I wish I could say the bite is totally on fire, but that just isn’t accurate. Since mid-July, the bite has slowed to a crawl—and it’s not just me. I have a friend who fishes four days a week, and he’s only putting a handful of fish in the boat. Every once in a while, he’ll catch one weighing between 3½ and 5½ pounds.

From the beginning of June through mid-July, we were catching more than 20 fish a day, including plenty of big ones in the 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-pound range. My biggest was 5 pounds, 11 ounces. What are reports that I cut over a hundred fish that's over the period of a month./

The bite seemed to really turn off near the end of July. I went out night fishing with one of my good buddies, and I couldn’t believe it. He never got a bite the whole night. I put six in the boat, lost two at the boat, and had two short strikes that I should have hooked—for a total of ten bites, six in the boat.

I’m not going to fish “Lake Slownoma” three or four days a week again until later in the year. For now, I’m heading up to Clear Lake, where the bite is rumored to be on fire!

Good luck and tight lines!

—Nitrosmike

Cold front after cold front this year, disrupting the typical patterns we see this time of year. Spending lots of time fishing the lower portion of the water column with drop shots, free rigs, Waco rigs, t-rigged creatures. Topwater is really spotty....ok in the mornings but shuts off at 10a. A bit tougher this year, than past years. Water temps are running about 5-6 degrees cooler than the same time last year, based on my records. The wife asked me if my coike's were decorations for the boat, hahaha.....I guess actually, that's what they are.....I've been able to hook only 2 fish, all year on these urchins. So, maybe they are decorations. Lol. Tight lines!