so i hear there's a slight algae bloom.

[Matt_Magnone]

slight without a doubt probably means the stuff is back. i know a lot of you can't stand the hassle but there is definitely going to be a bite in it. i strongly recommend giving it a go.

i've been at havasu the last 4 days and haven't seen the lake for over a week. the last time i was there there were clumps of green and at the end of the day i had left the swimbait fish biting. fishing was absolutely a kick in the butt and should continue to be so even with the curve ball mother nature is going to throw at us.

i believe the lake is either going through the beginning stages of an actual turnover or the fact that they are pumping in water. first option. seeing as how the nights have started to cool a bit surface temp without a doubt is dropping. as the surface temp begins to drop it becomes denser and begins to sink. when that layer of water starts sinking and mixing with the layers below the general body of water reaches a somewhat uniform temperature. as we see the wind starting to blow more and more this time of year, the surface layer is pushed down wind and begins to sink. the bottom half of the water column starts to rise and so on and so forth. the lake will start circulating and in a sense flips. i rushed like a mother explaining this, and theres a lot more to it, but you get he idea. when the bottom layers start rising all the nutrients start rising. when matched with sunlight, they start to grow and produce algae and here comes the rotten egg nasty crap smell. at least this is how i've always thought of a turnover.

the other option is they have started pumping water into the lake. if so, as the force of the water is entering the lake its stirring up the bottom layer of the water column forcing those same nutrients towards the surface. as the sun hits those nutrients; bingo. a jump started algae bloom.

either scenario, fish have to eat.

seeing as how i havent been on the water for over a week and i will be faced with a change of conditions, here's how i would approach things with this so called algae bloom.

im gonna wanna know what temp the lakes at. is it still almost 80 or has it started to drop? i wanna know how warm the backs of coves are then secondary points and mainlake. before i start fishing i'm gonna wanna take a drive and do homework. this can take as little or as much time as you want to spend. take a zone you have an idea of fishing and methodically pick it apart with your electronics. do a fast sweep then bail. find a similar location well away from your first spot that offers the same stuff and do it again. keep doing it until you've exploited a spot on all sides of the lake. what depth were the fish at? where's the thermocline? are fish on the bottom or suspended? go over it ALL.

i would first try and find out how the wind blew the day before. if the wind is blowing out of the west, odds are the wind has started to push whatever algae or surface crap towards the opposing shore line. if there is in fact a bloom, i should expect to see A. off colored water B. algae piled up against the bank creating lines or C. a warmer temperature in those windblown areas.

i want to know at what time conditions start changing. yesterday, what time did the wind come up? how long did it blow? was it morning? afternoon? what direction? was it hot? or was it cold? clear skies? clouds? like i say time and time again; it all matters. you need to have a milk run set up for every possible condition. when the wind blows from one direction i want to have my spots lined up on one particular bank where i can hit multiple areas in the quickest amount of time. i want to exploit mother nature for all she's got. if the wind blows at a different direction, i want shore lines or spot on spots picked out on that particular shore line. now if its off and on wind, and obviously limited amount of time for each spot, im gonna want to pick my A spots for each shore line and make PERFECT casts to the intended structure and cover.

next i would look to see what forage is up on the bank. have any shad miraculously appeared? we all wrote it off as "they're gone" but there's always a chance we'll see some one time or another. are there any silversides or fry. are bluegill and bass running? what size are they? are they in pods? are they alive or are we seeing dead bait everywhere. those are all very important. obviously with the push of any algae, there will without a doubt be some sort of line seperating clear from off colored water. the off colored water creates a safe zone for the forage fish and a somewhat hard edge a predator can ambush in or against.

now that you have some really important clues its time to start fishing. i value the approach of finesse fishing, but ive transformed myself into a power fisherman the last 6 years. i dont want to wait for a fish to come to me, i want to hunt him and cover as much possible shoreline i can until i can find those active packs of bigger fish. im gonna go confident. swimbait, crank and rip bait. i always go big out of the gate with the swimbait sticks. i throw all sizes that pertain to the time of year and 90% of the time have multiple rods rigged at once. in this case, baby bass, bluegill and generic fin fish colors. from there, i'll scale down until ive isolate size, speed and angles i need to attack. if i were a baby bass, bluegill or shad, i would not want to be out in the open, im gonna hide in the thickest of cover. i want to be able to feed and ambush like the bigger fish, but still feel secure in a zone where i wont be demolished. im gonna like the bank. as a fisherman who's used to going big, im gonna start focusing on structure in relating to cover. points, ridges, creek channels, humps and flats. i want to focus on the little details on each. what cover is ON the structure? trees? rock?, a boat? it all matters and all makes a difference. i know that a big fish will use the right pieces of cover or structure to corner bait against. if i present my bait in a natural manner around this type of spot on spot, i set myself up for an opportunity at a good fish. right now i would look at tree lines, isolated deep trees, boulders , creek channels, flats and points. im not gonna go deep until the fish tell me to do so.

if nothing on the reaction side of things works, im going to to confident again. im picking up a jig or a 12" worm. i know without a doubt, i can get bit on these year round. if your confidence bait is a dropshot 4" worm ; throw it. find the fish then work on size from there. i on the otherhand go big. i want BIG fish and i dont care what i have to do to get them. if im fishing for 1 bite, im gonna be pissed, but i'll do whatever it takes. go back to square 1. points, ridges, creek channels, humps and flats. find the active zones with whatever the days water clarity needs to be. muddy, algae lines, clear, deep, hot or cold. let the fish tell you what they want and then rip em a new one!

this time of year as the wind starts to BLOW my trolling motor batteries BLOW. im often on high the entire day. i want to cover water and exploite mother nature. move fast, be precise and make good judgement calls. if you accidently moved over a REALLY good spot and you just got too close, ignore and move on. dont waste your time. stay on the motor and work harder not to make the same mistake twice. if you are metering a spot, dont stop and fish that spot. i sacrifice i spot to set up for the following. by the time you fished the second you can come back to the first. be stealth at the same time productive.

there's more i'll do but i just got back from havasu today and im still burnt and need to crash out. i just wanted to give some advice to those that may already have it in their heads to wait till the lake clears up.

these same conditions earlier this year i ROLLED them up in. funny thing was, i was one of few boats fishing it. reaction, reaction, reaction!

[murphy]

Droppn science! Very informative (as always).

[Pete Marino]

"SLIGHT" would be the understatement of the century Matt.. when I was there on Saturday for the classic the algea bloom was in FULL affect as bad as I saw it in June OR WORSE... Small and Large (Basketball size) clumps throughout the water columm down as far as you could see, so probably 15ft. The marina area was so bad that it looked like a thick green blanket ....
Becaue I was there giving demo rides for Bass Pro I got to fish for a few mintues between rides and of coarse I fished the worst bloom along the rocks by the marina...it was getting spooled up on my line and clogging the guides ....BUT... We still hammered the bass casting to 30-40ft... we had like 15 bass in less then an hour total time out there..
But the bloom is miserably horrible....and it was bad from one end of the lake to the other, even in the middle of the lake....ther bass are still chewing though!!

Pete

[Matt_Magnone]

Damn dude. I tell the ol lady I'm leaving for
havasu and she punishes me by slapping a bloom together hahaha.


Fish gotta eat no matter what. I'm gonna have to dial it in. Last bloom it turned out to be off the hook. Goin Friday for sure!

[ddoskocil]

If I don't have the time to take the boat out, could fishing from shore for 2-3 hours in the early morning be productive? No wind, but low light, fish may be active early and on shadey sides of coves and points? Limited on casting angles and probably lure choices, but still work structure - trees, rocks. One more thing- with the green water and going to reaction baits, is upping the line from 6-8 to 12-15# a good idea? (Obviously bigger for swimbaits) What do you think? Thanks guys.

[HawgZWylde]

Hey Matt, went out yesterday (Tuesday) and I didn't see the bad conditions that have been reported over the weekend. Maybe a little more than when we saw you last Tuesday. Many clear spots with 5- 15ft visibility. Backs of some coves have a thin mat on top, bait underneath. The bite on the banks has cooled a little and it's more spot to spot. Like that spot you saw us on retrieving a hard swimbait from a treetop last Tuesday, and the west side of the cove straight across the lake. Some big girls are pretty active, but you gotta work for the numbers. Perfect conditions for reaction. You should have a blast on Friday...