Lake McConaughy 12.5.20

[Husker525]

With a brief weather window available on a weekend, and my work schedule cleared up, I voyaged to Big Mac.

The weather started at 23 degrees, clear and sunny, and warmed up to a balmy 45 degrees. The wind was blowing out of the WNW, then WSW, then WNW at 10-15 mph. I have fished this lake many times in winds of 10-15 mph but never observed what came next.

There were very few whitecaps present, but BIG rollers!. 3-5' rollers spaced about 15-20 apart, and a few 7' rollers mixed in. It made for an interesting trip going from South to North. My boat did great, but there was no jumping on top. Down in the valley, quarter into them, then back down again. It was rough for sure.

I started on the North side of the lake, just West of Martin Bay, looking for active fish. The key was to find schools of Alewives, then target the fish under the baitfish. We fished for marks without baitfish around, and couldn't buy a strike. We also targeted the larger marks, and left the smaller ones alone. Most of the bigger fish I found were laying in groups of 1-3 in about 40 fow. We slabbed for them, thumping the bottom, between trying hang on in the boat. We caught and released 4 fish from 7 lbs to the largest at 29" and 9.5 lbs. We then caught 6 fish between 16"-23".

We were the ONLY boat on the lake, probably because of the wind, but definitely worth the effort.

We tried Jigging Raps, Shiver Minnows, etc, but never had a strike.

I was surprised that I could not locate any large schools balled up or suspended 40 ft down over much deeper water. They all appeared to be pretty scattered still.

The South side of the lake did not result in even a bump.

[RMBin303]

Thanks for the report. Big Mac can be a nasty lake with the wind.

What boat ramps are still in the water?

[Husker525]

We only tried Spillway. I doubt Martin would be very good unless you had a roller trailer. Lemoyne low water ramp is usable, and do not know about Cedar Vue.