El cap 5/15

[The_Outdoor_Chase]

Went to fish El Cap yesterday. Bite was decent. Tons of bait in the lake and fish were everywhere chasing schools around fast. You could actually see the bait getting pushed around all over the place.

I accidentally left the power cable for my FFS unit at home, which definitely would have helped, but still managed to catch plenty of fish. Honestly, the lake is starting to remind me of Lake Barrett when the water got super low. Not in terms of numbers, but in the way the fish are positioned. They’re just scattered everywhere. At times it felt like you could blindly cast in any direction and still have a good shot at getting bit.

I mainly focused on reaction baits because I had a couple new ones I wanted to test out. Loud baits that moved a lot of water were definitely the ticket for me.

Fished the afternoon. No real topwater bite for me, but fish were definitely blasting shad. With the amount of bait in the lake right now, it almost felt hard to get them to fully commit to an artificial after they’d just run through a giant school of real baitfish.

Water clarity is way dirtier than normal El Cap conditions. Definitely far from clear water right now.

Caught fish out in the middle of the lake and also in literally a foot of water along the shoreline. They truly seem to be all over the place at the moment.

One thing worth mentioning — the dirt launch ramp is rough right now. If conditions keep going this direction, shore launching kayaks, small car toppers, or even tubes could become pretty difficult with all the mud.

I do wonder what this low water period is going to mean for the lake long term. Seems like the shad are extremely exposed right now with very little cover to hide in, and the bass are taking full advantage of it. Could have a pretty major impact on the bait population.

On the flip side, maybe when the lake eventually fills back up we’ll see a strong “new lake effect” for a few years.

Tight lines!

[KillinTime]

Great report, Thanks!