Sometimes you go out right away and the morning bite is fantastic! Sometimes you go out and your fish are right where they belong and cooperate exactly as they should! Sometimes none of that happens, and you’re left trying to scratch out any sort of bite! That happens more than many of us would like to admit, but when you dedicate some time, cover water, and fish aggressively more often than not you can fumble into another bite!
That was exactly what happened to us today, as we had a great bite going in the stilling basin. Last week, traditional crankbaits like the Rapala Shad Rap and Berkley Flicker Shad were producing so well, I was able to dial in exactly what color of Shad Rap they were preferring between purple and blue.
Learn More: Blue vs Purple, Does Color Matter When Trolling Crankbaits?
This week, the bite continued to be so good we were literally testing out Lake Erie tactics to see if they could produce fish on Lake Sharpe. Spoiler alert-they can, and it’s a lot of fun! Whether it was crankbaits, spoons, or jerkbaits behind torpedo weights we could do no wrong and fish were finding themselves in the boat. Right up until they weren’t!
Learn More: Lake Erie Meets Lake Sharpe – Mixing It Up for Mid-Summer Walleye
After catching only two fish in the stilling basin all morning, we were on the wrong side of noon and desperately looking for a bite. To put even more pressure on us, Tom Sieburg of Tom Tom’s Guide Service had a large group booked for the next two days. We needed to find fish, and we needed to do it soon!
We ran downriver and began looking for fish on the expansive flats below Farm Island Recreation Area. The first couple spots were empty, marking very little and generating no bites, which had the pressure turned up even higher. As the sun got stronger and temperatures rose, things weren’t looking good. We pulled into one of my most consistent producing spots year-round, and things flipped on a dime!
Fishing between 6-8 feet along contours that I refer to as “the dunes” we started marking fish instantly, and shortly after had our first bites. Bottom bouncing with #4 Colorado blades and Mack’s Lure Smile Blades and nightcrawlers, we were able to both effectively cover water and trigger aggressive bites. Whether it was gold, blue, or purple it didn’t seem to matter, as fish were sitting in these areas waiting for baits to move through…fortunately that was us!
After thoroughly working the area over, we had a good understanding of what was holding these fish in this area. There was ample current flowing over them, which was bringing oxygen, cooler water, and forage right over them. They were able to tuck into these crevices and depressions created by these “dunes” and rest and relax while they waited for something to swim through.
There were some large schools of gizzard shad that were frequenting the area, but by focusing on these areas that fish were sitting in we were able to maximize our time in the strike zone and fumble our way into some awesome Lake Sharpe walleye! It may be summer, it may be hot, and the calendar might not say the bite is good…but if you put in the time, cover water, and stay positive you’re likely to fumble your way into some fish too! Good fishing!
