Reservation Number : 35559
Property Name : Dogwood Lakes Estate: West Lake
Reservation Date : 04/29/2023 All Day -
Total Fish/Sizes : 5 fish, 2 @ 4lb, 1 @ 2.5lb, 2 dinks
Lures Used : Spinnerbait, buzzbait, drop shot

It was almost a decent day for fishing.  The water was almost 70 degrees, it was muddy stained with almost 18 inch visibility.  It was almost not too windy and almost warm enough not to need my jacket the few times the sun peeked out behind the thick cloud cover.  It almost rained on me twice so I kept my bib on all day.  I almost started fishing around sun-up and caught my first fish from the bank on a buzzbait in the shallow flat to the far right of the boat launch.  It was almost a 3lber, and I was feeling pretty good.  I tried the buzzbait a while longer along with a Chappo, but got no other topwater bites.  I switched to a spinnerbait and worked down the shore towards the lily pads.  Along the way I almost caught 5 fish, but somehow I missed them all (I figured out it was the rod/line combo I was using and ended up switching it out later to good effect).  I almost got a blowup on a frog in the pads, but it was just a huge swirl that left me wondering if that was as big a fish as I imagined.  The far end near the fence line is now super shallow (2’ or less).  I worked down the other bank and then up into the big creek arm where my spinnerbait change finally paid off and I caught the biggest of the day at 4lb 3oz.  After a break for lunch and regrouping, I decided to try a drop shot.  Almost immediately it paid off and I hooked the 2^nd best fish near the fish feeder at 3lb 15oz.  I stuck with the drop shot for a good while and had several more bites, just could not connect.  I suspect several were bluegill bites as they were pecking at the bait and I lost a couple of tail sections.  I almost caught a couple more on a paddletail swimbait on a flashy swimmer late in the afternoon, but same story each time.  Other baits tried w/o any success: wacky rig, jig, Tx rig creature, Tokyo rig creature, shakey head, and frogs.  One other note about the water level since this lake was lowered several feet on purpose since my last visit...it wasn’t an issue at all.  You can definitely tell where the old water line was, but still plenty of places for those fish to hide from you.