How's the Tuc fishing?

[kahuna bass]

Greetings all,

Currently in Japan, getting ready to head over to the islands.

Has anyone had much luck this past weekend? Are the Tuc's schooled up and destroying the shad?

Any information would be great.

By the way, met up with a couple board members a couple weeks ago on the lake, fishing was truly a blast...

Yes, I am a live bait fisherman once again.

Regards, Mel "Kahuna bass"
Dark side live baiter

[Ca_Bass]

I haven't got out for about two weeks but the tucs were schooling and we caught probably 50+ on lures/flies last time out, can't imagine how it would've been with live bait. I actually had a little tuc on and a big one came up and ate it, too bad the big one broke me off!

Good Luck when you get out here!

[Bozu]

Water level is down about 3.5 feet and still dropping, and dropping fast. Sorry lads the shad feeding frenzy of the past few weeks has slowed to almost nil. It looks like the water level is falling at a rate of 6 to 8 inches per 24 hours.

The summer doldrums are here. Weather report dujour: Hot sunny and very little cloud cover.

All the livebaiters should still be able to get some action. Lure aficianados will need to work hard for every bite.

Bozu

[hitoshe]

yep, the water level IS down. went yesterday and haven't been up to the lake for a couple of months when the water level was real high. being a bank fisherman, i appreciated the lower level - more area to work from. wifey caught a few channel cats - biggest being about 2 1/2 #s - and i only landed 1 tuc - about the same weight. caught 3 more about the same size, but they did the "self catch and release" on the shoreline for me. i was using live bait - medaka and tilapia - so i was hoping for more action, but didn't - and couldn't (because of water clarity) see a whole lot of tucs around. better than no action at all regardless.

[OO7:BASSINASSASSIN]

The water has gotten a lot more murky, there must be a bloom going on. The fish are also less active. The ones I have been catching feel relatively warm to the touch.

Hitoshe, I did not realize that tucs hooked up on live bait would come off so often.

[hitoshe]

i don't want them to get gut-hooked, so i don't freeline too long before setting the hook. if you insure that your hooks are sharp, they won't usually don't come off. just unlucky, i guess.

[Ca_Bass]

007:BASSINASSASSIN "The water has gotten a lot more murky, there must be a bloom going on."

If you don't mind me asking what is a bloom? Never heard the term before.

[Bozu]

The "bloom" as in Algae bloom. Bright sunlight and hot summer temperatures raise the water temperature and accelerate algae growth rates. We can get blooms that make the water clarity like green pea soup and/or a brownish colored algae that turns the water a muddy color. The brownish algae can sometimes float on the surface and is often mistaken for an oil spill because it resembles an oil slick.

Much the same happens in your common household aquarium when you don't change the water regularly or filter it properly.

Prolonged algae blooms can be detrimental to water quality because while the daytime photosynthesis process creates oxygen, the reverse happens at night, algae eating bacteria deplete available oxygen. The lack of oxygenated water can drive fish deeper or shallower in the vertical water column in their search for more oxygen rich water.

Ever wonder what that concrete building is next to the spillway ?

In the old days when the sugar plantation used to draw massive amounts of water to irrigate the fields, the low water level and hot summer temperatures would prompt the DLNR to aerate the water via a compressor housed in that building. The oxygen levels would be so low that they would run a hose suspened by floats from the pump house out towards condo point in a effort to save the fish population from possible suffocation.

Sorry for the long winded explanation on the meaning of "bloom".

Bozu

[Ca_Bass]

That's awesome, thanks for the info. Too bad there isn't more underwater vegetation at the lake I bet that would clear up the water some.

[OO7:BASSINASSASSIN]

Hey Bozu that was a great answer. I find the fishing becomes difficult whenever a "bloom" occurs. For example, a long time ago I actually saw the water go from normal to brownish tea color. The fishing was good until the water turned. The fish all dissappeared!

I too, would also like to see some more vegetation. Some surface vegetation would be awesome, like lily pads or duck weed. S. molesta was great except nothing kept it in check, it just covered over the lake.