I have been getting out on Thousand Hills Lake for the past couple of weeks and the bite has been inconsistent to say the least. It has been hard to pattern the fish as the bite is changing from one day to the next. Right now there are fish from shallow to 18 feet of water and everywhere in between. The fish are transitioning around a lot and keep moving. Some days the deep bite is working others shallow seems to be the way to go.
Two weeks ago I started out fishing some banks and was catching short fish after short fish and when I started fishing out off the bank and was able to drum up around 12 to 13lbs throwing black and blue 1/2 oz OMEGA Pro Mega Jigs with a green pumpkin paca chunk trailer. I was targeting drop offs in about 6 to 10 feet of water. The fish were really bunched up and active and it didn’t take long at all to boat about 6 keepers with one about 4lbs. I was even able catch a couple of fish swimming jigs along the bottom like a crankbait.
Last Sunday night fishing wasn’t as fruitfull and we were only able to catch a couple of small bass throwing jigs and tubes to the same break lines. The difference being that a high pressure system had moved in and the wind switched directions.
This past Tuesday I got out and the fishing out off the bank was unbelievable. The first spot I pulled up on I caught big one that was at least 6lbs on a 5/16oz OMEGA Black and Blue jig just off a drop off in about 8 feet of water. I was prefishing for a tournament that was yesterday and I decided to leave the spot as I had seen enough and hit up a channel swing point and after a couple of casts with the jig that didn’t produce I picked up a chart purple back dd22 and on the second cast caught another one about 4lbs that came in about 10 feet of water. I decided to make a run up to the dam area and I pulled up on an underwater tree off a point in about 18 feet of water and my first cast to it caught one about 3lbs on a watermellon purple flake brushog rigged on an 3/8oz OMEGA Shakey Foot. I then decided to leave the tree and hit up a point across from the dam and my first cast with the shakeyfoot I caught another 3lber in about 16 feet of water. My finder was lit up on this spot with fish and bait more than any other and I was curious to see just how many fish were down there so I tied on a Strike King 6xd sexy shad crankbait and caught another 2lb keeper and then went through about 13 shorts till I got another fish that was over 5lbs. Every time I came off the lip of the point in about 15 to 17 feet of water the crankbait just got crushed. It was one of the best trips I had ever had on Thousand Hills.
Yesterday I fished an open tournament on Thousand Hills and I had a lot of confidence going into the tournament in fishing out off the bank. I thought things might slow down a little bit with the front having come through but with the quality of the fish that I was getting into during practice I figured if I could get just 3 or 4 quality bites I would have enough weight to do good. I hit up the same drops that I had done so good on in practice and the first one I got to I managed to pull about 4 shorts off it but none of them were keepers. I decided to make a run up towards the dam and try and see if I could get in on a morning bite in the clearer water. The point that was loaded with fish just a couple of nights ago just wasn’t producing the same. I caught 4 or 5 shorts off it pretty quickly on the brush hog and then it was dead. There were a ton of fish suspended out off the point in about 16 feet over 24 feet of water and throwing to these inactive fish just wasn’t working. After spending way too much time messing with these fish that just didn’t want to bite I made a move to the tree out in 18 feet of water and the first cast to it produced one that was just shy of the 15 inch mark. I caught like 6 shorts off it on 8 casts on the brush hog before I finally set the hook on the first keeper that went about 3lbs. Mixed in with the shorts I don’t know how many fish around 14.75 inches I had that were just shy of keeping. The spot went dead and it was time to make a move back down lake to hit some shallower drop offs. I pulled up on the island and went to the right side and couldn’t get bit. I made the cut across it to an underwater point and for about 20 minutes I was boating short after short on the brush hog. I was getting so frusterated at this point just getting into all these short fish when during practice the fish were of such quality. I decided to pick up the jig and I had a fish drill it and I reeled down and set the hook to find nothing there. The day was wearing on and I was trying to decided if the spots would ever turn on and the fish would move up later in the afternoon or if the off shore bite had just fizzeled. Timing can be everything when you are fishing structure and I hadn’t been able to get out in the morning for pre fishing because of classes. I was getting on the water about 3 pm most of the time. I was wishing that these spots would turn on more towards the end of the day. It was back to the tree to see if it had replenished and on the first cast with a jig I caught another short just shy of the 15 inch mark. I was about ready to throw my rod in the lake. The next cast produced another fish just shy of keeping. These fish were just as fat as could be too and 5 of them could have gone a long ways as the tournament would play out. It was getting later in the day and things just weren’t looking like they were going to work out. While I was targeting off shore stuff the whole day everyone else was pounding the banks. I was trying to decided how I was going to spend my last hour and a half in the day. I decided to go do some flipping even though in the back of my mind I was telling myself that trying to flip up a bite was going to be even harder after who knows how many boats had fished the same banks during the course of the tournament. That is one of the problems you can run into on a smaller lake if you try and go shallow later in the day. You almost have to do it from the start because as the day goes on there are not too many spots that haven’t been beaten to death by everyone else. I went shallow with a jig and was able to get into some shorts but that was it. It was a pretty unproductive day to say the least and guess that is just the way it goes sometimes. Just gonna have to suck this one up and count my losses.
At the weigh in it was pretty clear that the shallow bite was more productive during the tournament day but even then it seemed like the bite was spotty. My buddy from Mizzou Scott Dooley and his dad ended up winning the tournament with a 4 fish sack for around 13lbs or so that was anchored by a 6 and a half pound hog. I’m happy for how well the day went for Scott and his dad. It was Scotts biggest tournament fish to date ever. Thousand Hills has some nice fish in it but if I were to pick a lake where someone would boat their biggest tournament fish ever Thousand Hills wouldn’t be at the top of my list. They caught all there fish in just inches of water throwing spinnerbaits, go figure. Scott had roomed with us the night before and he said he was able to get a couple of shorts on friday and just 1 keeper fishing shallow. I guess it just goes to show you that it’s not about what you do in practice that counts but during the tournament. In second place was Paul Emmerich who I think had 3 keepers or so but one that was over 5lbs that he got ripping smaller jigs on shallow laydowns. I couldn’t remember what the 3rd place team was doing but I imagine they were also fishing shallow. The bite was tough but almost everyone had a fish to weigh. There were a lot of fish caught but keepers were hard to come by and that can happen a lot out at Thousand Hills.
