South end report Aug 18-20

[RANDY]

Spoke with Wayne on Tuesday and he was not optimistic about my trip. I was looking for a place to start chasing boils. My fishing partner was a relative newby. We headed to Friendship and the areas near there. Stopped at Dove and caught a few small ones on Ned rigs. Got camp set up and after a great brisket sandwich we headed out for the evening boils. There were none. There were a few slurps from small stripers and we did catch a few of these but the average size was 10 to 12 inches. Good eating size but not what we were looking for. In the morning of the 19th we headed down to Dove to see if any boils were going on. A few splashes but no boils. headed to the back of Dry Rock Creek to see if the coves had any action. The 3rd or 4 one on the right had lots of top water action with small fish but a few to 15 inches. We caught several. We trolled and caught some decent smallmouth but no stripers. Headed in to breakfast a quick swim and we decided to go across the channel MM35 and do some catfishing. I had brought some shrimp that were cooked. We caught catfish but the surprise was the smallmouth at 30 feet eating the shrimp. They were 2 to 3 pounds. On the last morning we headed toward Antelope Point and saw no boils at all. Not a good morning. There was some activity in the main channel which I think is good for future action. Water temp 82.5 to 85. Best bait for small smallmouth Ned Rig. Best action for stripers, 3/4 oz cast master and 3 in swim bait. Did catch a couple on top water. Overall a good trip for boat rides but we did catch enough fish to keep us interested. Still a lot of boat activity. No wind or rain but lots of smoke. Still the best place to be!