Lake James , May 17 , 2014.

I left around 2:30 Saturday morning , and arrived at Black Bear at 5:45. I was using minnows , CBMIGP , and perch. After 2 hours with no bites , I got breakfast a second time , and went to the state park. There was some kind of triathlon event , but luckily it ended at 9. I killed some time on shore , and got a canoe. Began trolling the baits behind me about 9 to 20' down , and got no takers. By this time , the sun was out , and I could see the bait descend as I dropped them down. I headed for an area in 28' , and caught several perch. Leaving the area , I stopped at an island to rest , and tried a shallow cove. Soonafter , I drifted out toward the channel , and lowered the baits. After drifting for about an hour , I decided to raise the bobber a foot on the crappie setup , and started catching larger perch. The largest was about a pound , the smallest about 9 inches. One swallowed the hook , which resulted in my drifting away from the spot , and an end to the catches. As I circled Paddy's Creek a third time , I felt a tug on the minnow , and grabbed the rod. The bobber was 15' above the hook , and I ended up attempting to land the fish by hand. I could see it 10 feet down , to my surprise , it would have been a decent smallmouth bass , but it broke the line at the side of the canoe. Couldn't locate any cats whatsoever , IDK if I should head for deeper water given the clarity issues , or try it at night. The deepest depicted on my 'depthfinder' was 36'. The water is very nice up there , with a green tint. Attachment 162664