Fun day of catching!

Jul 18 2024

Currie Covington

Fry

Member Since :
2024
Number of Posts :
16

Reservation Number : 40484
Property Name : Flying J
Reservation Date : 07/17/2024 All Day -
Total Fish/Sizes : 54 in 4 hours time fishing 9am-1pm
Lures Used : War Eagle spinner baits, Keitech, Zakos, Senkos,

1st time experiencing Flying J on inaugural run with new Pond King Sport and Tacoma!

We arrived by 8:30 and we're able to fish 9-1pm, catching 54 fish and culling 48.

Very easy access off Preston to location.   Lake was down likely 3 feet or so.   This made for a steep delivery into shallow water and we got stuck in the soft mud while deploying my new boat.   Thank you God for having the nice man working that day.  He helped us out with his tractor after our fishing getting us unstuck.  

We arrived in less than an hour from my home in Prosper and fished 9-1pm.

Cloudy cover all day and a slight temperature drop had them feeding from our very 1st cast.  It was a day of CATCHING for sure as we harvested 48 Bass throwing 6 back and one great fish and proved these fish are healthy and growing.

When reflecting back on harvesting this many fish, I truly feel like we are making a difference.   Think about the 48 small Bass that are now not competing with those larger fish for food.   Yes, it has to make a difference.

Water clarity was fantastic and you could see several feet down in clear water.

I personally feel this lake is great and will continue to produce quality outings, but we need to harvest the smaller ones out.  Tons of fish in this lake.  We doubled up 3X!!!


We then chopped back through the salad to get back to the ramp.  We definitely helped with creating a boat trail through the very thick vegetation.  We had to use both trolling motors full blast and a paddle clearing vegetation to get back in.  

I would not recommend anyone going alone here as vegetation is very thick near boat ramp going out and coming in. The vegetation should die down in September.

We arrived by 8:30 and were chopping through the salad to get to open water and fished 9-1pm.

I’m hopeful the boat ramp will be improved and vegetation down next time as I definitely want to go back to this lake.  

This is the 3rd closet property for me and one that I want to frequent and really learn! 
 

Last, I want you to know these are some of the best looking bass I have seen.   We didn't see any abnormalities on any of the 54 fish caught!

Jul 18 2024

Scott Quigley

Admin

Member Since :
2014
Number of Posts :
438

 Great report Currie, thanks so much for posting the details and pics!  Culling 48 will absolutely make a difference but still more work to do…hopefully others can use the trail you blazed to open water but if not, hopefully we get more trips in the fall as the vegetation falls back.  This lake has amazing potential if we can get on the culling!

Jul 18 2024

John Freeman

Keeper

Member Since :
2020
Number of Posts :
263

Welcome to the club. Looks like you had a fun day. I live 30 min from there and haven't been. Check out Travis as well. 

Jul 19 2024

David Felton

Slot Fish

Member Since :
2021
Number of Posts :
126

Thanks for the detailed report and photos.  My only trip to Flying J was also a huge numbers day with lots of culling.  First time I had ever had a day over 100 fish in the boat (with a partner of course).  Glad you had a fun day, and that’s sweet looking boat.

Jul 19 2024

John Freeman

Keeper

Member Since :
2020
Number of Posts :
263

Originaly Posted By David Felton

Thanks for the detailed report and photos.  My only trip to Flying J was also a huge numbers day with lots of culling.  First time I had ever had a day over 100 fish in the boat (with a partner of course).  Glad you had a fun day, and that’s sweet looking boat.

It looks and is a beautiful property. I think it doesn't get fished a lot is due to the dinks. It needs serious dedinkificatiin badly as Indian Hills does as well. I live 30 min from Flying J.  Also have Culpepper, Pecan Gap, and Tara in what I consider my back yard. Hope to make it there, even if a half day. 

Jul 19 2024

Steve Alexander

Admin

Member Since :
2002
Number of Posts :
1170

Originaly Posted By John Freeman

It looks and is a beautiful property. I think it doesn't get fished a lot is due to the dinks. It needs serious dedinkificatiin badly as Indian Hills does as well. I live 30 min from Flying J.  Also have Culpepper, Pecan Gap, and Tara in what I consider my back yard. Hope to make it there, even if a half day. 

Your spot on John. Flying J, despite its great location does not see many reservations because the lake has lots of small bass. The only way to grow bigger bass t is to harvest; like Currie did. We need to remove about 500 ( 50 lbs per surface acre)  lbs or approx 500 bass.  FYI, in round numbers we say a harvest size bass is equal to 1 lb to keep things simple. A 10 inch bass weighs .50 lbs. A 12 inch bass weighs .90 lbs and a 14” bass weighs 1.47 lbs. So we go with an average of 12 inch bass being removed, which is just shy of 1 lb per bass. 

So, we just need another 9 trips like Curries and we will reach our yearly goal. After 2 to 3 years of aggresive harvest, the lake will turn around. Trust me, we have done this many times. Please help and harvest. 

Pecan Gap, Tara and Culpepper are already in balance (Culpepper may need a bit more harvest than Tara and Pecan Gap) so the harevest numbers are only 10-20 lbs per surface acre. These are all general rules when applying harvest rates.

Some lakes just seem to do great on their own, but it is the exception not the rule. I have a hard explaining why Lancaster Malouf continues produce a great number of 2-3 lb bass with no harvest and no additonal forage. Perhaps angler mortality is high (its the most fished lake in the club) and we lose 10-15 lbs of bass through angler miss handling,  for each acre, each year? I’m not sure why, but Malouf seems to do great on its own. But please, please, please release the larger bass for someone else to catch. 

Steve

Jul 19 2024

Stephen Ford

Fingerling

Member Since :
2020
Number of Posts :
64

Thanks for the report, Currie. Seeing your Pond King makes me miss mine. I sold it a couple of years ago, but it was great for PWF. I know you'll enjoys yours.

It is so encouraging to see some overs come out of Flying J. I have fished it many times where I have harvested every fish caught. The harvest is working. Thanks for doing your part on this occasion.