Lexington report

I met Mooch at Lexington today.

After last weeks epic weather we were hoping for some warmer water and prespawn crappie action.  I got to the lake first and was greeted with very cool weather and decent wind chop at 9am......'Doh!

This was my first time at lexington for whatever reason and I was very impressed.  There is a ton of brush on the east shorline and a couple of nice protected coves and one long feeder arm that all had good looking cover.

I trolled a castmaster and a crappie jig as I scouted out the terrain.  The very back end of the lake is epic!  10-15ft deep with tons of brush.  I couldn't convince the crappie to bite, but I think most of them are still mid water as the temp was still pretty low at 52-3 degrees.

After my first scouting pass down the lake it started to rain and blow harder so I decided to pack it in.  Right as I was getting back to the ramp I got a call on the radio from Mooch who said he nailed a real slab crappie in the back end.  Well, we know they are in there!!

As I was taking out my yak the rain really started coming down and my hands virtually froze securing my boat to my car.  I had to drive for almost half the hill with my hands on the heater vents!

Give this lake 5-10 more degrees surface temp and it should just go off.  I can't wait.

MolBasser

great report, mol. pretty lake, eh? nice to have all those poor suckers
driving to work as you fish too,  . how was the clarity?

I have been 3 or 4 times now with first muddy, then tea colored water.
Never got quite to the south end, always turned around before that.
the creek arms are long, eh? I took one to the end, saw salamanders
swimming in there, a deer swam across in front of me.

I'm hoping I will get into fish there sometime. up to my gizzard in work
today.

I knew mooch would hookup, he's got the magic. I hope he got a photo of his fish.

looking cold but sunny all next week, but it looks like I might have some time on
monday. on paper, I have it off, but I never know. I might surf, I might surf perch
fish, I might fish lexington, I might try to go to melones, I might have to work.
sigh. we'll see!

best,

j

I got to a late start and as soon as I got out of the truck to unload the yak, I was "welcomed" with some cold wind and later on, some showers. I trolled towards Mol's location but stopped a few times to fish some of the back coves. I marked plenty of fish at around 20 to 30 feet but I could not get 'em to bite the lures. I even lowered a lively night crawler but still got no love.  I then bumped into Chris and he told me about the potential crappie spot at the end of the lake. And since the water was the highest I've seen, I decided to check it out. As I trolled my way to the back end of the lake, it began to rain even harder - I was fully prepared and stayed dry but my hands and feet were freezing ( I should have worn my neoprene waders). When I got there, I saw what Chris had described = Crappie City! Stick-ups everywhere. So I trolled my magic rap along the edges of the stick-ups and hooked into a bass.....at least I thought it was.....maybe a crappie....then I thought that it was too big to be a crappie but when I got it closer, my jaw  . I've fished for crappie before but never caught anything this big = 15 inches and really fat. After a few quick photos, I released her back....I'm pretty sure she was a spawner. I stayed and did a fan cast around the area where she was caught but to no avail. About 20 minutes of casting around, I threw in the white towel....IT JUST GOT TOO COLD I paddled back and as soon as I hit the launch ramp, the rain & wind stopped and lake was STILL - go figure

I'll post the pics as soon as I can. My roomates lap top has issues.

If Sunday looks good, I'll make another trip to Lex. 

Mooch said he got a pic.

The water was stained, but not muddy.

I am out of town all next week, and the following week is the Loch Lomond opener, but I will be back to lexington.

Mooch talked to the ranger who said park and launch was free, which goes against what the park service says on their phone message, but hey, I'm not gonna argue with the ranger especially if it is free.

I saw a pretty decent sized dead largemouth in one of the feeder arms.  Lots and lots of ducks.

MolBasser

forgot to mention...the ranger said that the lake will be drained entirely so they could build an additional water tunnel  across the lake bed He did not mention when and or how long this project would take - so fish this lake while you can. It's too bad...this lake has so much potential to be a trophy fishery. If they just stop draining water out of it every year and let the fish spawn go uninterrupted = it would be a killer place to fish But what do I know....there's got to be a legitimate reason why they pull the plug on this lake every year.....at least I hope so.....

What?!?!?

When the heck is that gonna happen?

That sucks.

Are they going to attempt to relocate the fish to another resevoir or are they just hosed?

Wow.

MolBasser

unfortunately hosed! (don't take my word for it)

I believe they did this to Steven's Creek after the big earthquake. They drained the entire lake so they could inspect the Dam for any damages. A long time resident told me nothing was done to save the fish. 

gigantus crappicus

15 inches and fat...... + the secret "Magic Lure" made by rapala (discontinued)

Lexington after the wind and the rain.....

well, mooch, in my eyes you are a fishing god. pulling a fish out of those
conditions, I don't know how you do it. I hope you can count that toward
angler of the year.

is that a size 4 rapala of some sort? it is tiny. I have a size 3 cd fat rap,
but it has to be moving pretty good to get any action on it, I have no
faith in it.

I guess in a few weeks that shallow area at the south end should
be good? I paddled down to look at it in the freezing rain and hurricane
force winds yesterday.  you could probably even beach it on that little
island and shore fish from there.

looks like tiny clean surf tomorrow, and it is looking like I have the whole entire
day off. unbelievable. I think I will surf/fish combo it down near moss landing,  .
save lexington for another day, maybe even a weekday morning if I
paddle hard up there and paddle hard back.

That is a fat crappie man! My wife has been requesting some crappie so I might have to try to get me some of that.

is that a size 4 rapala of some sort? it is tiny.

John - the lure is actually 2 1/2 inches long. Really small. I remember buying 3 of 'em at the clearance bucket at Fishermans Ware House. I know they were made by rapala but don't remember the specific model. I've been looking around for some more but have had no luck. I even asked FW about it and they said it was a discontinued lure. Unfortunately, I've already lost one lure to a snag . It is definitely my "most confident lure" in my tackle box and I'm almost always hesitant to use it because of the fear of losing it. It has caught trout,LM Bass,SM Bass,A big blue gill and finally, this slab.

Bill - better get out there and score some WAF points - so you can cash in during Salmon Season

yeah bill, what about a week day dawn pa-troll? aren't you one of us techie flex schedule folk?
paddle to the south end. fish. race back before the other engineers are awake!
some exercise and you might get a crap load of bream,  paper mouth, whatever they call these things, before work.

of course, lexington probably has mercury. if stevens creek does, lexingtron probably does too. it is naturally
occurring in the area.

mooch, check this link:

http://www.fkpfishing.net/Articles/articles.Crappie.htm

note the comments about slow trolling the mini-crank for the slabs!  you did it perfect!

it says start with chartreuse grubs, so I got some kalin 1.5"ers.  It also says you need a ff, but I can't
get one until I catch a few more fish the blue-kayak way,  . so I need you to bring yours!

I might be able to swing that, you get off the water around 9?