Posted by JOHN G on 10-06-2003 11:20 AM:

Whaley Tactic revisited.......

the Southern end of Whaley has a unique shoreline that is unlike any other part of the lake....

the entire stretch of this shoreline has a quick tapering dive into deep water, as opposed to the mostly very slow tapering that you see in the rest of the lake......as such, it stands out and red flags fishing logic.

the very first time I went to Whaley, I had looked at the map and targeted that area, and we were amazed at the feeding frenzy we had found at about 17 feet or so, this being in the middle of a very hot summer ( last year )......

Yesterday, at the Whaley get together, we found a similar frenzy but this time all the way out to 25 feet. Now when you go over this area with your sonar, it is a structure fishermans dream...some day I will HAVE to drop an Aqua Cam down there to see the actual topography, but smooth boring bottom it ISN"T!! there is just so much that you see on your sonar, and of course, many arches associated with it, especially at the dropoff points.

Interestingly though, arches were down there earlier in the day when we fished it, but nothing much was happening, then at 3 pm yesterday, the switch clicked on and they went mad.

There is a chapter in Buck Perry's incredible SpoonPlugging book, where he keeps insisting on this mantra: GET OUT OF THE WEEDS!

what he is referring to, are lakes that are so uniformly weedy, such as Whaley, so that the NON WEEDY AREAS are actually the stickouts or different from the norm....sort of like a reverse effect of scattered cover.....here , you have cover galore, so you have to find something a little different to make one particular area "better" in the fish's little world......the "better" can be hidden stumps or rocks amongst the weeds, or a little stream inlet , or whatever, but sometimes , the "better" can simply be the ABSENCE of weeds, as contradictive as it might seem.

that is why there have been numerous posts here about targeting water beyond the actual deep weed edge at times....

What probably makes this area on Whaley work, is that it is the beginning of the one sustained deep water part of the lake. Anyone who has a Whaly map can consult this, a large circular 30 foot deep section.....now, as this circular section rims on East, West , North , South borders, all of the other "borders" are slow tapering shorelines back up to the shallows, but the Southern end is a quicker taper.....so here we have very quick access to deeper water. I believe it then becomes a focus of baitfish schools.......just before the frenzy yesterday, I did see a nice baitfish school on the sonar....Interestingly: Pete dragged up a yellow perch during that stretch on the tube, as no doubt even they were taking advantage of this baitfish phenomena that must occur in that spot at various times of the day.

another point to think about: the fact that all of these fish were perfectly "comfortable" and feeding in 25 feet of water tells you that the oxygen level down there is perfectly fine, and although I am tempted to use the "T" word, (thermocline), I am more inclined to say that there is NEVER a thermocline at all at Whaley for whatever reason. with such a tremendous amount of water vergetation going on there, and with just one section of really deep water ( and not all that deep), apparently this lake is always well oxygenated so that this area can apparently be fished successfully year round.

a little overanalytical perhaps, but just sharing some of my thoughts about this.....

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Posted by Bass Stalker on 10-06-2003 12:50 PM:

John,

Your observation is right on the money. Jeff and I didn't get to the south end of the lake until the very end of the day. While we were slowly crossing over at 28 feet, the sonar lit up like a christmas tree !!!

Unfortunately, at that point our battery was running out of power and the wind was brutal. We never got a chance to confirm what was below the boat as we were making our way back to the marina since we feared getting stranded.

If I fish whaley again, I'll be sure to return to that area and pound it with spoons and blade baits !!!

Ronnie

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Posted by joe p on 10-06-2003 02:25 PM:

yesterday, Mark and I didnt have a lot of fish, but maybe about 20 of our bass were keeper fish, with a lot of the 1.5's and 2's included. Our big fish was close to 3 lbs. And all of these fish were from the South end.

We were alone at that area in the morning and connected with the quality fish.....guess all those fish went deep at the end of the day and you guys found them at 25 ft, John....We were dropshotting that deep too, but coudnt get a tick. I guess they wanted a bottom lure like the tubes you were using....

Joe

Posted by JOHN G on 10-07-2003 08:45 AM:

another observation Joe:

during that bite, if you just gently dragged your tube, ala Erie Drag, you would connect with a bass....if you hopped it agressively, you would connect with a pickerel!!!!!

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Posted by BassMiesterNJ on 10-07-2003 09:33 AM:

I've had some mild but consistent success slowly dragging a light C-rig (1/4 to 3/16 egg sinker, bead, swivel, 3' to 4' flouro leader) in deep water (15' to 25') usually with a DT Hula Grub.

I'm curious what size/type wieght you were using dragging those tubes ? I am assuming they were T-rigged and pegged ?

Posted by Mark G on 10-07-2003 12:10 PM:

John...over analytical? Not a chance! This is a great thread. I mentioned your sonar reading abilities in my post on the get-together, and I think that combined with the stand out nature of that spot put together a great pattern for you guys.

Yes, you can see it on the map. The south eastern corner of the lake, where Joe and I got our biggest fish, perhaps the biggest of the day, has a very steep decline from the shore to 30+ feet of water. That fish came up shallow early in the day, but it had good access to deep water, as John said.

Yep, next year I'll have to get me one of those Eagle 320 portables and hopefully there will be another Bass U class on reading sonar!

Mark

Posted by Gregg on 10-07-2003 05:22 PM:

quote:

I'm curious what size/type wieght you were using dragging those tubes ? I am assuming they were T-rigged and pegged ?

Tubes were rigged on a 1/4oz internal head. Fished real easy too much action and you got a pickerel

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Posted by Wild Bill on 10-07-2003 08:27 PM:

Gregg, if you would please...

and would be so kind, could you please expand upon your technique employed.
I have fished tubes on internal heads, leaving the head back a bit from the front of the tube, so it leaves a 'reservoir tip' so to say[lol], and that helps it really spiral better on the fall by doing that. From what I am interpretting{I think}, it sounds like you were dragging the tubes. Am I correct, or was it small hops??
Tubes are indeed a very versatile lure, and I have caught Bass flipping the larger ones in thick stuff, dragging a 3.5 inch tube texas-rigged or pitching them to weedlines or weedheads], or on a internal head hopping it and dropping it down and out from rocky banks. Hope you can be so kind to clue us all in...Thanks!!

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Posted by Gregg on 10-07-2003 09:54 PM:

Bill I love tubes the way you love frogs! I leave a little space up front too but don't over do it. As for that day on Whaley, small hops with looooong pauses in between. I guess those long pauses is what John was comparing to the Erie drag but I don't feel I was draging it.

Sometimes they want more action, you can jerk them along pretty good using a wrist action, but if you want that spiral action special to tubes your better off with a lift and drop using the rod tip to lift the tube and let it spiral back down. Start with a big lift say 9 o'clock to 11 then work your way down till your just moving your rod tip a few inches of cause how long you wait between these lift can also be played with it you find what the fish want.

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Posted by Wild Bill on 10-07-2003 11:10 PM:

Thanks Gregg !!

I appreciate the info ..

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Posted by yar on 10-07-2003 11:39 PM:

john G, just to let you know there are special times during the day when the south end turns on. one person in my club knows the lake very well. and he has won our yearly night TX the last 3 years with between 12-15lbs. and has also put a fish on the scale over 5lbs at each one too. the last being a 7lber. it pays to fish the lake a bit. but there is also a sweet spot on the north end also. that at times turns on just like the south end. but it's not in 20+ft of water. i watched a few anglers at different times during a TX put on a fishing show at the one spot. the only thing i think it could be is that the area is between two points. and the fish move through this area to look for food during the day. like i said before it pays to fish and explore a lake for a while.

Posted by earthworm77 on 10-08-2003 12:21 AM:

Ray, would his initials be DM? How was the classic?

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Posted by JOHN G on 10-08-2003 08:03 AM:

Ray: I haven't figured out the North end completely yet....there is a 10 foot deep section between all of the shallow water up there and I have yet to come up with a workable pattern in that particular section......my main success in the north end is to senko and jig the underbush at the shoreline....

you are right, there is still much to learn on that water and I will continue to fish it regularly.....

Wild Bill: keep in mind that we are NOT catching fish on the drop with these tubes, as such, we want the heavier weight because our action is on the bottom....when bottom fishing tubes, I always use 1/4 ounce to get it down faster and to keep it at the bottom better...

Gregg, by the way, is an EXCELLENT tube fisherman, he has a lot of confidence in that lure and will use it in many instances....

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Posted by yar on 10-08-2003 06:00 PM:

worm, yes it would and read on the TX board. john, the northend i do much of the same. i jig the s@#t out of the shore line. but like i said, i have had some on cranks and topwater. i think i have to make a trip before the month is over to whaley. before they go south for the winter.LOL

Posted by got_A_way on 10-10-2003 04:27 PM:

fish arch question for JohnG

John,

When I was at the south end of Whaley I saw very small arches at the 25 ft depth. Do fish arches appear smaller the deeper the depth? I used the demo program from Eagle's web site to figure the crontrol panel. There was no indication that arches get smaller with depth. In retrospect it make sense.

Bob

Posted by Wild Bill on 10-10-2003 08:53 PM:

large arches....

that are golden are Mc Donalds.......{lol}

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Posted by JOHN G on 10-10-2003 11:04 PM:

Bob: that is an excellent question!!! from my experiences fishing deep water, especially when bladebaiting, I do not let the size of the arches fool me....many a time, I have seen small arches and then pulled up big fish....

seeing a real nice full sized arch sometimes is just a matter of a fish sitting still within the cone of the transducer range...a fish that is suspended, fanning in place, directly under the cone will usually show up as an exagerrated arch, many times flattened out and long.......

the presence of arches to me signifies activity and that is what I am looking for when doing this type of fishing.....

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