Reservation Number : 30756
Property Name : Dogwood Lakes Estate: East Lake
Reservation Date : 12/26/2021 All Day -
Total Fish/Sizes : 5 bass caught, 4 bass missed
Lures Used : Whole Tackle Box

First time visiting Dogwood East and it didn’t disappoint, that much? I have fished Dogwood West before, and I just love this property so much. The care that was put into it is seen in every aspect! But I hadn’t had a chance to get into Dogwood East until this trip. The day started out very foggy, with temps in the high 60’s, and overcast skies. I caught 3 strong bass within the first hour and a half and thought to myself – this is going to be an epic day.

I specifically visited knowing this place is a beauty, and typically provides some trophy bass during the spring and summer. I had a window the day after Christmas and the forecast called for a decent day so why not. I was hoping to break my LMB PB before the year ended... and I did! 6.5 pound LMB on a Z-man chatter bait with a green swim bait trailer. My fist easily fit in her mouth. Honestly, she was really wide but pretty skinny. I imagine she could’ve gone close to 7.5+ pounds during prime spawning season (Photo of fish attached – next time around I’ll do a self timer to try and get a better perspective on her!) It was on my 3^rd cast of the day – before I even got into my kayak!

It was still a great day, but the pattern didn’t continue like the first hour. The weather quickly changed over the next couple hours and it changed the entire bite of the day. It became super windy where the water was choppy and pretty tough to deal with – the skies quickly became blue, the sun was beaming, and the temp soared to the high 70’s. Don’t get me wrong it was an absolutely gorgeous day on the water but it became a really tough challenge to find the fish. Knowing this place is a trophy spot I spent time before reading the other posts so I could give myself a fair shake at chasing patterns but nothing seemed to do the trick. I threw everything in the box – quick, slow, texas rigged, weightless, lipless, green, black, chartreus, slow roll, etc.

I caught the 6.5 pounder closer to the boat launch, and a couple other good size fish along the dam. The other fish I caught were the small cull fish and they were back at the opposite shallow end. I did miss 2 that felt very, very large – by the thump and seeing my line quickly change directions I thought I could’ve broken my PB twice in a day, but they spit the hook. Not enough proper leverage on the kayak!

I saw evidence of some large bass, which that alone is a great treat to see. I’d get into areas that were protected from the wind and spook the bass that were up shallow and see & hear the bass swirl and take off. Some of the ripples were big enough to remind me that even though the day was slow-ish that there are plenty of reasons to revist Dogwood East. You better believe that I’ll be back in the spring to chase more of those elusive giants!