Post By: icecold Posted: 5/21/2012 12:11:04 AM Points: 10
Hey fellow anglers, I will be heading out to John Martin on Tuesday and will be there through Thursday, so I don't have much time, just looking for some starting points on how to go about fishing such a big reservior. I just bought a fishfinder with GPS and have a small 14' boat, I also bought a map of the lake, so just wondering if anyone is familiar with the lake and possibly some starting points on where we could get into multiple species, really want to try and catch some walleye, wiper and crappie, but will be happy with anything. Will post pictures after I return, and give a report, so thank you in advance and tightlines!!!!
Reply by: EOrf Posted: 5/21/2012 6:04:40 AM Points: 2482
Haven't been on that water w/a boat since i was a small kid ..i remember fishing the dam and my dad would hook superstar wipers that would turn are boat! Also if i was you id get all the whistles&bells and night fish the train trussel with cat baits ..There is a State Record Flatly in there ..Good Luck,make sure to post. Get some rattle traps crome in color,crome spoons and hopefully someone else will chime in
Reply by: danglinangler Posted: 5/21/2012 6:50:17 AM Points: 0
I've heard multiple species bieng caught near the spillway, had some friends out there this last weekend said they did good for wiper found them boiling in several areas on the lake!
Reply by: Walleye Wackin Posted: 5/21/2012 7:43:55 AM Points: 255
Stick to the south side of the lake. Fish shad colored rattle traps or white jigs 0 to 30 feet from shore and you will catch plenty of white bass and wiper. Walleye were not biting when I was there a few weeks ago (same report from others on the lake that week).
Reply by: Ch00Chee Posted: 5/21/2012 10:26:47 AM Points: 437
i wanna hit up jm as well. i've heard it's doing pretty decent lately. my relatives showed me their catches of whitebass, crappie, and wiper. i'm not so sure what they were using but i'm guessing red and white crappie tubes, mussels, crawdads, crankbaits, and rattle traps.
I was at JM over the weekend and did well from shore. I seen lots of boaters pulling in fish as well on the south side of the lake. I am not sure what others were using but I was using gurbs (chartreuse, red body wht tail and wht), live minnows under a slip bobber and sliver shinner mimic minnow.
Thanks to everyone for your responses and time. I will give an update when I return. Hopefully I will have some pictures as well. I will be working all night and then headed out in the morning, so if anyone has any last minute pointers, they will be much appreciated.
Hey y'all, well the trip turned out well. Lake is really low and water is anywhere from 68-72 degrees. Fishing was awesome for white bass. We also managed to find some wipers and the action was hot for about 3 hours and we couldn't do anything wrong on decent wipers from 3lbs-5lbs. We also managed 6 drums , 1 carp, 2 walleye and 1 crappie. Only one walleye was big enough to keep at 19" the other was only 14" so he was returned. We caught all fish on rattle traps, shad raps, x-raps, worm harnesses and jigs. We even stopped jigging the jigs because we could catch more fish in less time just reeling them in. I need to go thourgh some pictures and I will post them soon. Thanks everyone and tight lines.
Reply by: jerussell1980 Posted: 5/26/2012 9:52:44 AM Points: 440
Good info, my buddy and I are heading out there this Monday. Neither one of us have ever been there so any tips would be great for walleye. I am pretty avid in fishing for walleye but with only a few hours one day (coming from the springs) And this lake being so large it will be hard to "find" a good spot. I have never caught a wiper before so I will definitely check out the south side as mentioned above.
Again though, any info on the eyes would be great. I am getting my friend into walleye and he seems to be hooked now but I want this to be a great experience for him to want to continue to walleye fish. Thanks very much for your input. Also, does anyone know where we can buy a contour map of the lake?
Well went today and got 1 nice eye and about 53 Wipers and 1 Drum between four of us. My very first Wiper! Water level was very low, from what I had heard this lake was supposed to be HUGE... it wasn't at all. Nice body of water none the less. Plenty of boaters and fishermen out there. Fairly flat bottom, no drastic contours, and my buddies depth finder was messing up so it was hard to tell where fish were or how deep.
A long drive from the springs, not sure I will make that one again but I am glad I got an eye and got my first Wiper. Thank you John Martin Res.
Nice fish Jason. You fished with my dad and brother today. It sounds like it was a slow bite. It is a long drive but it can be a very good place to get into some good fish. I'm sure Kyle filled you in on our past adventures out there. Didn't know you worked with my dad. We will have to meet up and fish one of these days. Maybe somewhere a little closer to home.
Reply by: death__from__below Posted: 5/29/2012 8:35:08 AM Points: 128
Those are mostly white bass you are getting into. There are a few wipers and stripers mixed in but mostly white bass. Just wanted to let you know because some lakes might not lump all into the same bag limit and wouldnt want anyone to get ticketed.
PTerror, yeah, it was fun fishing with them. Your dad and i talk fishing all the time at work so it was good to get out there with him. your brother was doing very well and did talk about the cats he typically goes after. Let me know anytime you head out locally. I hit pikeview, prospect, brush hollow and pueblo at times. jerussell1980@yahoo.com is my email if you want to meet up some time.
Death from below, thanks for the species lesson, I dont catch wiper/white bass at all so with this day being the first time ever, I would not have known the difference. The only bass i catch are usually rock/spotted and its on accident. I would like to catch a LM bass some time too.
