50 Shades of Linesides – O’Neill Forebay

After a solid day on the lake Wednesday, I thought, “Why not press my luck again?” But this time, I took my game to the forebay, aiming for an earlier start. The plan was simple: hope the powerhouse current was flowing and let the October-November fish fiesta begin. With the shad population going wild and bait schools dodging into the grass like it’s a game of hide-and-seek, it’s prime time out there. Fish start roaming in packs like they’re in a buffet line, and with my livescope, it’s like I’m equipped with fish radar – way too much fun.

Today, I touched  fish almost everywhere. I kicked off the day near the Beaches around the launch, where Frank scored big on Wednesday. It looked like the stripers were herding baitfish to the shore and picking off any strays that dared to leave the weeds. One guy at the launch was catching shad for bait with a Sabiki rig, scoring not just shad but also a few small bass and bluegill. The shad are plump at around 2.5-3 inches, hanging thick in the shallows, so I’m betting there’s some evening action going on in the Mederios area. Right as I pulled out, I saw folks launching with only two hours left on the clock. Talk about dice-rolling!

Most of the stripers today were in the 10-17 inch range, but they fought like bonefish. I found big schools of these little battlers hanging out in the flats by the islands and near the rocks at Mederios. Some were out deeper, around 20 feet off the dam, but the powerhouse wasn’t moving water, so no big blitzes or birds swarming. I did find a few small busts on the flats, and it was a blast to chase them down, catching a couple each time before they moved on. Driving around seemed to spook the baitfish out of hiding, triggering the stripers to go into overdrive.

The best action of the day, though, was in the deeper water downstream of the powerhouse, where I found bigger stripers chilling in 8-foot shallows off the banks. Wrapped up with 50 fish on the scorecard and a dozen over 18 inches. What can I say? Solid day out there.

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