Alphahawk
07-24-2014, 10:18 PM
During the past four weeks I have not caught a lot of fish. I have had the kayak in the water a lot at Laurel Hill. Been using and learning the side imaging a lot. Laurel Hill has plenty of Gills still in the lake. I can get on it and it doesn't take me long to find them in 30-50 feet of water suspended at 15 to 26 feet deep. Have found big schools of them. Haven't caught many of them as I am still working on my skills of fishing for them deep out of a kayak....a lot different than fishing for them deep off the bank. I will learn though and hopefully get back to catching. I have not spent much time at Pickwick as I normally would as I am spending a lot of time using the side imaging. On Tuesday I spent the whole day at VFW Lake scanning for fish....have fished there many afternoons after spending the morning fishing Laurel Hill also. Been giving the kayak a workout. Sad to say there are not many fish there. You see the catfish....carp.....but the Gills are noticeably absent from shallow and deep water. I fished there a few times this spring and caught fish but that was to be expected for that time of year. The catches out of VFW in the summer have been on the decline for a couple of years now. This year they have been almost non existent. My findings coincide with the same results of a fishing buddy who lives close to the lake and has the same results. Even though there still seems to be plenty of Gills left in Laurel Hill according to sonar the catch rate this summer is way down....so down that on many days there will only be a few boats on the entire lake and hardly anyone fishing from the bank. That is not to to say fish can't be caught but it has fallen off rapidly for most. Have had many talks with the concessionaire who has to open every day 30 minutes before sunset and stay late. His business is down.....cricket sales are way off due to lack of active fish. While I may return to Laurel Hill some this year I have made my last trip to VFW for this year. It is a shame that so many fish have been harvested that it has hurt the lake that much. Many of us who fish down there...including several TWRA officers......have reached the conclusion they need to cut the limit of 20 Gills in half to 10. I can only hope that something will be done about it. Meanwhile I am headed to the White River in the a.m. for some trout catching...LOL. Will give a report when I get back but fully expect to catch a lot of fish. Arkansas here I come!
Regards
Regards