Cedar Creek Lake Reports for January 2021

1/2/2021: Well, I was curious to see if all the rain and the lake filling up changed winter structure fishing here. So, I went out on this gorgeous day from 11 AM until 3:45 PM. I checked Long Ridge (east, center and west), Key Ranch Drop-off, Mid-lake Hump, and Key Ranch north, and by 12:30 PM had caught only 3 keeper white bass. Then I went north to another main-lake hump and found them at several spots on the hump in 22 to 29 fow. When I left there at 3:15 PM, I was still catching big white bass with their count up to 45 plus 2 hybrids (2 more pulled off), 2 cats, and a drum. I checked out one more spot - Merimac Point - to see if fish were there and caught 5 more big whites at the far eastern edge of it in 25 fow. I caught very few dinks today. Of the 50 whites, about a dozen were 12 inches, and the rest were from 13 to 16.5 inches. The hybrids were 20 and 21 inches.

The only bait I tried was a silver #4 Mepps. Most were caught parked right over them and jigging the Mepps then lifting it slowly off the bottom. I also caught some casting and working it back to the boat along the bottom. Here are some pics:

1st hybrid:


Typical white bass:


The ones I kept for cleaning (25 whites andone hybrid)

Beautiful day for catching Dennis!

Dennis I just noticed that you direct tie to the Mepps and do not use a swivel. Can you expand on why that is?

Hey Dennis did you try casting and not work?

Would you want to fish together on Monday?

I so enjoyed fishing with you last week.

cliff

Nice haul!

Good winter fatties

RoadRunnerTR21: I learned decades ago that white bass settled down on structure can be very picky about the presentation. Extra hardware or too big a line can cause them not to bite. So, I have been tying the line directly to the Mepps since the late 1970s. I don't have a problem with line twist on #4s as long as I keep the wire straight and the treble hooks symmetrical.
On #2s I put a slight bend in the wire intentionally to make it start spinning more readily and give it a little more drag to increase feel. Sometimes this will cause line twist. But, when that happens, I re-bend the wire in a different direction and see if that stops the twist. There IS a direction of wire bend that will eliminate the twist, and I repeat the bend until I find the right direction.

Nice fish. Good job.

Thanks Dennis. I'll be out there today and try the direct tie. The last 2 times out, I definitely found the fish but they just wouldn't bite well. I've also rigged a #2 and plan to try that if the #4 doesn't work well.

Nice Dennis!

1/4/2021: Friends Paul and Cliff went out with me from 10 AM to 5 PM. We caught 75 whites most of which were 13 to 16 inches, and a 24 inch hybrid - all catch and release. They were caught setting up over main-lake humps in 20 to 27 fow with fish hugging the bottom. We jigged and lifted #4 Mepps on the bottom. Cliff caught a few on #3 Mepps, a slab, and a #4 Mepps look-alike. Beautiful day, great company, and fun fishing. Here are some pics:

A double:


Paul's 24 inch hybrid:


A triple:

Nice report Dennis. I can not wait for the day, Lord willing, that I get to fish on any day I feel like. You my friend are blessed. Every time I try to take some vacation time from work, It always seems to rain or the wind will be blowing 15 to 25. Thanks again for the report. Hopefully I will get time to enjoy these nice pretty winter days soon.

Nice job Dennis! I'm over the hunting bug for the year and plan on hitting CC this weekend for the first time in a couple months. Based on your report it sounds like drifts down wind blown main lake ledges next to the traditional structures will be the ticket!

Glad to see CC continuing to fish so healthy. Nice spring spawning conditions going on our 5th year in a row!

Dennis nice catching

Solid post and awesome catch Dennis! Thanks for all your reports.

Dennis when jigging or lifting the mepps, are your strikes occurring as the mepps rises or falls? Also, roughly how far do you think the lure is coming off the bottom?

A few hits on the fall but most on the lift. Vary the lift height to see what works best. I'd say I lift it a minimum of 6 inches and a maximum of 3 ft with about 1 1/2 ft most common. Throw in raising it about 8 inches and then lowering and raising the Mepps 4 inches, i.e. keeping it suspended. I vary the lift from vertical to dragging it at a diagonal. Sometimes they will chase it up to 3 ft and sometimes they won't budge from the bottom. I keep varying things until I see what works best. I also tap my foot on the boat floor, if fish move out from under me, in an effort to bring them back. It works about half the time.

nice

Thanks Dennis!

That's is way too much fun, DC and the boys! If you can still catch fish like that who needs stanking deadstick

Those fish are healthy good lookin