Thread: Lake Lochloosa

Originally Posted by BenFL01

So its really more straight lines. That is what I figured. Had a poor day, but I have concerns that the Winter Haven chain isn't all that great. We only fished for 3 hours as well. I still think we weren't dead on your pattern, but getting close... maybe as close as we can with our setups. Might need some new poles.

We caught 1 fish. It was a nice one, my son's first spec he boated on his own. HE insisted we release it to the grease.

We had 8 poles out. 4 with 3/4 oz weights. 4 with 1 oz weights. They seem to be mostly down, but picked up a little. The water was 9 to 11 feet deep, and we were fishing at about 7 to 8 feet. With this technique, you seem to be advocating fishing even a bit more shallow. For instance, fish 4 to 5 feed in 9 foot of water. With all the weight on the line you can guarantee the depth you are putting the jig into.

As far as poles holding up to the weight. All the poles we used, from 8 to 12 foot poles, all held up the weight we used pretty well. They would likely take the extra 1/2 oz. just fine.

Now I just have to tune towards the jig colors that make me feel confident.

I am starting a "Black Creek" thread in a few minutes with some additional photos of our setup.

Tom

Bump to bring this FANTASTIC technique up.

A month after trying this and we have gone from catching 1 fish every hour or so to catching at least 5 fish per hour. I typically only get to fish 3 or 4 hours, so getting some numbers, even when the bite isn't hot, is great.

T_om has sold a bunch of them 12' to 16' rods to anyone who reads this. The rod dealers owe you some money brother.

I was at the fishin pier on "Burnt Island" to day and the weeds and bonnets are full of dead fish. There was thousands of bream and large shinners floating everywhere. Do ya'll think this was because of the freeze?

Originally Posted by Pegleg

I was at the fishin pier on "Burnt Island" to day and the weeds and bonnets are full of dead fish. There was thousands of bream and large shinners floating everywhere. Do ya'll think this was because of the freeze?

If the water gets cold enough it could do that, but it would have to get really cold really fast. Usually you just see tropical species, like sucker fish and tilapia, come floating up on a bad cold front. Bream and Gizzard Shad range up into some pretty cold waters. If the fish were mature at all and deep water was in range, it is really unlikely a fish kill would occur. There was likely another cause... sometimes weather changes can mess with the available oxygen in the water.

While the fish undoubtedly love all the cover, we do know that too much vegetation can finally block out enough sunlight and prevent adequate photosynthesis in the plant life. The result can be a major lack of oxygen production (a by-product of the photosynthesis process) and a fish kill. We trust the appropriate agencies of the State of Florida will insure the vegetation is kept in check on Lochloosa.

I found this on a guides site.

Anglers get a few warm days to reel in catches | Gainesville.com | The Gainesville Sun | Gainesville, FL

A fish kill on Lochloosa has brought about considerable concern. Late last week, residents and anglers started reporting substantial numbers of fish, bream, specks, bass, gar, bowfin, shad, and catfish, floating along the east and south shores. Some fish were still dying through the weekend.

According to FWC Regional Fisheries Administrator, Allen Martin, the cause of the problem is still uncertain. On Wednesday, Martin said that dissolved oxygen levels (often the culprit in such kills) in the lake are fine; and the lake’s water temperature at the time was not nearly cold enough to kill fish. Additionally, there has been no spraying of aquatic vegetation since early November.

But lake managers do have a theory. “The problem seems to be centered between the two boat ramps on the southeast side,” Martin said, “and it started right after a hard rain. Right now, our best guess is that something washed into the lake from the road or someone’s yard. If that’s the case, we need to find the source, but there shouldn’t be any major, long term harm. We’ll keep an eye on it.”

I hope they figure this out, because big rains are coming soon. I would hate to see this lake get harmed.

Anyone fished Lochloosa lately?

I was wondering what the water level was like now.

Tom

We fished Lochloosa today. Caught 102. Don did not want any more crappie right now and I only wanted a dozen so we quit keeping fish when we had 12 in the box. All over 12", but none really big.

Water level is up considerably from when we were last there. We could not find any really big fish, but we had our first "5 on at a time" hookup for the year today. White and white/chartreuse seemed to be today's colors.

Tom