Coyote, The hunt for big bass

Went to Coyote lake on last Friday and hit the water about 6:30am only to see a lake about 1/3 full of water.
The water was off color a little with clearer water towards the dam. I headed for the dam while casting towards the bank looking for any kind of structure which was hard to find any tulle's were about 20 yards up the bank. All the wood was out of the water so the only kind of thing to target were depressions on the bank or a change in the bank surface like from mud to rocks. So I casted from the launch ramp to the dam only to get one planter trout on a shallow diving crank bait. Its about 8:00am or 8:30am so I think I should have started at the south end where it is all shallow about a 4 to 10 foot variance in depth the water temp in the shallow end got up to 74 deg. After meeting up with Dan and Chris I started towards the Shallow end while trolling a sling blade and a kastmaster behind that. Got the south end stated casting a crankbait, a 7in Senko, Zoom brush hog and a large Jig. Nothing would go for the large lures all my fish were caught on a small short billed crank bait. Ended up with only 1 small bass and 2 trout. The small bass could have been caught all day long. The other guys did just that. Ill let them tell there story. Its about noon and guess who showed up
"Mooch" better late then never. Ended up having a good time with the boys and meeting them. Sorry the lake was not up the snuff it is a good lake with lots of large bass. The condition were not the norm for this time of the year. All the usuall spawning areas were high and dry. So I will keep an eye on the lake for a further attempt later in the year. The picture with the heron on the vertical bank is an example of the creek channel in the lake which I have never seen exposed. Where the picture was taken the water is normally about 20 feet deep there.

Thanks for the report!
Sounds similar to my day at Coyote on Sunday.

At least you caught a couple fish. Hopefully you'll do better next time.
Great pics too!

Thanks,
PK

....Its about noon and guess who showed up
"Mooch" better late then never

...I only got there late cause a truck full of puppies over turned on 101....I had to stop my vehicle and rescue each and every single puppy I came across....luckily, there were no fatalities and all the puppies were accounted for 

Anyway, I radioed in as soon as got to the launch ramp...got a surprise response from Dan (no longer da lurker ) He had already caught a couple of trout and some LMB trolling a "super duper risto shad rap" right along the bank across the launch ramp. Kevin also replies and had a few caught and released as well. As soon as get in the water, I run into Chris / MByakker - he fished the Dam side for nothing...so I didn't go there I stuck around and mooched off Dan's location and picked up a few small LMB - casting a super duper risto rap along the rocky shoreline. I also managed to catch (and release) a trout casting along a submerged ledge that went from 4 to 8 feet in a hurry. Chris started getting his own as well but none of us came across any of the elusive double digit LMB. The lake has gone down even more from the last time I was out there. And by the way, the ramp was also closed due to the really low water line. Paddling across the lake, I saw a lot of downed timber just inches away from being exposed. Anyhow, it was a nice warm,sunny windless day on the water with da boyzzzz......good stuff right there 

....all these and more caught and released from ONE lure  The almighty Risto Rap 

It was nice hooking up with you guys again . .and nice meeting you Reelfish.  Ya - no big bass for us . .but as I was leaving I heard some guy on the bank yelling that he caught a 7lb'er. 

It was a funny day . .I didn't get anything trolling and nothing on my trusty spinners.  The only thing that worked for me was casting a size 7 shad rap at the shoreline . .but it ended up working out nicely with 7 dinky bass on the day.  I am still a lousy enough bass fisherman that I dig catching 7 dinky bass

You guys had a good FRIDAY outing and at least got an adrenaline rush!.....When reelfish said,"bring yer' trout rods and swimbaits", I was picturing some HOGGS going down!.....well,whens the next BIG BASS HUNT going on?

FisHunter,

Mooch and I had swimbaits but did not throw them. It is a very slow way to fish and kind of boring until you get a pick up. The next hunt for this lake. Don't now I will monitor the lake for a while see what these fish are going to do with the spawn. More rain would help this lake. It is very low. So off to the Delta on the 23rd looking for more kayak places to launch and check out the Bassmasters Elite. Plus some fishing

FisHunter,

Mooch and I had swimbaits but did not throw them. It is a very slow way to fish and kind of boring until you get a pick up. The next hunt for this lake. Don't now I will monitor the lake for a while see what these fish are going to do with the spawn. More rain would help this lake. It is very low. So off to the Delta on the 23rd looking for more kayak places to launch and check out the Bassmasters Elite. Plus some fishing

I was HOLDING HOPE for you guys.......I too have "a"  big-swimbait, but have never thrown it..one day it will happen for me(us).
Thnks fer da' details Kevin!

Sounds like you guys had a good day on the water...after all, fishing on Friday is much better than slogging through the last work day of the week! I like your bird pix, too, reelfish.

Janice aka "Big J"

Janice,

The birds were all over lots of turkeys to making plenty of noise gobbling and strutting around. I am so happy I get my Fridays off with all the fishing I do. I don't miss the crowd.