not believe the difference from the current setup that I have which is considered quite good.

Oh I forgot to ask. Did you take a screen shot of the blue gill bed that you can post. I see all the tilapia beds that look like sunken tires. Relatively new to fishing for blue gill Im not sure if I know what one looks like.

Tom...Sure...It's an awful pic with a dirty screen & bad lighting, but here it is...the right side shows tilapia & the left are bluegill. The craters are actually round, but the image got skewed as I started turning.

Tom...I haven't used it all that much & have a lot to learn, but so far I love it...

Good job. The bluegill beds look smaller. You definitely can see the tilapia on the beds on the right.

OK I change the percentage to 97 percent! Again yet another super post!

Great post Vogey as always. Looks like a great summer ahead.