Pea Soup

[LazyIke]

A few people have mentioned "pea soup," algae-bloom water. I experienced that at a family reunion in Wisconsin (Lake Eau Galle) this weekend. That, combined with a ton of mud washed in from a stream feeding down through country land hit hard by Friday evening thunderstorms.

Couldn't find a working pattern in that goop. Tried everything I had that made sound and/or moved a lot of water with big spinner blades and/or legs and such (creature baits, etc.) I thought a white, cup-faced sizmic frog with paddle legs on a No. 4 red hook would be just the ticket. Got two or three strikes, but no hook-ups. Buzzbaits were ignored, as were spinnerbaits of all colors and sizes, rattle-traps and creature baits with rattles stuck in them and T-rigged.

The carp were loving the dirty water, rolling all over and jumping plum out of the water, but the bass were nowhere to be found. Hooked into one 12-incher that shook my spinnerbait boatside. Low-light of the day? Falling in the water while attempting to extricate a spinnerbait from a tree.

What would you have thrown in such water and how deep? I've read in other threads that the weather-related pressure system turned off the bite some, but there's always something that works, yes?

As alwways, thanks for anything insight you might have.

Regards,

lazyike

[Scott M]

Sometimes the pea soup gunk is up near the surface only.

Sometimes the simpler presentations work just right. We think about these fish keying in on the big noises...splashes, erratic movements, BBs rattling in crankbaits, etc. Many times its the subtle sound of a bead clicking on carolina rig or the soft stirrings of a jig bouncing along the bottom that drives 'em nuts.

Pea soup lakes are tough to find plants since they are usually shaded out but see if you can huck a crankbait to try and find some vegetation and then fish it with something else. Move around and try some different depths with those slower presentations. Maybe speed was the issue.

Good luck. I think the hypereutrophic pea soup lakes make you a better angler as you have to work that much harder and think outside the box....

[LazyIke]

R.e. "maybe speed was the issue"

Probably, I struggle with slowing down. I can fish a wacky rig and a weightless senko slow, but I was worried that stickbaits would disappear in such murky water, so I tried alternate tactics. It's really hard to convince myself to slow down spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and rattle-traps -- they seem to beg to be pulled fast. I read the term "slow roll" in relation to spinnerbaits a lot ... what does it mean?

Also, I thought about using a kig, but the bottom of this particular lake was all muck and no rocks -- that's not a good bottom to fish a jig is it?

lazy ike

[Wayne Ek]

Ok I clicked on the Quick Reply, I do not know why, as this will not be one. Pea Soup lakes, if you're fishing for walleyes; it can be really tough. But, the bass angler who has a good bass lake that turns into a pea soup lake (tempid & green) can be in for fabulous fishing. When a lake go's into bloom the Filamentous Algae and Plankton Algae turn the lake into a green mess. It looks bad and sometimes smells bad. After a couple of weeks the weed lines start to disappear. The algae bloom decreases the depth of light penetration, the submerent vegetation starts to die off. Without a deep weed line to relate to the forage species move shallow, looking for any type of cover and the bass follow. Now the good part... any cover, thumb size sticks,rocks, matts or vegetation, or nothing banks can hold bass. And not just one fish, but multiple fish, lots of fish. We are now experiencing this in the Alexandria area, each year I look forward to this phenomenom. As a fishing guide my job just gets that much easier. During the past couple of weeks we have consistantly taken quality bass out of water less than 2-feet of depth. Dark colored tubes and jig/pigs work the best for us and everything needs to have a rattle in it. Don't be put-off by Pea Soup lakes, take advantage of this mid-summer opportunitty. I told you it would not be a Quick Reply. Sorry...

[CaptZ21]

Filamentous Algae ..... I never saw or heard that on any of the POLICE ACADEMY flicks,,,, But will the pattern hold for another 2 or 3 weeks?

[MinnesotaMongo]

Wayne - great piece of advice. Thank you.

[Wayne Ek]

It was there, right next to creeping with intent. The pattern will hold unil the lakes start to clear with the dropping water temps in the fall.

[CaptZ21]

Creeping with intent? I thought I was anonymous but now realize nothing escapes the long rod of the retired lawman. Just poking fun, it was a good article but what lakes in the chain have good blooms and will it hold till say Sept 1?

Gracias,

[kg2]

What is the difference between pea soup and roast beef?

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Anyone can roast beef!

[LPCrowRiverFisherman]

Anybody ever try throwing a deep running crankbait in shallow water, and running it through the bottom. If so did it work.

[Jaspernuts]

Throwing plastics at docks always seems to work in the soup!

[evinrude19]

is there any good deep water bites in pea soup lakes or is it all shallow?

[ocf1]

It is mostly shallow due to the reasons that Agape stated.

[evinrude19]

how deep would fish go if there a storm coming through ??? or would they stay shallow before and after a storm?

thanks

zach