I made trips to Lake Athens on both Tuesday and Wednesday this week. I caught 25 bass Tuesday and 22 bass Wednesday. The best fish weighed 5.16 pounds. There were bedding bass everywhere on the lower lake. But there are also bass fry in big numbers in all the spawning areas. That tells me the spawn is just about over. I’m thinking I’ll try Lake Athens again next week, but I’ll have rods rigged with other baits besides bed fishing baits. I’m hoping there will still be fish on the beds, but I have my doubts. You would expect the spawn to last longer than early April, but it’s been a really warm spring.

Most fish were caught on TRD’s rigged as a tiny child rig. I also caught a few on a ShadZ on a jig. I was surprised at catching this many bass, considering the incredible fishing pressure Lake Athens receives in the spring. But just like at Fork, many anglers don’t sight fish for bass much, and the ones who do seem to fail to see lots of bass. The late spawn seems to suit me better on this lake, rather than the earlier bedding bass that are more easy to see on the beds in shallow coves, and cast to by so many anglers.

Wednesday’s 5.16 pounder.

It was another very windy week this week, but I got out fishing a couple of times anyway. I went to Lake Fork on Monday. The water is still pretty murky, as I mentioned before, and between the wind and mostly cloudy day, I really had a tough time spotting bedding bass. I managed to catch 10 bass in a long day of fishing, but once again, they were all under four pounds. I decided on the way home that making that one hour and twenty minute drive to Fork just wasn’t worth it this year, with these water conditions, when I could catch bass that were just as big at Cedar Creek or Lake Athens, both much shorter drives. I decided to give sight fishing a shot at Athens, and that’s where I went Wednesday.

Wednesday was an even darker and windier day than Monday, probably the windiest day I’ve been out fishing this year. But Lake Athens is a small enough lake that it can be safely run on a really windy day, and so any protected water on the lake can be reached. I’d only fished for bedding bass on the lake once, so had to spend some scouting time, looking for bedding bass. I knew that it’s late enough in the spawn that the lower half of the lake would likely be best, and that’s where I concentrated my scouting. I ended up catching 15 bass. Like my Fork trips lately, everything was under four pounds. But with Wednesday’s wind and clouds, I may have just not been able to see larger fish on beds. They do tend to spawn a bit deeper than smaller fish. I’m looking forward to being on Athens on a less windy day. I’m thinking that’s where I’ll be doing the rest of my bed fishing this year. Lake Athens is only thirty minutes from home, with much clearer water than Fork, and I had a blast with yesterdays fish, which included several over three pounds. We’ll see if I can find anything bigger next time.

One of Wednesday’s better size pretty fish.