Oct 27 2016
Steve Alexander
Admin
The pictures below help tell the story of our recent electrofish survey and the all but forgotten 50 acre lake near Bowie. Bowie Back Side of the Moon is the most remote property in the club. I rarely use absolutes, but in this case I think it is warranted, Bowie is the most remote. For some that is appealing for others it is not your cup of tea. Personally, I think the adventure and "remoteness" makes it part of experiencing life with Private Water Fishing. Once you leave the county rock road it is a 20 minute drive down the ranch road to get to the lake. But you can do it, we did it in a 1 ton long bed Ford 350 pulling a 16 foot 101 inch wide shock boat. You just have to take it slow.
The lake is still 90% full after reaching 100% full in the Spring for the first time in almost 5 years. The lake is "muddy" with visibility to 11". The lake is muddy for two reasons. There is lots of shallow water in the very far end of the lake. Probably 10 acres of water less than 2 feet deep. This shallow water stays stirred up by the wind. Secondly, there is an abundant population of common carp. These carp root around the bottom of the lake and stir up the bottom. In some respects carp are a problem, they simply stir up the bottom and cause limited recruitment for new bass. The carp destroy the bass spawning areas, making it difficult for bass to produce offspring. This is a perfect example of not all lakes need to be harvested. HOWEVER, the bass that do make it, are off the charts fat. Every fish we shocked was above its expected weight. With the exception of Broseco Ranch I cannot say this about any club lake. These bass are feasting on all these carp.
So what does this mean for you? You can catch fat, big fish here. While you will not set any quantity records, you may catch some of the fattest hard fighting fish in the club. While your on the lake, remember to enjoy Gods beauty as it is in full display at this gorgeous lake.
The picture from our Lowrance Unit does tell the whole picture. (this was not my best picture taking shot as I left off the depths to the right of the screen). But this represents fish in the middle of the lake in 16 foot of water. Not a single fish was in the upper 7 feet of the water column. All the fish were in the 8 to 16 foot depth. I would have loved to have had a medium to deep diving slow moving Crankbait.
Posted By: Steve Alexander
Oct 27 2016
Pete Lane
Fry
Member Since :
2011
Number of Posts :
45
Fished Bowie 2 weeks ago with my brother (he was over from Scotland - confident we are the only 2 Brits to have hit the Backside of the Moon….). We fished in the middle of a cold front, but still had a good afternoon - caught 10 between us in 4 hrs, largest 6 lb, and as Steve says above, all the fish fat and healthy. Caught them on crank baits and Carolina rig - all in the deeper water. Launching still tricky with the vegetation, but just all part of the challenge. This is one of my favorite sites for its remoteness and quality of the fish. Not the numbers you can get at other sites, but always seem to catch larger average fish