Oct 09 2017
Philip Pruitt
Fry
Member Since :
2017
Number of Posts :
37
Full Moon, transition from summer to fall and just a slow bite . We had to work so hard from light enough to see until almost dark to catch 44 fish total. One might say wow, are you complaining about 44 fish? Nope, that is why they call it fishing and not catching….........we found a pattern alright, but now the bad news. 42 of the 44 were culls. Only two fish (see photo of one) were big enough to return back into the lake. I know managing a lake is critical and the removal of unwanted dinks is a given. Just hard being the guy doing dink management - although important is. Now for the good news. This property is one of the best maintained locations you could ask for. We threw a smorgasbord of everything and the only success we had was on weightless z craw baits garlic dipped on number 3 hooks. Anything else we tried was a waste of time. Lots of new Tilapia bait in the lake. Just no fish busting them anywhere. Fishing for the one bite that never comes makes for a long day especially when you know what this lake is capable of producing in the way of giants. Rocky's lake had a great summer consistently producing great bass. Just was not meant to be today. We will be back in the spring and catch that elusive giant that we hoped we would set the hook on today. Another two or three weeks these fish will be back in full swing with consistent results.
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Posted By: Philip Pruitt
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Oct 09 2017
Steve Alexander
Admin
Member Since :
2002
Number of Posts :
1169
Phillip,
I know it can be frustrating to go to Dogwood East and not get the big one. We had one heck of a run from late June through August. I think there were 11 double digits caught in a 9 or 10 week stretch. What a ride! They are still there, Hopefully they will bite again soon.
Were you able to go back to your reservation and report the harvest numbers for your rebate? For those that forgot or never knew that we offer a small rebate for reporting back to the club, we do offer such a thing.
Here is why we do it:
* It helps us know how a lake is fishing
*In lakes that need harvest and we have agreement with the landowner, it removes small predators (bass) which leaves more bait fish for the bigger bass. There is only so much bait fish in a lake and harvesting small bass in a private lake is almost always a good idea. Like anything there are some exceptions. Our web-site tells you which lakes to harvest and which that we do not.
Here is how do report it.
*Within 24 hours of your reservation you can log back in to your reservation and click "add harvest report". Simply tell us what you caught and how many you removed. We keep a spreadsheet on each lake every year!
*You get a whopping $5 knocked off your trip. We know most of you do not do it for the $5, but it really helps make the fishing better and lets us see how the lakes are fishing. You get $5 back rather you remove 1 fish or 100 fish. Most lakes where we harvest, we are harvesting bass 14 inches and smaller. NEVER REMOVE BLUEGILL/BREAM.
* At the end of the year we give a Columbia Jacket to the person who harvested the most fish and a jacket to the person who had the most harvest reports. Philip, 44 harvested fish is a huge day of harvest. Normally our winners harvest between 200 and 300 fish in a given year.
*It is a real cost to PWF and it takes us a lot of time, but it is paramount to keep our lakes fishing well.
Members, thanks for sharing the love of private lake management.
Steve