Reservation Number : 29983
Property Name : Dogwood Lakes Estate: East Lake
Reservation Date : 10/07/2021 PM -
Total Fish/Sizes : 6 bass
Lures Used : Swimjig, Fluke, Crankbait, Worm

This was my first time at this property. It is a beautiful property. As I drove through the gate and the trees on both sides of the roadway leading to the property makes you know this is going to be a beautiful place. I had a hard time deciding which lake I wanted to fish upon making my reservation, but decided since fishing has been so slow lately that I would go for the lake with numbers vs size.

I got to the property at noon for an afternoon fishing expodition since it is a 3.25 hour drive to get to the property. I got to the lake and noticed right off that the water is about 5 foot lower than normal since you can see where the water level is typically at and the bank is quite muddy and the concrete ramp is out of the water with mud to get to the water to launch. As I tried to step into my kayak from the bank, I sunk about a foot into the soft mud bank to get in the boat. 

After launching, the water showed close to 20 foot deep just a few feet from the ramp and lots of timber showing which I really liked. I started fishing with a worm and a fluke and could not get the first bite. I ended up going to the oposite side of the lake from the ramp and it got very shallow but ended up catching 3 small bass around 13” and lower using a swim jig and lost several more in the same area.

Once I moved away from the area looking for bigger fish, I did not get any bites so did a lot of bait switches to no avail. I even went back to the area of the smaller fish caught and could not get any more bites.

After a while in the later evening, I caught a few more small ones closer to the ramp area and found one that went 4 lbs-12 ounces. Sad thing is this fish had a broken bottom jaw that was broken most likely by poor handling at some point in the past. He swam away just fine and hope he does well and by the way he hit the fluke and ran, it seems like it is doimg well with the broken bottom jaw. Still, sad to see it had suffered in the past. 

Water temperature was around 79 degrees with a very light wind and was in the mid 80’s temperature for the day. Water was stained and in the property description, it stated that water was going to be pumped using a pump but looked like pumping was complete and there was a work truck picking up hoses, so supposing water levels will be rising again as rain allows water levels to rise again. 

I saw a lot of signs of healthy waters with lots of shad schools seen on top of the water and using my Garmin Livescope. Fish wasn’t tearing up the shad but there was a lot of bait in the water. I saw some of the large clear looking sacks of what look like egg sacks on some of the timber under water which is an indication of a hearthy lake. Fishing has been slow most everywhere I have fished lately and from what most others have told me also. Hoped it would be better here but fishing here was slow here too. 

Had a great time on this property and hope to be back before too long. I did end up getting stuck pulling my kayak trailer from med ramp and had to switch to 4 wheel drive to pull myself out, so beware to those without 4X4s. All fish caught was right up against the bank including the larger one. Caught no fish within the timber or deeper water of the lake. When I say against the bank, it was right up on the bank itself almost. Ended up catching 3 on a swimjig and three more using a pearl fluke.

Bank fishing would be great if the water level was higher for anhyone wanting to bank fish. The property aluminum boat looks good with a trolling motor on the boat already when I looked. Neither of the two lakes are huge but big enough to fish all day on either lake. The drive after entering the gate which was open when I drove through is beautiful. Thanks to the owners for allowing me to fish this property.