Made one trip in the tube, back on 11/1. Fished from open until 11AM and managed to find one bite out off the end of a long point in 25'+. Thought I'd find more that way but didn't get another bite the rest of that morning.
Shore trips have been more plentiful, and more productive. While the majority of the lake's action is out in open water chasing schooling fish, you can find them from shore if you know where to find 25-30' of water with rockpiles. I've had success throwing dropshot, texas rig, neko, and my favorite bottom contact bait - the jig. That lake more than others seems to have a dialed in bite window, that can sometimes just last 20-40 minutes and then the bite just goes dead. One morning I caught on my first two castsat 5:30AM, then on 3 of the next 6 casts before the bite went silent. Another I was on the shore casting in the dark at 5AM, didn't get a bite until 7:30AM and caught on 3 casts in a row after that. If you're there when the fish are in the area, it can be a lot of fun. If they're not, it's a grind. I am guilty of fishing history a bit and will tend to stay in one or two spots because in my experience there is gonna be a bite window there most days, just have to hope that it's while my bait is in the water, lol. Quality has been better there for me than anything else. Lots of fish in the 2-3.5lb range. Had a 3 pounder on last weekend that pulled so hard I thought she was gonna be 5+. It's been fun enough to keep me going back. Once they get deeper than 30' it's hard to get to them from the shore. The water is really low right now, every piece of brush or cover I caught fish off of in the spring is way out of water now. Water is pretty stained too as a result.
The guys having the most luck out there are in boats with FFS. You can see busters way out in open water all over the lake and the boats chasing them.
If you're there at the right time it can be a lot of fun, but it's a grind right now.
