Location: Shoals Creek, Wilson Lake
Time: 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Air Temperature: 55 Degrees in AM, High of 70 Degrees
Water Temperature: 52 Degrees
Lake Level: 506.97 ft - Looks like it hasn't really started to fall yet on Wilson.
Weather Conditions: Moderate winds from the South 12-14 MPH
Today was an excellent day! I haven't been fishing a lot lately - only a little goofing off while putting out crappie beds, but nothing very serious. Today, however, I set out to spot some fish and put them in the boat with the help of a new gift from my amazing wife.
After more than a year of lusting over a new GPS Chartplotter/Sonar Unit, my wife surprised me with a new Lowrance 9" Elite-Ti. I've spent several evenings after work installing and setting it up, but today was the trial run. All I can say is WOW. This thing is amazing!
I put in over at Shoals Creek today and rode around playing with the new fish finder while scouting for a place to drop two new crappie beds. I ended up dropping two cane brush piles in a location that I believe will do well. The images this new Lowrance unit took are unreal.
After dropping of the my cane brush piles, I scouted the lake some more and found an area that used to be an old marina, but it looks like it was destroyed and part of it sank. I couldn't tell initially if what I was looking at was debris or fish or a mix of both, but I changed my settings and realized there were suspended fish stacked among the debris. I dropped a line with a minnow and jig bottom bouncer and reeled up to where the fish were suspended and quickly realized I was on the catfish. I spent an hour or two trolling this area and racked up around 15 blue catfish. They were a little on the small side, but it was fun pulling these suspended catfish in.
After I had my share of catfish, I moved over the the rock bluff area to see if I could find some sunken beds or structure that might be holding some crappie. I managed to find a blowdown holding some stacked fish that appeared to be a classic crappie signature, so I dropped a marker and circled back. I quickly got some bites and withing just a few minuted I had pulled two crappie of the blowdown.
I've learned so much about these sonar units in the past few months, that I decided to adjust the settings on my downscan trolling motor unit. Its a small, cheap unit, but after some adjusting, it was preforming very well. In the image below, you can actually see the one of the crappie strike my bait and see me reel it towards the surface.
Below are a few other random screen shots I took today that had notable structure. It is amazing to me to see how much information you can really gather about what is below when you have traditional sonar, downscan, and sidescan all working at the same time.
To end my day, I headed under the bridge to scan the pillars to see if they were holding any fish. I was once again amazed at the results.
As you can see, the pillars were definitely holding fish! I targeted one of these suspended schools and quickly picked up 3-4 white bass and a couple drum.
Overall, today was very impressive. I think I caught about 15 catfish, 2 crappie, 3-4 white bass, 4-5 drum, and a bluegill. I wasn't counting, but I think those are close numbers. I can't speak highly enough about the Lowrance Elite-Ti unit. I would highly recommend it or any Lowrance product. I can only imagine how this will change my fishing approach as I continue to learn how to use all of its functions and get better at deciphering what it gives me. I can't wait to get back out there again.
