Lake Fished: 34
Weather: 79-84 degrees, 7-9 MPH Winds from the WNW, Sunny
Last week, I fished the southeast bank of Lake 34 at August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area. Since the weather has been warm and the water is getting into the 80s, I decided to focus on any shade I could find. With that said, I focused on the southeastern bank. This end of the lake is shallow but full of lily pads. The trees along the bank also provided shade.
I started fishing the pads with a black hollow-body frog. I would walk them along the top of the pads and pause at each opening. My thought was by letting the frog sit in the open sections, the bass would have time to zero in on it and hit it.
When this didn’t work, I opted for a wacky worm. The water was clear, so I chose a watermelon colored senko tipped with chartreuse. After throwing this in and around openings in the pads, I finally got a hit. Although I lost this fish (setting the hook with a baby strapped to your chest isn’t easy), I believe this would be an effective method for fishing these pads with more time.
I ended up driving down to the boat area of lake 34 to end the short outing. With the large amount of grass and pads, I tried the frog again and a swim jig. Neither one of these worked. I ended up having success with a Zoom Super Fluke in the Bluegill Flash color. Fishing this weightless is always my favorite method in clear water.
As the summer forges on, I think targeting any heavy cover is going to be key on these Busch lakes. If you rent a boat or put in a kayak on these lakes with lily pads, find the thickest area and target them with frogs, or weightless soft plastics, such as a wacky worm or fluke. You can also take a curly tail worm and let it sink into open pockets of the pads. Be sure to use braided line when able as braid goes through the pads and grass more easily than mono or fluorocarbon.
There were also many bluegill beds along the banks. If you can find areas with plenty of bluegill, fish the deeper water just outside these areas for bass. Bass are looking to target these panfish for an easy meal. You can also hit these areas with small lures or a bobber and worms if you want to bring home plenty of bluegill for dinner!
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