Melvern 2-25

[propanejon]

Went to the Marina today. Fishin report said it has
been slooooow! So I went to work! Rolled up my
sleeves and got after them. Well actually I went
up to my truck and grab another jacket. Wind was
suppose to blow but could have fished out of my
boat till about noon.
Caught 15 nice crappie on assins 15 feet deep.
Cleaned 20 with the help of a few friends. Shad
have started to move back in the cove. Thanks Jon

[huntcapn]

nice job...thanks for reporting

[HairyVetch]

Love the can do attitude after hearing the bite is slow. If you wait at home for a report the fish are biting in most cases you already missed out. Sounds like a great day of marina fishing. SHDM, Lucky Livewell and myself headed out to Melvern for a late afternoon of fishing. We knew the wind would be blowing but according to the forcast it looked to be manageable. After passing the parade of boats heading away from the lake on the way there I began to have second thoughts. With every boat we passed I would look over at the cedar trees blowing around and hoped the hour drive would not be wasted. As we crested the hill headed down to the boat ramp the water looked very blue and inviting. The challenge was on. We started out staying on the south side heading towards the dam. We found what I believe was every other boat remaining on the lake. We poked around a pile or 2 without much luck. We did notice a guy next to us was better sheltered from the wind and was having some success. I had a brush pile marked on my GPS just the other side of him (at least 100 yards away) so we went to try and locate it. Once we reached the GPS mark we realized the other fisher had also thrown a marker on top of it so we moved on. He must of felt like we were zeroing in on his marker.

With so many boats in the area we headed west in search of new structure. For the last 2 years I have owned the Humminbird 798 with the side imaging and to be honest it has not been until recently that I have reaped the benefits from it. While searching we located a nice brush pile with the side imaging. I was able to mark it with gps and like advertised we were able to go over the top and locate it. This turned out to be the day saver. We did not catch a ton of fish here but what we caught were nice. Nick and Eric also pulled off a few small mouth bass. Fing a new spot and catching a few fish can sometimes be as rewarding as fishing known spots and catching limits. The bite died off after a short period of time and we went off in search of other locations. We did mark a ton of shad in the river channel but no takers. We started with only 3 hours to fish so this does not leave much time for searching. As the evening came to a close the wind died down enough for us to hit some spots on the north end. We had a good bite but the fish quality was not as good. This time of year you either learn to fish the wind or you stay home and I hate staying home. We had a nice evening on the lake only to be capped with a stop off at the Williamsburg BBQ joint. I have talked about stopping there for years and now finally done it. I would recommand this to anyone passing by in the mood for bbq. It is only a couple of miles from the highway. Head to Williamsburg and you can't miss it.

Nick also did a writeup and posted pictures
Nothing Else to Do on a Saturday Afternoon - kansasoutdoorsman.com

[Blackdog40]

Melvern on the 29. Hit the lake at 0730 wind out of Northeast at a good clip. Fished around the rock quarry point did not see many shad and did not catch many crappie, two dinks and one keep. Hit a number of brush piles that were sheltered from the wind just were not holding fish. Talked with three other boats no one was catching anything. Decided to load up and put in at Ike boat ramp and try the dam. Hunted around the dam a finally found some shad hanging next to a brush pile with scattered larger fish around the shad. Shad where hanging at 18 ft on the 20ft break line. The brush was at 23 ft. First fish we caught was a large white bass then the next four where nice crappie then another white, then it just slowed to a stop. Shad had moved off the screen. Went huntin found shad out at 25ft and caught about 6 more keepers, then had to go huntin again found them again at 20 foot caught 7 more keepers then lost them for good and did not catch anymore. Looked up and down the damn and could not find anything so went to Ike cove and hit some brush in 25 ft found a few fish there not many decided to call it a day around 1300. We had 20 when we quit. Not a bad day but not a barn burner either.

[shane]

Nice!