Reservation Number : 35575
Property Name : Salt Lick Lake
Reservation Date : 03/25/2023 All Day -
Total Fish/Sizes : 18
Lures Used : TRIG, lipless and jig

Fished Salt on Saturday and curious if anyone recognizes the jig and 4” paddle tail in the below image.  I caught a decent size bass and noticed a hook in the fish’s cheek and pulled it out to find a 4” paddle tail still down the fish’s throat. The hook had some rust and paddle tail started to degrade but wondering if it's been there a week or a couple months. 

Fished from 7:30am to 1 and got tired from fighting the wind in the kayak. Another productive day at Salt Lick though and ended with 18 or so for the day and one monster crappie that weighed 2lbs 4oz. I never get tired of catching those crappie on spinning gear and really thick from belly to back. All the bass weighed between 2 to 3 ½ pounds and caught anywhere from close to shore to 18ft.  Unlike last week where most of the fish were feet from the shore it was a mixed bag this Saturday.  Caught 9 bass early am on a lipless as they were schooled pretty thick in deeper water.  The fish along the shore were far more spread out and none had bloody or beat up tails….... but all were super chunky. 
 

I also saw some dead & dying gizzard shad (big ones) and everything I read points to early March spawn + exhaustion + rapid change in water temp.  Not sure if anyone is seeing similar patterns at other lakes.