|
|
Posts: 32
| Was out on 2-09-07, slight rim of ice around boat ramp, lake clearest toward dam (2-3 foot visibility) many suspended fish marked on depthfinder, but few schools of bait. Surface temp 36.5-37.0 degrees
From diving cliff toward upper no-wake zone, several areas of thin ice, MANY more fish and schools of shad marked on 'finder. Water slightly warmer (37.0-38.0 degrees) and more stained (clarity about 10-12 inches)
Did not proceed beyond Buzzard Point, as ice became thicker. Heaviest concentration of marked fish in this area to Cochran Bay, also most baitfish schools.
Trolled for muskie all day (too cold to cast--reels were freezing up!!)and while we got every one that bit...none hit the lures...did see one musky feed on surface...also spooked several shallow fish (bass or gills) that were warming up in the brief period of sunshine that afternoon.
Expect things to improve as soon as it starts to warm up--this is not our typical weather for this time of year! Brrrrrr!! Longest cold spell in a long time!!
Al Nutty
Kinkaid Lake Guide Service
Been Nutty all my life, the insanity is a recent affliction!
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 956
Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | Thanks for the report Al. Im planning on coming down in two weeks weather permitting. I'll be watching the weather.
Karl |
|
| |
|
Posts: 69
Location: Crystal Lake, IL | Hi Al,
Thanks for the update. We still need to catch up regarding the Memorial Day weekend. Hope all is well.
Mike G. |
|
| |
|
| Hey Al,
Hope things are good! Vic said he say ya at the show, gotta get back to Kinkaid soon.
Jerry Borst |
|
| |
|
Posts: 785
| Been awhile Al, I sent you a PM |
|
| |
|
Posts: 32
| Conditions as of 2-17 are basically the same...main lake ramp is clear, some frozen slush in marina basin near the slips...water temps are 36.5-37 degrees throughout lower main basin...water level dropping slightly (still about 5 inches over spillway.)
Was not able to venture north of Hutt's Bluff due to large slush field...marked several fish in 12-20 feet of water. Noted more bait and fish activity between Hutt's Bluff and Peter's Cave (the big diving cliff everyone jumps off of.)
Outer half of water treatment plant was open, slush field prevented travel into Graff, Noble, or Raymond Necks...saw much more bait and fish on depthfinder in water treatment neck than in main basin. Trolled most of the day, tried casting for a couple of hours but the reels kept freezing. 
And to think...it's supposed to be 68 degrees next Friday!!
Al Nutty
Kinkaid Lake Guide Service
Been Nutty all my life...the insanity is a recent affliction!!!
Edited by nutty4muskies 2/17/2007 6:44 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 32
| Current water temps are in the 36-39 degree range. Much of the ice is off the lake (as of Tuesday, 2-20) although there was still some in the narrower bays and upper no-wake zone...should be gone totally over the next couple of days.
Current long range forecasts for the next 10 days are as follows:
Wed
Feb 21 Sunny
55°/35° 10%
Thu
Feb 22 Sunny
54°/30° 10%
Fri
Feb 23 Mostly Cloudy
53°/42° 10%
Sat
Feb 24 Scattered T-Storms
60°/49° 60%
Sun
Feb 25 Partly Cloudy
53°/36° 10%
Mon
Feb 26 Partly Cloudy
52°/40° 10%
Tue
Feb 27 Few Showers
52°/33° 30%
Wed
Feb 28 Sunny
54°/42° 10%
Thu
Mar 1 Showers
54°/35° 60%
As if the weathermen were always right?!?!?!?!?
Al Nutty
Kinkaid Lake Guide Service
Been Nutty all my life...the insanity is a recent affliction!!!
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 69
Location: oak lawn IL | 60* on sat huh, 2-3 more weeks and I think i'm coming down and givin you a call Al
jim |
|
| |
|
Posts: 434
Location: searchin for 50 | NEVER EVER trust the weatherman.   Wish I could make it down there.
Edited by Raider150 2/22/2007 2:05 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 32
| Here's the latest poop on the ice situation at the lake. As of yesterday (2-22-07) nearly all of the lake was open. There were a few remnant pockets of ice in some of the smaller, sheltered bays where the sunshine hadn't reached.
Water temps are 36-38 degrees. Clarity best by dam area, increased stain as you head toward Johnson Creek in the upper no-wake zone.
Slight ice field still reported near Piney Point, this warm weather and forecast rain for late Friday and Saturday will destroy any remnant ice fields.
Let the games begin (my buddy had a 39 incher on Sunday, Feb.18, trolling the main basin when most of the necks were frozen...) It hit a SS Shad MD model in shad pattern trolled 18 feet deep on 80 feet of line behind the boat.
Al Nutty
Kinkaid Lake Guide Service
Been Nutty all my life...the insanity is a recent affliction!!! |
|
| |
|
| Hey al,plan on heading down this weekend,do you think trolling would be more effective than casting. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 956
Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | Plans are now coming together. Headed down tuesday March 6 through 8th. Anyone gonna be there??? Cant wait. Lots of new toys to play with.
Karl |
|
| |
|
Posts: 69
Location: oak lawn IL | man I wish I could get down there!!
let us know how it goes and whats working this time of year
good luck guys |
|
| |
|
Posts: 32
| hey Castings...
Both will work. Typically catch bigger on the cast, more on the troll. Simple mathematics in my book...when you're casting your bait isn't in the water very long, but you have pinpoint accuracy to take the structure and available cover apart.
But when you're trolling, your bait is in the water 100% of the time. (Barring getting fouled.) You can cover a lot more water...and the better awareness you have with where your lure is in relation to the boat and the cover you're getting near, the more effective it's gonna be.
This time of year, the bigger females are starting to cruise near the shallow shorelines...it's amazing how shallow they can go--one of the biggest epiphanies I've had through the years.
Also, trolling lets you use more than one rod. Hmmm, this might tip the scales a little for the angler, eh??
Al Nutty
Kinkaid Lake Guide Service
Been Nutty all my life...the insanity is a recent affliction!!! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 956
Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | Al,
thanks for all of your postings. All I can do now is watch the weather and hope for some calm clear days to give some of the shallow/protected waters a chance to warm just a bit. I'm still waiting on my new lowrance. I hope it gets here in time.
Karl |
|
| |
|
Posts: 253
Location: On the water | Karl,
We are going down on March 9 thru 12, sorry we will miss you. We are hoping the weather will cooperate. We plan on fishing the Johnson Creek area. Good Luck.
Tom Johnson, CMH |
|
| |
|
| Karl,
I am down there fishing with Chad Cain and a buddy on the 6th and 7th. Cant wait!! We are staying in murphysboro. My first time on Kinkaid. Will be neat to fish open water before june living in minnesota my whole life.
Dan Burrow |
|
| |
|
Posts: 956
Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | Dan,
Fished with Chad last year on march 6(+/-) also. He was great to fish with. We are headed to the american inn or something like that in M-boro. We'll be in a small green 16' northwoods w/40 hp merc tiller. vertical rod rack. Black ford f150 w.cap and with, of course, the muskie first sticker on it. We'll look for you in chad's boat. Good luck.
Karl |
|
| |
|
Posts: 27
| what are the conditions like down on Kinkaid lately? I'm headed down the 17, 18, and 19 of March. Thanks and good fishin! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 956
Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | Just got back from 2.5 days on the water. We got on the water on tuesday march 6 in the afternoon at 2pm to find 42 degree water in the main lake basin with some temps in the southern arms as high as 50. weed growth already showing good signs Managed to pull a 33" from a weed line/fallen tree with a chart. J-Mac jig. in 5', 46 degree water. Visbility is not bad by my standards/experience with Kinkaid. the farther north you went the less vis. Visibility near the water filtration plant was about 3' We only went as far north as Thompsons and found a high wtaer temp of 46 in any of the arms with vis of about 1.5' max. My partner caught a 38.5" on a wht/red tandem spinner in 7' of water. both of our fish were caught in the southern (clerer/warmer) waters. The other fish we saw caught (largest 43.5") were also in the clearest of water though not necessarily the warmest but most fish were caught later in the day so maybe the warming does come in to play but only on a relative scale???? We did find more areas with 50 degree water by the time we left on thursday the 8th (again, later in the day though). We had awesome weather with clear (warming) skies with lightwinds out of the N-NE at 0-5 and no precip whatsoever. The signs warned of a "high" fire hazard at the ranger station which tells me there hasnt been much rain as of late. The water levels were good. Again I.ve got only a handfull of days on kinkaid so I cant really tell you what "Normal" is. Things are picking up for sure so if the waether is stable, get out there.
Karl
Edited by KARLOUTDOORS 3/9/2007 7:49 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 32
| Nice job, Karl!
Good report, but the warmest water is more stained, know that a lot of anglers don't feel comfortable with it but the north end rocks!! 2-3 degrees warmer up in Dunhouse, Johnson, Allen Island, although you gotta hit em on the head to get a bite!
Way to go, fellas! Nice start to the year!
Al Nutty |
|
| |
|
Posts: 21
| Hey Wood Ill be down there those same days. I will be out of a stratus, and staying at murphysboro. I was down
on the 2nd and 3rd and hooked up. we can stop at 17th street and compare notes. Ill try to post the pic on the general
site.
Later COOP |
|
| |
|
| Saw you out there Karl on wednesday evening. Was very interesting fishing Kinkaid for the first time. Weather was fantastic with fairly light winds especially on tuesday, and fishing was not bad at all. Seemed like the fish werent necessarily concentrated in the warmest spots just like you said. evening was definitely the best bite for us. We caught very few fish in the morning on up to about 2 p.m. then after that it was game on. I will definitely be making a repeat trip as it was quite interesting fishing in stumps and that kind of thing as a northern boy who doesnt see that kind of structure.
Dan Burrow |
|
| |
|
| Cooooop, nice to hear you and frankie are having fun catching fish while i'm home upchucking lung cookies after being sick for the whole week. Snowmobiling alcohol and some bar called the frontier took me out!
Tell frankie I'll call him this week . I should be back in action. Doc gave me some good stuff.
Don't let captian frankie show you up down there! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 21
| Ok Hess, I feel your pain man! Were heading back this weekend, Im shure frank will call after ya talk to him.
If the muskies arnt biting the bottle bass always are.
Later COOP |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2024
| Will be heading down this Friday fishing Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Looking to make the most of this trip, so if anyone is feeling like they're in a giving mood any help would be appreciated. PM or email: [email protected] |
|
| |
|
Posts: 253
Location: On the water | Fished Johnson Creeek, Dunhouse, Allen Island, and south to Thompson Neck, March 10-12, temps were 48-55, caught a 38 incher on a white 8-inch Jake, and lost one on a white Radd Dog. We threw everything from J-macs to jointed Believers to spinnerbaits. Water was muddy but not to bad, I've seen it a lot worse. We probably should have down-sized our baits. Heard of a 45 incher caught trolling an orange Shallow Invader on planer board. Weather was perfect, sunny and warm. Great trip. |
|
| |
|
| Hi Fever,
Are you the guy from Chicago that I spoke to when we pulled out of the water on Saturday?
As a reminder, I'm the guy from St Louis in the old Lund with the Black Dodge truck.
John |
|
| |
|
Posts: 253
Location: On the water | Johnny,
Yes that was us, it was nice talking to you about Lake Kinkaid, maybe we'll see you next March. Good luck the rest of the year.
Tom |
|
| |
|
| Tom,
Good to talk to you again. Congrats again on the musky.
Johnny |
|
| |
