Tough Afternoon at Timber Lake

Oct 01 2014

Tom Dillon

Toad

Member Since :
2014
Number of Posts :
516

Timber Lake was definitely different yesterday. I fished from noon until just before sunset, and the fishing was tough. I fished almost the entire lake, and didn't establish a pattern for several hours. I ended up with only 7 bass longer than 14" and harvested 9 unders. Except for one fish that hit a frog, the "keepers" were all on the main lake outer tree line across from the ramp and back toward the main creek. In order to get a pick-up, I had to throw a long (at least 10") worm and then let it sit on the bottom on a semi-slack line for more than a minute before they'd pick it up. The biggest bass I caught was a 4-pounder that hit a blue 14" ribbon tail worm. The only difficult part for me was holding the boat in place against the wind with the trolling motor long enough for the bass to pick up the worm; I should have anchored. I did miss a few good fish - one  on the long worm that wrapped me up and broke me off, one that straightened the hook, and several back in the creeks that spit a wacky-rigged Senko just before I set the hook. I had no luck on Rattletraps, deep-divers, jigs, or topwaters - just the worm bite.

One thing that distressed me a bit is that all of the bass I caught were very thin. The 4-pounder was 21" long, and had no belly at all. The other "keepers" were all shaped the same. I'm wondering if there could be a shortage of forage - other than baby bass - in the lake.

The water temperature was 84-85° at the surface and 78° at trolling motor depth. Much of the matted grass has disappeared, which made launching easier. Unfortunately, the lake is down another 6-8", which made trailering more difficult. I think it made the fishing a bit tougher, too. The late afternoon sounded like a war was going on nearby, which I assume was dove hunters. I did see 4 deer on the way out.

Posted By: Tom Dillon

Oct 01 2014

Phillip D. Chapin

Slot Fish

Member Since :
2005
Number of Posts :
227

this lake has been fished a lot this past year,, i hope its just conditions and not pressure, even though the pressure has been lighter latelly, it seemed to be hit heavy earlier in year

Oct 02 2014

Jackson Bean

Slot Fish

Member Since :
2012
Number of Posts :
225

The lake management game isn't an exact science.  Sometimes you do everything right from the bottom of the food chain to the top…..  Fertilization yielding great phytoplankton blooms all the way to supplemental shad and tilapia stockings and still, things don't have the outcome you expected.  With the harvesting program Timber Lake has been on, we should be seeing the average size of the fish moving up but this year I feel like we've seen a decrease.  The reports I pulled up I can see I was catching thirty to fourty fish a trip with close to a three pound average.  This year has definitely been different.  Amy has done everything that I know of to keep the fish fat, happy and growing.  For some reason the lake is in a lull comparted to the path it was on.  I don't think it is related to the pressure…..  I've been watching and I don't think that's it but maybe I'm wrong.  In the Spring, that might be the case but I don't think now.

If this lake continues to get the influx of forage it has been getting and we keep aggressively culling the babies, I thing we are going to see some large fish being caught out of Timber Lake any year now.

J

Oct 02 2014

Tom Dillon

Toad

Member Since :
2014
Number of Posts :
516

I hope you're right, Jackson. It sure is a nice lake to fish.

Oct 02 2014

Phillip D. Chapin

Slot Fish

Member Since :
2005
Number of Posts :
227

in my years i have noticed that when you have the pressure in the spring there is a slight carry over.. i feel after the same fish is caught many times he or she becomes leary (thats only natural) .. ive watched it happen on so many places in my 50+ years of fishing…i started fishing timber lake when it first opened and wow the fishing and as great as timber is, it has dropped a little,.. now the crew at our club couldnt do a better job of keeping watch that it doesnt happen , but again this lake was producing great numbers til this last spring of heavy fishing on it, its only natural that there is gonna be some drop off… NOW, the fish you do catch may get bigger, but i feel the numbers will usually drop ... ive seen it on lakes like fork all the way to managed properties like in our club.. the worst i ever saw (and not related to this senario) was when lake tawakoni first opened in the 60s,, man what a bass producing lake it was, but then there was no management and no slot limit and no such thing as catch and release.. and with in years of people catching and dragging in stringers of bass and numerous tournaments every week end it went from a bass factory to dead,, it has come back some but mainly its a sand bass lake now.. also the surrounding communities dropped off.. quinlan and east and west tawakoni were thriving for years, and now you see how those areas look.. i have watched from the day it opened the same on lake fork,, ive had a place there since the beginning and it has slacked off also….sorry, not meant to bore yall.. just my little story of my experiences of fishing pressure… and by no means do i expect any of this on our well managed lakes, but there are points in a lakes cycle that there will be peaks and valleys.. its great that we have such a smorgasboard of lakes to choose from,,, i like numbers lakes, and many of you are going for that one big bite… timber has a little of both but i feel its starting to lean towards the more big and less in numbers… which is ok,, its interesting to be able to watch lakes evolve over time.. just my 2 cents.. and thanks again to all that work our club lakes , its gotta be hard non stop work

Jul 28 2015

Tom Dillon

Toad

Member Since :
2014
Number of Posts :
516

Great comment, Phillip!