Wednesday April 6, 2023 – As part of my five-year transition into retirement, I’ve decided to fish on Wednesdays this year. Last week, I had some success fishing at the Forebay and was excited to try the lake today. What struck me immediately was how full the lake was. Even in 2018, after a severe drought, I hadn’t seen it this full. I remembered the incredible fish I caught around the half-submerged trees along the shoreline back then, and I was looking forward to casting at targets along the shoreline once again.

The weather on Friday was fantastic, with clear water and warm weather, and there were only two boats on the lake all day. I set a modest goal of catching just one fish, as the reports from the previous week were pessimistic and the full moon was supposed to make things difficult. Nevertheless, I had a plan to use sonar to find any hiding stripers, and if I found one, I’d throw everything I had at it.

Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t find any schools of stripers. However, I did come across some American Shad in the Bay of Pigs on the sonar. Experts suggest that the stripers may be in deep water and in shock right now, so we’ll have to wait for things to change. Perhaps a bloom of baitfish to fill the shoreline hiding areas would add some food value and attract more fish.

This weekend, I’ll return to the Forebay to see if I can find some more stripers in the muddy water. Maybe I’ll try tying some rattled, unweighted flies to catch some blind fish.