grubman
Well-Known Member
Just got back from fishing Buckhorn Lake.
As we arrived at the lake I asked a passing angler how the fishing was and he said not even the small ones were biting. When we arrived at know location, the previous angler's statement/warning came to haunt us all night long. The fishing was very slow with very light, almost imperceptible nibbles. Something had turned the fish off and made them fearful of all our offerings.
It was a full moon and for most of the night it was clear skies, maybe for about 2 hours there were patches of clouds. The weather network never mentioned anything about incoming fronts or changing weather patterns but it did get cold at night, dropped to 11C. I suspect that at this time of year with large fluctuations between day and night had changed the fish's feeding habit.
True to the moon positions for the Saturday, at 7pm we hooked a few bass and one even hit my Dollarama frog but not hard enough, just a tap. Nothing seemed to entice them into a feeding mood let alone a frenzy. We then proceeded to a channel were it was deep and known to hold eyes. There were a few boats there but they were not getting hits and within an hour many had left in search of better spots. We had some hits and then a small eye nailed our worm. Finally, we thought the bite was on, wrong. Changing our presentations did nothing to improve our situation.
We killed a couple of hours at a trailer park and tried enticing some sunfish at the dock, we dropped worms in front of them and they just swam away. We then headed back out around 11pm to a weed edge. Throwing/dropping they usual offerings of worm tipped grubs, plastic and slammer, nothing biting or the bites resembled hitting weeds. They were non-active until about midnight when we began getting a few hits. Most of the bites were easily mistaken for weed hits they were that light. I got a light bite but did not set the hook hard enough and it got off, too bad it was a good eating size of 2 lbs. There are some large rock bass; I mean they were palm sized and fat too. All rock bass were released without harm. I got some sleep at around 3 am till 7 am when the walleyes began nibbling again. But still their bits were so light that we could not set the hook on them or when we did it would come off. It’s like flesh hooked and trying to bring them to the boat ripped their skin off. Stinger hooks did not help, as the eyes seemed to just lip the tail ends of our worms and other baits. Then our new member nailed another walleye and managed to get the proper hook-set. Turned out to be his first and second walleyes ever.
Then morning did was not an improvement as the action was still the same slow light bites. We cruised around weeds, deep holes, drop-offs and the usual places for fish. No active bass or any other fish for that matter. When we arrived back at the first channel, I cast out and felt my lure get caught on some weeds. But weeds don’t head shake, I yelled out to stop the boat, I caught something that resembled a walleye. It dove into the weeds to hide or get tangled and there I tried to fight it. Maneuvering the boat slowly, we got on top of it and I was able to make see it was a bass. With only 4 lb line, it was close to breaking point. I’m impressed with Bass Pro’s Tourney Tough line. It eventually got free from the weeds and we netted a 2 lb bass. Not much markings on it and it was well hooked in the flesh between the top and lower jaws. After a couple of pics I let this guy go.
Buckhorn is a shallow lake that seems to lack good deep structure. It was a challenge to get these few fish but still worth the effort. Many others had given up and fewer caught much of anything during our time on the water. Since it was our first time on Buck, we have yet to fully rate this lake as being better/worse then Rice. We had a good time together and our new fishing partner (Angler_Brazil) got his first walleyes, that’s what made the day special.
As we arrived at the lake I asked a passing angler how the fishing was and he said not even the small ones were biting. When we arrived at know location, the previous angler's statement/warning came to haunt us all night long. The fishing was very slow with very light, almost imperceptible nibbles. Something had turned the fish off and made them fearful of all our offerings.
It was a full moon and for most of the night it was clear skies, maybe for about 2 hours there were patches of clouds. The weather network never mentioned anything about incoming fronts or changing weather patterns but it did get cold at night, dropped to 11C. I suspect that at this time of year with large fluctuations between day and night had changed the fish's feeding habit.
True to the moon positions for the Saturday, at 7pm we hooked a few bass and one even hit my Dollarama frog but not hard enough, just a tap. Nothing seemed to entice them into a feeding mood let alone a frenzy. We then proceeded to a channel were it was deep and known to hold eyes. There were a few boats there but they were not getting hits and within an hour many had left in search of better spots. We had some hits and then a small eye nailed our worm. Finally, we thought the bite was on, wrong. Changing our presentations did nothing to improve our situation.
We killed a couple of hours at a trailer park and tried enticing some sunfish at the dock, we dropped worms in front of them and they just swam away. We then headed back out around 11pm to a weed edge. Throwing/dropping they usual offerings of worm tipped grubs, plastic and slammer, nothing biting or the bites resembled hitting weeds. They were non-active until about midnight when we began getting a few hits. Most of the bites were easily mistaken for weed hits they were that light. I got a light bite but did not set the hook hard enough and it got off, too bad it was a good eating size of 2 lbs. There are some large rock bass; I mean they were palm sized and fat too. All rock bass were released without harm. I got some sleep at around 3 am till 7 am when the walleyes began nibbling again. But still their bits were so light that we could not set the hook on them or when we did it would come off. It’s like flesh hooked and trying to bring them to the boat ripped their skin off. Stinger hooks did not help, as the eyes seemed to just lip the tail ends of our worms and other baits. Then our new member nailed another walleye and managed to get the proper hook-set. Turned out to be his first and second walleyes ever.
Then morning did was not an improvement as the action was still the same slow light bites. We cruised around weeds, deep holes, drop-offs and the usual places for fish. No active bass or any other fish for that matter. When we arrived back at the first channel, I cast out and felt my lure get caught on some weeds. But weeds don’t head shake, I yelled out to stop the boat, I caught something that resembled a walleye. It dove into the weeds to hide or get tangled and there I tried to fight it. Maneuvering the boat slowly, we got on top of it and I was able to make see it was a bass. With only 4 lb line, it was close to breaking point. I’m impressed with Bass Pro’s Tourney Tough line. It eventually got free from the weeds and we netted a 2 lb bass. Not much markings on it and it was well hooked in the flesh between the top and lower jaws. After a couple of pics I let this guy go.
Buckhorn is a shallow lake that seems to lack good deep structure. It was a challenge to get these few fish but still worth the effort. Many others had given up and fewer caught much of anything during our time on the water. Since it was our first time on Buck, we have yet to fully rate this lake as being better/worse then Rice. We had a good time together and our new fishing partner (Angler_Brazil) got his first walleyes, that’s what made the day special.
