march 24th 2012 report

started at the ramp around 730 am. conditions were as follows, air temp at launch was 69 degrees and warmed to a high of 83  by noon.water temp was much warmer to start than last weekend with a temp of 72 at launch and warmed up to a high of 75 by noon.wind was calm and from the northeast and became stable 10-25 mph by 1 pm out of the east to northeast.barometer was at 30. 07 and rising. weather was clear and partly cloudy to mostly sunny all day.water clarity had greatly improved from the previous week, it averaged a 1 foot to 18 or so inches up in south fork with a heavy greenish tint/stain to it. in the main basin it was still heavily stained in areas and ranged from an orangish to greenish stain with visibility around a foot or so. up into kinkaids on north fork the water was less stained but still greenish with clarity at 18in to 2 feet in many spots. the astro table for the day was a 52 out of 100. water height at the dam gauge read 80.21ft a slight increase from the weekend before.we started up into south fork just like the weekend before. exact same grassed with a double bladed buzzbait. again got nothing. worked toward my lucky ironwood trees and along the way pitched the black/blue/purple jig to some steep banks and worked the buzzbait along the grass edges all to no avail. finally got to my trees with great anticipation. flipped and pitched my brains out down the stretch but no interested parties there apparently . made a run up to the old military bridge and pitched the jig and a brushhawg into the debris matt on the other side of the bridge. i risky endeavor to say the least considering how sharp the jagged concrete of the bridge is and youd have to horse a fish over the supports and debris. gave up after a few futile attempts to get it over the supports and into the matt, it was gonna get lost or snagged for sure so i gave it up despite the promising look of it. ran back down to rose street slough and began fishing the ironwoods along the whole of the cove area. some spinnerbait action and jig pitching but with no success. mad the run back down to the ironwood stretch again. and threw a spinnerbait this time, burn it along the top, then drop it to a 3 ft depth and run it , lastly let it go to the bottom then slowly roll it back. none it this worked, it was as if they had totally a banded the joint! ran down to the ironwoods and grass beds in the cove just before the ramp but still couldn't find a bite even on a crankbait. finally talked my son into the run down to his spot, although he insisted on feeding the geese first. managed to convince him to fish his magic tree spot. we worked it with the jig and his buzz bait. move on down the bank and finally had a hit up under a log on the jig but it came unbuttoned after a second. the pattern i had followed the week before was a dud this week. worked our way down the paperback stretch but cranking,spinner baiting wasn't pulling up much but sticks. began running and gunning trying to get a few so i could find them. the problem with a pattern is you have to get fish to have one!! hahaha till then its just a hunch or game plan and without at least 3 bass theres no way to say for sure your onto something . ran down to the geese at kemo'o island and fed them some bread, then my son was done....... no really he looked at me and said " I AM DONE!" managed to talk him into going upto kinkaids for a quick peek and worked the 1st 50yards on the bluff side with the jig ( i stuck with this because it was all i had to go on from the previous week) pitched it up under the ironwoods. finally got a little 1lb 14in bass next to a laydown. it wasn't really near the ironwood roots where they had been. worked down the bank and managed another cookie cutter bass a bit further down again on wood laydown, and not in the ironwood roots. i was seeing the promise of a new pattern developing!  my son was over it though, nothing even angry birds could cure. he was  DONE! hahaha we headed back toward the ramp for the lunchtime exchange. we didn't stop really, he was adamant about just getting back to meet mom. as we got there she called and said she would be late so we fished the stretch of ironwoods away from the ramp toward south fork. threw a 6 inch brushhawg in junebug. the very same that had gotten me the big bass the previous week.  about half way down i got a solid thump! no doubt it was a bass! a better one two, after a brief fight we landed a nice 2 lber. i think we weighed him and he was actually 1.15lbs to be exact. always nice to put on a show for the people fishing the ramp,sounds vain dosent it hahahaha. we fished further with nothing and turned at the point switched to a havoc craw fatty, i didnt like the look of it but hell have to try it right. smaller than the brushhawg so maybe i will temp a few. we worked down the bank and got another hook up just next to a log. pattern established!! wood cover along steeper bluff banks not nessasarily in the ironwoods but close by! maybe slow moving baits in 6 -8 ft of water popped a few times off the bottom then onto the next cast. but the bass didn't have the hook, i neglected to change the large 5/0 hook from the brushhawg and i think it was so big it kind of made it tuff for the fish to get the bait in its mouth. it fought for a few seconds then came off. upon inspection the bait had teeth marks about half way up from the claws with them dragging back onto one claw and finally a tear at the claw. a telling story of a unhooked fish holding onto its meal till i pulled it out of its mouth for sure! switched down to a 3/0 hook which seemed too small but i went with it instead of the 4/0 because well........ hell i dunno hahaha anyways switched the hook , the weight i kept at a 3/8 oz. it was just right to get the action i needed in the wind even with the smaller bait. the craw fatty didn't seem very interesting , its very wide and has very loose claws but it dosent flap the claws unless pulled pretty briskly. it didn't seem to have much action on the fall. but hell it got a couple of bass interested so what the hay right!  got another fish on a lay down same situation but the hook worked this time and got him right through the nose perfectly. a lot of disgusted looks from the ramp hahaha. gotta be tough watching someone get fish just out of casting range. you know they are there but you can't get to them without a boat . we all been there!! finally wife came dropped son off got a burger and fries hand off and back out i went!! the sky was starting to look ominous but i continued down to my indicator bank, just before the bamboo cove. i call it my indicator because it has everything on it. grass, lay downs, steep bank mixed with sloping bank, 2 points and a cove. its a good place to start if you looking to establish a pattern. fished it with a crankbait, the jig, and the craw fatty. but didn't get anything all the way to the cove. then i ran into the cove and threw the spinnerbait ( purple skirt with a black head and single copper number 4 colorado blade and a purple grub trailer) all through the cove. threw the fatty craw in to the bamboo but no luck in all those lay downs in there. it was really starting to get black and dark. and the only other boat was running by to head it. a man his wife and 2 kids in a fiberglass dinghy maybe 6 ft long hahaha knee to knee to back. at least they had life jackets on cause man they were like 4 inch above the waterline!! i  pulled out the phone and the doppler was all yellow and orange coming in from  kahalu'u side so i decided to call it a day. it was 130pm i followed the boat upto the bridge then decide to give them the chance to get in first so i stopped and pitched the craw fatty into the ironwood just before the bridge on the dam side. no luck no last fish to make it a  great ending. i really wanted to hit kinkaids again, I'm sure id have done well with my new so so pattern. as i got to the ramp it started to pour rain, like cats dogs and small farm animal rain!  i grabbed my keys and went to jump off the boat onto the sidewalk along the ramp but slipped and ended up  one leg on the sidewalk one in the boat and finally both in the water! pulled myself up but realized i was missing an important part of the equation.......... the keys had gone to the bottom, pouring rain banged up knee, scraped up hand and now a chest deep wading mission to fell the keys with my feet. thankfully about 15 min is all it took. i had a pretty good idea of where they had went it. at least the rain kept anyone from seeing my embarrassing predicament . got out, saved the keys, alarm stuff still worked surprisingly and caught a few fish. all in all not a bad day but its tough to follow las weeks luck and not feel bad hahaha

march 21st 2012 report

air temp at launch was 67 degrees high was 82 at noon. water temp was 70 degrees at launch and 74 by noon.wind was calm in the morning with winds ramping up to 10-20mph by mid day. water level at dam showing 80.12ft. moon phase was new moon. barometer was 30.13 and rising. weather was light rain showers in the morning and mostly sunny by afternoon.water clarity varied greatly by area, in south fork is was still muddy with 6 in visibility at best. main lake was still kind of orange with visibility at 3-6 in at best. north fork was looking much better with a heavy stain but with more of a greenish look than the brown and orange of the other 2 and a visibility of a foot. the astro table for the day was at 62 out of 100.well i started the day headed into south fork the muddy water seemed daunting but it actually led me to come up with a game plan for the day. i started by tossing a spro popping frog into the deep grass. most of the grass is under water with  a band along the shoreline.  i was tossing it into the shore line grass and popping it out over the submerged grass till i got into open water then reel up and cast again. kept this up for about an hour with not a single hit. tied on double bladed buzz bait to get the most noise and action for the muddy water and continued on for another 20 min or so but again not a single hit.as i ran out of grass on the bank i was on i decided to hit  one of my good spots on the south fork, its a particular stand of ironwood trees that always seems to attract a bass or two. i pulled out my black,blue.and purple jig with a electric blue zoom  chunk on it. it rally contrasted the water clarity for max visibility. i also added a crawfish scent to it for added pizzaz. i started to pitch into the ironwoods. the water was covering the roots really well and they fan out like a big floating ledge underwater, the bass really love to get under those floating matts of root material. it didn't take long to get my first bass, a nice chunky 15in male. nothing heavy but maybe 1.8lbs or so, he did have his lower rear fin worn down jagged from fanning a nest. a good sign they had been spawning, it was healed up not to red and raw so I'm guessing maybe 2-3 weeks prior maybe?? within 3 casts i got another one same as the first. then another one a couple of casts later, the a hit and a miss, threw back and got him the second time. all about the same size all in the same location all on the same bait. not bad for a stretch of bank not even 20 yards long. i continued down a bit but after the trees ran out the fish stopped. i had a good idea what i needed to do, but being the tinkerer i tried the old military bridge and then into rose street slough but even the ironwoods in those locations didn't match the bank i had caught them on so well earlier. i went back and tied on a berkley 6" brush hawg in  junebug and ran down the lucky ironwood stretch in reverse. the brushhawg is much bulkier and presents more of a meal to a bass so i was hoping to get a better class of bass, i wasn't disappointed............. i had made it all the way down the trees with not a hit was was regretting throwing something that might be too big when in the last few feet of trees it gets slammed and i knew it was a big one!fought her around the boat and the carrot stix did a greta job holding her on. i had a great hook set too she was perfectly hooked in the upper nose area with the full hook. when i lipped her and felt the size of her mouth and her weight i was stoked! she weighed 4.7lbs which by hawaii standards is a hawg! took a few pics and released her. she didn't have a hard belly so I'm guessing she was spawned out?? odd i was worried i had dragged the nest but she shouldn't have been shallow unless she was full of eggs. she was in maybe 3-5ft of water at best,i wonder if the muddy water had made her go shallow to forage for the post spawn.in any case i now had a solid pattern and it was only 930 am!!  ironwood trees , but not just any stand. they had to be on a steep bank not sloping in any way. they needed to have root systems under the water to provide the cover for the bass. they needed to have enough clearance to the water to let you cast all the way to the bank, anything off the bank didn't produce a bite.armed with this info and my magic jig color i headed down the lake looking for banks that fit my criteria. actually there went a lot of spots that did, many were to sloping or too much into the water to get a good cast into the bank. i tried several locations but unless all the criteria were met i got nothing. as soon as i found a match to the pattern it was like i could call my shots, cast and bass, cast and bass. it was crazy! i wasted time  chasing the occasional log or grass bed but they went there or on points either. the jig and ironwood pattern was magic so by 11am i was exclusively on it. ran upto kinkaids to fish the bluff side of the stretch and it fit the pattern perfectly, nearly a mile of exactly the type of criteria i needed. and it didn't disappoint!!!! i caught bass after bass after bass by  the end of the stretch i had tallied 14 bass caught and 10 lost with tail walking release( in other words they jumped and threw the hook) i was flabbergasted  i really should have stayed and gone back down the bank with the brush hawg but it was nearly 2 pm and i wanted to hit a few more areas . i hit several on the way back to the lucky stand of ironwoods and got a few more bass. threw the brush hawg a bit and got a couple of nice ones that got off, i was using a 4/0 hook and i really needed to be using a 5/0 hook. the 4/0 didn't get far enough down the bait i think several smaller fish didn't quite get the hook all the way in their mouths with all that plastic in the way. about 4 pm i made it back to the stand of trees where i had caught the big one in the morning. i  worked it  hard with both baits but got nothing. i tried several other parts of the stretch with nothing as well, they had vanished. called it a day and headed in exhausted by the great day of fishing. i had loaded to boat with all sorts of garbage as i fished, maybe picking up so much trash had given me some great karma , either way it was a magical day on the water.  i made a video with my go pro but the lens had fogged up and  its mostly white although you can kinda see me getting bass after bass for about 30 min till the battery died. got to the ramp and there had only been 2 other boats out, as i walked up i noticed my trailer light dangling and license plate bend nearly in half, my trailer moved over 2 ft. it was kinda obvious from the angle and the lack of damage to anything higher up or forward that another trailer had rubbed into my back end as it had been backed out of the stall next to me. there were two boats out both old timers on the lake, only one had been on my left and i knew who it was!! i had dropped off garbage at lunchtime to make room for more and i had seen who was parked there. no note or anything just damage and theres no way you can't notice dragging another trailer over that 2 ft, it wasn't a bump and you can't tell me they didn't see the damage.the world has become so full of self absorbed people that  common decency has gone out the window. its a fricken 30$ light and  mounting bracket for the licence plate. its not the monetary value, hell thats nothing  and the light still works i had to zip tie it on to get home. its the fact that a guy who guides on the lake all the time and waves to me as he's going by on the way in as I'm on the way back out 10 min before he does it.a guy i see all the time and sees and know who i am. a guy that gets built by people like he's so bad ass at fishing( he's not really) would do it then just scamper away without so much as a note or maybe an apology on the website his dad and he run where everyone posts. yep really shows someones character!! all in all it was still what will probably be my best day of fishing for the year. too top it i would have to really lose my mind hahahaha its gonna be my personal best bass for the year too I'm sure, that fish will be hard to top. alas had she been full of eggs  she might have gone  well over 5 maybe into the 6 lb range!!! and yes the fish were so into that jig color combo i even got a red devil on one as seen in that last pic, kinda an odd catch on a jig. the best way to work the jig was to toss it in close to the bank or nearly on the bank then drag in in a bit that pop it once and let it fall on  slack, pop it again and let it fall on slack. i did this maybe 2 -3 times on every cast and most of the fish had grabbed it without me knowing till i felt the pressure of the fish as i raised it to pop it the 2nd or 3rd time. only a few hit on the initial fall and only a few hit it so hard i knew i had a fish on immediately! i worked the brush hawg in a similar fashion and dragged it a bit too.

Buzzfrogs

another bait i was going to throw in the mud is the all popular "buzz frog" many makes and models of this particular bait. i personally like the zoom horny toad and trixie shark by reaction innovations. when i first got into this trend i  started with a yum buzzfrog. big waste, knobby feet didn't kick up the water quite right and  it had to be real led at blistering speed to get a buzz out of it and keep it on the surface. the rod had to be at the  10 o clock position to get it to work. it just didn't do well at all. it really almost killed my buzzing frog drive, and for sure i won't ever get another knobby footed frog bait. luckily saw some reviews that led me to the horny toad from zoom.......... now this is an awesome bait! buzzes like a buzz bait and totally weedless. throw it into the thickest cover drag it out and hang on! first the negatives. it tends to flip over quite often with the hook facing up, have tried both the slot side down and the back side down and both side flip or equally. have recently tried a weighted swim bait hook and this has helped lessen but not gotten rid of this problem. with the hook up it buzzes the same but i have noticed it dosent hook up as well when a fish hits it. and this slot for the hook. it appears to be on the underside, i understand its to make less plastic for the bait to have to go through to get to the fishes mouth but if it were on the top you'd accomplish the same thing  and still be weedless and have NO plastic for the hook to go through to get to the fish. hence i turn my baits upside down and use it in such an manner and have been quite happy with the results. now the positives, the horny toad is awesomely weedless, throw it into the grass and drag it out no problem, into the thickest limbs no problem!  it dosent have to be burned till your arm falls off to get it to work. keep the road at a comfortable position , even to the side it dosent have to be high in the air to get the action to work. it does land upside down quite often with the belly of the hook up but it you hesitate a second or two it rights itself even with an unweighted hook, you just have to reel fast at the start to get it up on plane. zoom makes several hooks for their toad. nothing special just 5/0 hooks with a deep  throat and a twisted keeper on them. 2 per pack so if you can find a similar hook at a better price by all means!! bought some hackney double frog hooks to try but was very unimpressed with the hookup ratio and you do get stuck a bit more as the hooks are exposed along the legs of the frog.all in all a great bait and well worth having in the boat! The trixie sharp is very similar in every way to the hornytoad. same problems same action. couple of  things different though. first you get a lot more in a pack , 5 horney toads vs 8 trixie sharks. 4$ for 5 toads and 5$ for 8 sharks, better deal for the sharks. same hooks work  in either the sharks are longer and sleeker. it comes through the really thick stuff just a bit easier then  the toad. everything else is the same as far as action and  how to work it. have recently seen the strike king rage toad in action and am impressed, will get those next. the toads and sharks are kinda like a subtle buzz bait, not to over powering. however the  rage frog by strike king throws a ton of water so it may be the better bait for dirtier applications. the same rig i use to throw my hollow frogs with i use to throw these as well. a 6.3.1 left handed quantum tour edition pt reel on a  6'0" medium heavy shakespear intrepid rod. 20lb spider wire with a albright knot holding a 5ft seaguar 8lb test fluorocarbon leader. this rig is my all around buzzbait and frogging rod. hopefully the water clears enough to get some frog action before they drain the lake outa the grass these next few weeks!

Orange water

 well 2 severe storms have left the lake a mess. tons of debris, everything from logs to every type of trash imaginable. there  was a power outage that dumped 7000 gallons of raw sewage into the lake. our little lake is the "depository" for wahiawa and schofield barracks treated sewage.  and people wonder why most of us don't eat the fish hahahaha. i was prepared for the muddy water situation. tucs will shut off completely but largemouth would still be catchable. fish slow and tight to cover, dark colors and lots of noise. ideal pitching and flipping. maybe heavy duty buzz baits,anything that will call em in with sound, otherwise it will have to be right on their noses in the muddy water. actually muddy water can be a blessing, it will move suspended fish into cover and really narrow the places you have to search and the choices in lures. unfortunately these storms have flooded and over powered our little lake, as a matter of fact kaui is in worse shape. i have seen waita reservoir and ipo reservoir from the air on the news and they are both orange mud! our lake is bright orange mud water too, this situation is really not worth even trying in. maybe a week or so it will stratify and some of the sediment will drop to the bottom but right now its a waste of time and effort to attempt to fish it. the fish will be deep and hugging anything they can to get away from the heavy sediment filled water. the damage to tan outboard running that kind of goo through it would be pretty nasty too. flushing will only get rid of so much, remember your sucking muddy water in to cool a hot engine. some of that mud is gonna stick and dry all over the engine and flushing after won't get it off. the sewage spill, well honestly its a 3 billion gallon lake and 7000 gallons of sewage probably didn't make much of a dent in it. still why risk it for no fish. its gonna be a few weeks before id go out again, best case is next weekend its just muddy and not pure orange like now. then it mayyy be worth an attempt but you'd have to really be dumb or desperate to head out anytime this week.

Hollow body frogs

 so now the water is super high up into the grass and this means.......... Kermit time!!!!! oh yes high muddy water with just the tips of the grass now showing all around the lake. debris mats all over the place. it might be one of the only viable lures really, aside from a flipping and pitching pattern. the whole lake is gonna be crap for a week at least, and thats after the rain stops. as of right now its coming down even harder!! so the 14 inch in 3 days isn't the end yet. now hollow body frogs are perfect for this kind of fishing. highly weedless they don't hang on anything in the mats, you can walk them through the grass stalks and over the matts of debris.pause in the open spots or edge of mats and BAM!!! exciting fishing for sure, you just never know when some big ole hawg is eyeing it up from underneath.  there are a ton of frog/rat hollow body baits out there. personally i haven't really tried to many so i can't make an informed "this is the one" call as far as which bait is better than which bait. i do know this much of the few i have tried the better working ones with the better actions and better hooks tend to be the more expensive baits. i had a few generic types to start out when rojas started winning using them and they were the "must have" bait. the alabama rig is now the must have bait hahaha they do come and go. anyways the cheap baits tend to have hooks that have problems getting the fish, I'm not sure if  the gap isn't enough or the placement or maybe its the amount of give in the plastic but the strikes i got on some of them just never connected. i have even had a few that i set the hook and felt the fish good, then they just came right off like the hooks never took. another problem with the cheaper baits is they tend to take on water, fairly rapidly. after a dozen casts you have to squeeze them out or its like a sinking brick. i quickly got on board with spending a little more for a better product.  i use spro now because " helllllloooooo" rojas uses them!! and they are quality all around, gamakatsu hooks with a big gap, they don't take on water. cast great and have great action.the original spro bronze eye frog is great for working the kind of conditions I'm expecting when this rain stops. you can hop it along with pauses. you can skip it up onto the bank or under trees at the waterline. with some practice you can even walk the dog with it! some mods can be made by trimming the legs a bit. i have shortened mine by about an inch and a half or so. out of the box they are pretty long and i didn't want short strikes. i like the darker colors as i feel this adds the contrast needed for  this type of pattern, clear or muddy water id still choose the darker color. looking up from under water darker silhouettes always stand out better then lighter ones. the fish usually dictate the cadence of the jerks and pauses.  try several retrieves  and see what will produce. hopping, walking, jerking the bass will let you know what they want. skipping them isn't hard even with a bait caster, it just takes some practice and you can get them into really tight places. recently i got the popping version and again its a high quality product, love the color and it works great! the best thing about the popper is you can almost pop it in the same spot over and over. with a bit of practice you can keep it  poping along  without moving it more than a few inches.great for calling the bass in from distance and making those ones that are underneath mad enough to hit it. the gear i use to throw these lures is  a 6'0" medium heavy rod with a very fast tip. its made by shakespear( yes a 35$ rod) who says you need to break the bank and its actually a great rod. shakespear intrepid with titanium guides, its actually made for braid like the berkley lightning rods. i spool 20lb spider wire on it with a 6-8ft flourocarbon leader of about 8lbs. it has a quantum pt tour edition reel with a 6.3.1 gear ratio and a left hand retrieve. got the reel on sale didn't realize it was left handed at the time and the price was wayyyyyyy cheap because they were discontinuing this tour version. turned out to be a good thing, a left handed reel lets you cast and retrieve without switching hands. its great for buzz baits and topwater frogs, i use this rig for both. the top water bite will last anywhere from a week to maybe 2 weeks at best after the weather calms. the days just after the storm tend to be impossible blue bird  days and the fish are still very hunkered down. heavy flipping and pitching would be the call and in the densest of cover. but a week out and then the grass and mats become a feeding frenzy and lures that can get in deep where others can't will get the big ins for sure!

heavy rain= flooded lake

 well i hope the spawns are over for the largemouth, i know  they will now be delayed for the peacock bass. they were starting to pair up and look along the shore for site just the last 2 weeks or so. we have had heavy rain and thunderstorms for the last 3 days and the lake has risen 12ft in 3 days. passed by today on the way from work after being rained out and it was topped off and muddy. not orange but definatley chocolate.I am sure the cold high water will throw the fish for a loop for a bit. but some stable weather will make for good fishing in all the flooded cover. the grass is once again covered and the whole shoreline with the lay downs and all is under water so its time to prepare the flipping and pitching baits and good ole frog baits!! a lot of people complain when the state and dole hold the water level down so low but it takes them 2 weeks to get it down from 82- 70ft and it only takes a day or two to get it right back up. personally i like the lake at a 72ft level. i think that the 65 ft they were trying to keep it at is way too low and the 80ft is way to high. I'm happy with the 70-72 it was before all the rain. i was actually hoping the grass would come back a bit while it was low but i guess that won't happen now. be prepared for some tough fishing the next week or so and there is a ton of floating garbage out there. hopefully other anglers pick it up as they go by, i try to always take stuff out as i go every trip and high water flushes it out of the grass. hopefully we don't have the up down up down water level we had last year. that really messed up the tuc spawn bad.