accustomed to using these isolated overhead targets to set up on, because many anglers fail to fish these locations in favor of beating the bank.
LADDERS
Angler’s Marine pro staffer Tony Lain knows firsthand how good the obvious overhead targets can be. According to Lain, the bass in DVL have become accustomed to staging on the ladders that enter the lake. The ladders are located on the three dams that where built to form the lake. “The big females in DVL love to set up on the ladders around the lake, before they move into shallow water to spawn” said Lain. “If you pull up on the right ladder, at the right time you can really load the boat with big bass.”
Lain likes to fish the ladders mid-day, which allows time for the bass to position in the shadows offered by the shady side of the ladders. “The ladders are always in the water regardless of lake levels,” Lain said. “Some ladders are better than others; but for the most part, not many anglers know how many tournaments have been won by targeting pre-spawn females that suspend in the shade on the lake’s 10 to 12 ladders.” Lain says that these are obvious targets that most anglers tend to drive right by.
He uses an array of techniques and lures to target the bass that hang around the ladders. “The most
obvious bait is a Yamamoto Senko.” Lain said, “I like to start off by throwing a wacky-rigged, green pumpkin
Senko on 6 or 8 lb Toray fluorocarbon line.”
Lain fishes his Senko on a Daiwa Steez rod
and reel by fly lining the bait over the ladders.
“Having good tackle is a must to ensure an
accurate cast as not to spook the fish,” he
said. “The goal is to let the bait fall natural,
while keeping your boat as far away from the
ladder as possible. Most of the strikes occur
as the Senko is free falling. Sometimes, I will
insert a nail weight into the middle of the
Senko to get the bait to fall a little faster in
deeper water.”
According to Lain, many of the fish bite
on the first cast to a ladder. Some ladders
require repeated casts at different angles
and depths. Even if he does not
get a bite, Lain will use his trolling
motor to ease up on a ladder to
see where the fish are positioned
and return later in the day. Ladders
can offer a great place to target
bass in the heat of the day as
many fish seek shelter in the
shade.
BUOYS
Bass club member Gabriel Diaz
also knows just how good fishing
DVL’s overlooked targets can be.
“I remember the first time that
I caught a bass off of one of the
lake’s many marker buoys,” Diaz
said. “I was shocked to see that a
bass would actually be suspended under the buoy in the shady spot.”
After this light bulb went off in Diaz’s head, he started targeting the shady side of the maker buoys and caught fish off of every one of them in the lake. “When this bite is going it becomes a pattern within a pattern,” he said. “The buoy bite can be really good in the spring to catch the bigger staging females before they move on the spawning beds.”
SPRING 2015
19