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Fishing and Shore Lunch with a Friend
by Kevin Patton Fall just isn't the season of fall without a trip to Newton Lake for some bass fishing so I and my four-legged, furry friend departed early on the morning of October 21. As usual, the weatherman changed his forecast the day before the trip and we awoke to south winds 25 to 35 miles per hour. (See Why Fishermen Hate Weather Forecasters ) This would make for a frothy, rough boat ride, but when days are planned, reservations made, and everything is packed, you have to go and make the best of it. Besides, the bass in Newton often bite better during the worst of weather in this power plant lake. Normally, I move to windy banks to bass fish, but not when it ruins boat control and bait presentation. There are areas on Newton Lake to hide from strong winds from any direction, but a south wind is probably the most difficult in which to find fishable areas. I didn't start fishing until 11 a.m. The water temperature at the boat ramp was a warm 80 degrees with a water clarity of two feet. The water level was three to four feet below normal pool, leaving most of the shoreline grass out of water, but there is still plenty of brush and wood cover under water.
Being Sunday, there were 15 other boat trailers in the parking lot despite the windy conditions. I decided to fish the east side of the hot arm to get away from other boats in the coves along the west shore. Many fishermen who can only use their trolling motor because of the 25-horsepower limit fish the cove directly north of the main boat ramp on windy days. This cove is almost a lake in itself in that it has many pockets and points, most of which have brush on them. Threadfin shad are the main forage for bass in Newton and they were high in the water column on this sunny day. Unlike their larger and more hardy cousins, Gizzard Shad, Threadfin can only survive the harsh Illinois winters in the heated waters of power plant lakes. Schools of shad were visible everywhere, so I tied on a Bagley's silver foil crankbait, a Nichols Pulsator spinnerbait in blue shad, and a 3/4-ounce silver Rattletrap to try for some easy fish. The shad often hang in the middle of coves as well as along the shoreline, so be sure to make casts away from shore. If you're using a spinnerbait, slow-roll it so that it can get down to the bass below the shad.
Since shad are algae eaters, they are likely to be shallow or suspended shallow over deep water on sunny days. Thus, spinnerbaits are a good choice on bright days as well as overcast ones in lakes full of shad. After four hours of battling the wind I only had six small bass to my credit, but I did get broken off a couple times by bigger fish. They were caught on a Nichols spinnerbait and a Wave Worm pearl Tiki Stick in main lake pockets. Eventually, as the water temperature decreases, shad will move into the backs of coves at Newton with the bass following to feed on them. Since the water temperature was unusually warm for late October, I thought that I may have to fish a little deeper or try plastic worms and jigs tomorrow. I started fishing the next day at 7:30 with conditions similar to Monday. The wind had subsided to a slight north breeze, so I headed to the cooler water of the cold arm. Despite being in a power plant environment with shad for food, bass are still bass so there is always the potential for a good early-morning shallow or topwater bite. However, I also try fishing deeper early to give the shad time to move shallow as the sun gets higher in the sky.
My first stop was a main lake point just inside the cold arm on the east shore of the lake. Here I caught my first 18-inch keeper of the trip on a Berkley Gulp blue fleck, 7-inch Turtleback worm. By 9 a.m. the sky clouded up and the wind increased with the approach of every fisherman's bane, the dreaded cold front. I started to pick the pace up a bit to see if the fish would turn on prior to the front and I wasn't disappointed. During the next two hours, I caught several bass on the worm and a pearl-colored swim bait, in addition to two more keepers on the spinnerbait. Both keepers were caught along a rip rap bank half way up the cold arm, where the water was 73 degrees. Newton Lake often amazes me in how many different successful presentations can be working at the same time. I was catching fish on a variety of baits and talked with other guys who were getting bass to hit topwater lures as well. At 11 a.m. a cold rain started and the fishing changed. After that, I could only manage a few small bass in deeper water on Gulp worms and Carolina-rigged pumpkin lizards.
I finished the day with 12 fish in six hours, including three keepers. I must inject here that it is not only the chance for numbers of bass or even a trophy bass that makes a trip to Newton Lake a unique experience. To see why many fishermen find this a favorite place, click on Wildlife and Scenery A soaking rain settled into the area overnight and lasted into the next day. I tried to wait it out, but eventually gave up and started fishing at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. It was a dark, cold, rainy day. The temperature was in the mid-50's with a 15-20 mph north wind. The first day I had been blown all over the lake and had been rained on the second day. I was about to get both on the third day, but that's fishing. I caught fish along main lake banks and into coves, but did notice that the smaller bass were caught farther back into coves. The larger fish were caught near the main lake, including the largest of the trip, a 19 1/2-inch fish that bit a spinnerbait. This fish was located on a straight stretch of bank that had no apparent grass or wood cover, but plenty of shad. Sometimes fish location is not only about cover, but about food.
My only other keeper of the day ate a Gulf red shad worm. I finished the day with 15 fish in 4 1/2 hours, caught on worms and spinnerbaits. The rain finally ended so I started at 9:30 on day four, but unfortunately the wind increased to 15-25 mph, with gusts to 30 mph. Once again, most main lake areas were unfishable. While driving to the lake that morning, seven deer crossed the road in front of me, which is why I don't get in a hurry on the way to the ramp. A colder night had driven the water temperature at the ramp down to 75 degrees, so I headed up the hot arm to a protected cove and 81-degree water. I fished 6 1/2-hours on a mostly cloudy day with temperatures in the mid-to-upper 40's. The cold front had cooled the air and water temperatures, but bass were still biting. I worked a series of south-facing pockets in all of the larger coves on the west side of the hot arm. I didn't manage to catch any keepers, but did boat 22 bass on the pearl Tiki Stick, Gulp worms, watermelon and pumpkin lizards on Carolina rigs, Bagley's silver foil crankbait, and the spinnerbait.
Several of the bass were caught by casting the crankbait into the middle of a 20-yard wide pocket and retrieving it under schools of shad. I also caught bass by casting worms and Carolina rigs to wood cover and in deeper water on the points leading into pockets. This was another day when several presentations worked at the same time. Tomorrow I would fish during the morning before the drive home. Thursday was yet another windy, rainy, overcast day. It started off well when I caught a 15-inch bass on my second cast with a spinnerbait, but it produced only one other small bass in the first hour. I was fishing in the first cove north of the main ramp since I was leaving soon and didn't want to waste time running around the lake. A staple of bass fishing at Newton Lake when the fish go deep or when they refuse to bite most shallow-running baits is the Carolina Rig. I spent the last couple hours of the trip casting this rig with watermelon and pumpkin lizards to the various brushy points in the cove. It pays to move from point to point, as I caught nothing but small fish on the first two points, but landed a 17-inch bass on my first cast to a third point. In two hours I caught 18 more fish on the Carolina Rigs. At the end of the trip I had 75 bass and a couple catfish in about 25 hours of fishing. The weather had been a pain to say the least, but the bass were still feeding. If you're taking a trip to Newton Lake, re-spool your line for lunker bass, pack your rain and cold weather clothes, bring your camera, and don't forget the hamburger for your fishing buddy. * If you need a form on which you can record your fishing trips, visit our Free Downloads page and click on "Fishing Log" to download a copy. |
